> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # More than 2.3 million kids take SAT test every year - URL: https://www.smdp.com/more-than-2-3-million-kids-take-sat-test-every-year/ - Published: 2007-02-19T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T00:04:54.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import *More than 2.3 million kids take SAT test every year* MID CITY It’s never too early to prepare for the biggest test of a teenager’s life. On a Monday afternoon, after school was over and all extracurricular activities had ended for the day, Matthew Iacovino, of West Los Angeles, sat at the Sylvan Learning Center in Santa Monica with a workbook and a pencil, tackling the kind of problems that would give any teenager a headache. It was about 15 minutes before his Scholastic Assessment Test preparatory class was supposed to begin, but Iacovino wanted to get a head-start on the day’s lesson plan. “I have the most trouble with the math portion of the test,” Iacovino said, taking a break from his studies.“The essay is the easiest, depending on the topic.” Even though Iacovino is just a junior at Loyola High School in Los Angeles and is more than 10 months away from submit-ting his college applications, he’s already preparing for what all college-bound high schoolers call the “big test” — the gatekeeper to the world of higher education. In fact, most students will have taken the SAT test at least twice before completing their college application, according to Alexandra Edens, director of Sylvan’s Santa Monica location. More than 2.3 million students take the SATs each year. “Students are overwhelmed by the fact they have to take the SAT,” Edens said. In the California State University system, which operates 23 campuses statewide, the SAT carries less than one-third of the weight of the admissions process. If a student has a cumulative grade point average that’s higher than 3.0, their SAT score plays no role in whether or not they will be accepted, said Jim Blackburn, the associate director in the Chancellor’s Office for Enrollment Management for CSU. If the student’s gpa is between 2.0 and 3.0, their admission is based on a combination of the rigors of the curriculum they took during high school and their SAT score, Blackburn said. “We like to have the test scores but for most students, they are not essential to admission because the average student at California State University had a 3.2 (gpa) in high school,” Blackburn said. CSU officials do not consider the new essay portion of the SAT Reasoning Test when reviewing applications. That portion of the test was implemented as a mandatory element of the main test in March of 2005. CSU will perform a study this summer, examining essays from admitted students in the past few years. The role that the test plays in the admissions process for the University of California and Loyola Marymount is more ambiguous than at CSU campuses, where all students whose GPA was higher than 3.0 are basically guaranteed enrollment. At the University of California schools and Loyola Marymount, admission is based on a combination of GPA, the difficulty of courses taken, SAT Reasoning and SAT II tests and extracurricular activities. “Different campuses have implemented (different policies),” said Ricardo Vasquez, spokesman for the University of California Office of the President. “UCLA and UC Berkeley take a more holistic review.” > “They learn to see the keys in each of them,” — Roughly 60 percent of colleges report that SATs do play a role in influencing whether or not a student should be admitted. Edens said Though there is no fixed formula in determining which students are admitted, the SAT does not weigh heavily at Loyola Marymount, where the number one factor is high school grades. “If we isolate all the different things that we consider, the grades have the best ability to predict performance at LMU,” said Matthew Fiffinger, director of undergraduate admissions at Loyola Marymount. “If we put the grades and SAT together,we’re able to predict a little bit better than if we used the grades alone.” For example, if a student nearly received a perfect score on their standardized test but performed poorly in school, the student will most likely receive the “I’m sorry to inform you” letter from Loyola Marymount in March. Prep school Paying a professional to help with test preparation doesn’t come cheap. Kaplan charges $899 and Sylvan $895. At Sylvan, students take a full length SAT diagnostic test. Sylvan instructors then evaluate the results of the test and determine the areas in which the students have strengths and weaknesses. From the results of the diagnostic test, Sylvan splits questions into a high, medium and low level of difficulty. Students are instructed to answer 100 percent of the so-called easy questions, to try all of the medium level and hard level questions. If the student runs out of time in the test,the hard questions are the ones they should skip to avoid being penalized for a wrong answer. The students start with the easy and move on to more difficult problems. Since Sylvan introduced the SAT prep class in the fall, they have seen enrollment increase by 40 percent. All classes enjoy a three-to-one student-to-teacher ratio. The class is taught by Bhavana Patel, who received her bachelor’s degree in international studies at University of California- Irvine. She scored between 1,200 and 1,300 on the SATs, which she took when the reasoning test consisted of only a verbal and math section. “There is such a huge pressure on students with the extracurricular activities and AP (advanced placement) classes,” Patel said. “The pressure makes it so much more overwhelming.” For Patel, she sees her job as making sure the students understand every concept in the workbook, and to keep them calm and comfortable about taking the test. “It’s not a fair format,” Patel said of the SAT.“The length of it is a challenge in itself.” At this point, having been in the class for a few weeks, Iacovino said he feels confident enough to score above average, but not in his target score range of 2000-2200. The test is split into three section — critical reading, math and writing — and each have a maximum of 800 points possible. Iacovino took the Pre-SAT earlier this year and the score he received caused enough concern for him to enroll in Sylvan’s program. He has prepared for the SAT since September, learning some tips in his English and math classes and spending several hours a week outside of class preparing at home. “I’m not going to pressure myself that I have to get a 2,400 when I go take the standardized test,” Iacovino said.“I either know it or I don’t. If I don’t know it, I’m going to leave it blank.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 19, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/021907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)