Should I Take the SAT or ACT and What About the MCAT, LSAT, and GRE during COVID?

Amid all of the adjustments that Colleges and Universities have made during COVID, the one that affects you and your student the most is the changes to Standardized Tests such as the SAT, ACT, MCAT, LSAT, and GRE. Although California has seen the most disruption in its Testing schedule, the rest of the country has been open for several months now. Therefore, if you are thinking about attending a College or University outside of California, then the SAT and ACT will be REQUIRED for the upcoming admissions cycle. That being said, there have been some adjustments to Graduate level Testing, such as in the case of the MCAT, LSAT, and GRE.

The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) has been shortened from 7 hours to 5 and a half hours in order to fit in an additional sitting at Pearson Test Centers to make up for the 2020 cancellations. Medical Schools across the country have refused to waive the MCAT requirement, even during COVID. This is an extremely long and difficult exam for prospective Medical School applicants, therefore we at Dow Educational Solutions recommend approximately 80 hours for content review. Yes, 80 hours!… However, we have prepared a full color-coded version of all of the Notes associated with the Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Psychology, Sociology, and Critical Reasoning content on the MCAT. We can save you over 75% of your study time by accessing our complete MCAT Content Review materials…

The Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) will be administered at home while proctored remotely using your webcam. Spots fill up quickly, and registration deadlines are firm, with no late registration. Since Testing can occur in the comfort of your own home, Law Schools have not decided to waive the LSAT requirement. The LSAT is another complicated Standardized Test that requires practice, practice, and more practice…

The Graduate Record Examination includes 3 areas of focus: Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning. Since this Test is short by most standards, only 3 hours and 45 minutes, previous cancellations have been easy to make up. There are several Testing Centers that have been serving students for the past several months, even in California.

The bottom line is that now is the time to start planning your Standardized Test Prep for the SAT, ACT, MCAT, LSAT, and GRE as requirements for undergraduate Colleges outside of California remain the same, and Graduate & Professional School requirements for Universities across the county have always been the same despite COVID.

What is the SMART way to make Educational New Year’s Resolutions?

An estimated 50% of people in the United States make New Year’s Resolutions… only 20% actually keep them after 1 week… and only 10% of those people keep their resolutions after 1 month. That is an average of only 1 person out of 100 who can actually stick with a goal for a full month after the New Year! Why is there such a disparity in the number who can keep a resolution versus those who cannot? The answer resides in the SMART methodology...

The S.M.A.R.T. method of goal setting involves 5 principles:

1. Specific

2. Measurable

3. Achievable

4. Relevant

5. Timely

Your goal must be specific, such as start studying for all Tests at least 3 days in advance. It must also be measurable; for example, achieve nothing lower than a 90% on any Assignment. The goals must also be achievable. Trying to run a marathon in under a half hour is not humanly possible at this time (we shall see what jet-pack technology in the future may say about that), therefore it is not a SMART goal. Your Educational New Year’s Resolution should also be relevant. Hence, being accepted to a Top 25 University is an example of a relevant goal for one who has above a 4.0 GPA and is working on College Admissions. Finally, the goal must be bound by some sort of timetable, such as finishing all College Applications by December 1st, even the ones that are not due until January 1st. That will allow you to enjoy your Holiday Break without worrying about scrambling to finish before the deadlines. Set a deadline for yourself, because as a wise man once said, “Set your own deadlines or they will be set for you!”

Here’s to NO PROCRASTINATION in the New Year!

How do I know if my student has Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?

October is National ADHD Awareness Month, and in honor of those working hard to raise awareness about this disorder, we at DowEdu want to reach out and offer our over 20 years of experience working with students with ADHD.

First, what is ADHD? It stands for Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder, therefore the pathopneumonic symptoms are an inability to focus and concentrate, which is often accompanied by hyperactivity. The symptomology associated with ADHD is a laundry list of manifestations ranging from impulsivity, disorganization, and increased locomotor activity to thought bombardment and gaze avoidance. There are 3 main types: Inattentive Type, Hyperactive Type, and both Inattentive/Hyperactive Type. Often times, the student is unable to organize their schoolwork, daydreams during class and misses key information, impulsively seeks euphoric activities instead of getting schoolwork done (e.g. video games), is seen staring off into space, and an inability to sit still and focus on the task at hand.

Our President & Founder, Steven Alan Dow, M.S., wrote his Master’s Thesis on ADHD, therefore his unique expertise in this field has led to the overwhelming success of DowEdu in providing Educational Therapy for students demonstrating ADHD symptoms. Upon working with DowEdu, student grades go from F’s to A’s in a matter of a few weeks!

Don’t let your child fall behind… Call us today to schedule an Introductory Assessment, and end the immense stress and strain of trying to navigate through online Distance Learning with a student that suffers from ADHD.