COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAMS

SAT/ACT WAIVERS

ELIGIBILITY FOR WAIVERS

Free or reduced-price meals are available to students based on household size and income. To view income eligibility guidelines, click here. Benefits expire each year so families must reapply to ensure students continue to receive meal benefits. Students are automatically eligible for free meals if their family receives assistance under the Food Supplement Program (FSP) or Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) benefits.

The new online application is available at https://www.pgcps.org/offices/food-and-nutrition/free-and-reduced-meals Paper copies are sent home with each student and are also available at all school sites. For details on the application process, visit the PGCPS Department of Food and Nutrition Services website, or call 301-952-6517.


Reminder: Students must take the SAT with a waiver in order to receive college application waivers from Collegeboard. Please Note: Collegeboard gives a limited amount of waivers to every school based on usage from the previous year. There are times that the school counseling team runs out of waivers and we may not have any during the time you are planning to take the exam. Everything can be based on availability!

If you pay for the SAT exam, you will NOT be eligible for college application waivers. Remember they are directly sent via Collegeboard not your school counselor.

SAT - 9 DAY RULE

When you register for the SAT and for nine days after you take the test, you can send four free score reports to colleges and scholarship programs. However, note that you'd be doing this without first seeing your scores.


Here's our advice on whether you should send these free four SAT score reports:

  • Pros: These four score reports are free. A dollar saved is a dollar earned!

  • Cons: You won't know your scores before they get sent out. This means you won't be able to use SAT Score Choice to pick which scores colleges see and which they don't see (more about Score Choice in the next part of this article). Essentially, your scores will be sent out even if they aren't as strong as you'd like them to be.

ACT WAIVERS ARE EXTREMELY LIMITED AND SOMETIMES ACT.ORG DOESN'T SEND WAIVERS TO THE SCHOOL. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN RECEIVING AN ACT WAIVER, CHECK WITH YOUR SCHOOL COUNSELOR!

FEES FOR SENDING SCORES TO COLLEGES

ACT FEE

TESTING RESOURCES

SAT

COLLEGEBOARD SAT READINESS

https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice

SAT PREP

https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat

SAT STUDY GUIDE (BOOK)

https://store.collegeboard.org/sto/productdetail.do;jsessionid=Sd309rF569JwG_uoTTxZFGp73sBZnHlLaMgi9DWdE8a9HiVNvAGh!914718438?Itemkey=112199&category=325&categoryName=SAT%AE&secondCategory=&secondCatName=&thirdLevelCategory=&thirdLevelCatName=

HOW TO SEND SAT SCORES TO PROSPECTIVE COLLEGES (SENIOR YEAR)

https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/scores/sending-scores/how-to-send

HOW MUCH WEIGHT DOES MY SAT CARRY IN AN APPLICATION?

https://www.manhattanreview.com/sat-role-in-college-application/

ACT

ACT TEST PREP

https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/test-preparation.html

ACT PREP GUIDE

https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/test-preparation/the-official-guide.html

HOW TO SEND ACT SCORES TO PROSPECTIVE COLLEGES (SENIOR YEAR)

https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/scores/sending-your-scores.html

SAT VS ACT

ACT VS. SAT: WHAT TEST DO I DECIDE TO TAKE

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/act-vs-sat-how-to-decide-which-test-to-take#:~:text=Broken%20down%20by%20test%20components,and%2035%2Dminute%20science%20test.

SAT VS ACT COMPARISON CHART

https://testive.com/sat-versus-act-comparison-chart/

WHEN SHOULD YOU TAKE THE SAT or ACT?

https://blog.collegeboard.org/when-should-you-take-the-sat#:~:text=Registration%20opens%20for%20each%20SAT,deadlines%20if%20you%20decide%20to.

TOEFL

TOEFL ASSESSMENTS (FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ONLY)

https://www.ets.org/toefl

PREPARE FOR TOEFL ASSESSMENT

https://www.ets.org/toefl/test-takers/ibt/prepare

AP SCORES

DO AP SCORES REALLY MATTER FOR COLLEGE ADMISSION

https://blog.prepscholar.com/do-colleges-look-at-ap-scores-for-admission

HOW TO SEND AP SCORES TO PROSPECTIVE COLLEGES?

https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/sending-scores/online

TEST OPTIONAL

WHAT COLLEGES ARE TEST OPTIONAL?

https://blog.prepscholar.com/test-optional-colleges-list

4 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE APPLYING TO A TEST OPTIONAL COLLEGE

https://www.collegedata.com/resources/prepare-and-apply/what-is-a-test-optional-college

COVID RELATED

MY ACT/SAT WAS CANCELLED DUE TO COVID, NOW WHAT?

https://blog.prepscholar.com/act-sat-test-cancelled-coronavirus-covid-19

COVID IMPACTS ON SAT AND ACT TESTING

https://bcu.studentchoice.org/covid-19-impacts-on-sat-and-act-testing/

WHEN IN DOUBT CHECK COLLEGE WEBSITE FOR COVID UPDATES