Dear customer,

Welcome to the May edition of ICON+’s University Access Newsletter. You are receiving this e-newsletter because you inquired about our test prep and/or admissions consulting services.

As you gear up for the start of your glorious college days, consider the experience of a past university student. Ask yourself, "How can I get the most out of my university experience?"

A university admissions counselor at ICON+, I am one of those who loved higher education so much that I chose to work in the field and help younger students navigate their educational and vocational pathways.

It has been nearly a decade since I flew from Tokyo to Chicago to begin my undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; it’s a good time to reflect on how my university experience has influenced my career progression and adult life. In doing so, I hope to inspire you to think of how you can take greatest advantage of your university experience.

I’m glad I…

1. …graduated with top-notch grades (that’s “marks” for the Singaporeans out there).

At the end of the day, a degree should help you, not hinder you, in the job application process. The fact that I graduated with Honors no doubt put me at an advantage when I applied to graduate school (Master’s in Higher Education Administration), internships, and jobs.

Read full article.

Many students, parents, researchers, and even educational institutions have questioned the validity of the SAT as a reliable indicator of college readiness. Is the SAT biased toward a certain cultural population? What about students who simply do not test well on standardized exams or do poorly under time pressure? We at ICON+ even wrote a blog, “Do SAT Scores Predict Success in College?” a couple of months ago.

One of the College Board’s responses to these serious concerns was their analysis of Class of 2010 test-takers’ SAT scores and high school coursework. The number of class of 2010 SAT test-takers in the USA hit close to 1.6 million, an unprecedented high. Analyzing this incredibly large data pool, the College Board arrived at two important findings.

Read about the findings.

Two weeks ago, we posted a blog about the increasing popularity of the TOEFL. To be fair, the numbers of IELTS test takers have also been rising.

On March 9, 2011, IELTS, calling itself “the world’s most popular high stakes English language test”, announced that it had hit a whopping 1.5 million test-takers across the globe for the year 2010 alone. The greatest number of registrants took the exam for academic purposes, but many test-takers cited migration as their main aim for sitting for the IELTS.

Read full article.