THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410070094
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: LIFE IN THE PASSING LANE
This is part of an occasional series in which we follow four seniors
through the school year. Today, one of them, Robbie Scott, takes the
SAT for the third time to try to improve his score.
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
IT'S SHOWTIME.
About 220,000 high school students across the country will go to school today with a bad case of the jitters.
That's because the SAT college entrance exam will be administered this morning in nearly a dozen states, including Virginia.
How one performs on the test can be the difference between Ivy League schools and TPU, ``The Pits University''. . . A flood of college scholarship offers, or barely a trickle. . . Graduating with a sense of accomplishment, or feeling bummed out.
Among the hundreds of Hampton Roads students taking the test today is 17-year-old Robbie Scott, a senior at Suffolk's Nansemond River High.
This will be his first attempt as a senior, and third try overall. His highest score to date is an 890 out of a possible 1,600. The magic number is 1,000 or better at many of the nation's most competitive schools.
At this point, Robbie just wants to get it over with. But he also wants to make today's effort his best shot.
``I'm tired of taking it,'' he said one recent afternoon from his living room, where MTV's rap video program flashed scenes from the 'hood into his solidly middle-class home in Berkshire Meadows. ``I'm going to do my best and move on from there. The SAT is not the only thing colleges look at. I have other things to fall back on.''
Few question Robbie's ability.
His grades are enviable; he's an alumnus of a NASA summer enrichment program for bright youngsters; math and science turn him on. Still, the whole SAT affair has left him feeling a little like the Buffalo Bills:
He's successfully cleared all the preliminary rounds that high school can offer. But he's had only so-so luck at the final stage - the Superbowl of tests for college-bound students, the dreaded SAT.
Days, even weeks, before the test, however, Robbie was cool as ice. How he performs this time - what he hopes to be his last attempt - is important, he said. After all, he's hoping that a better score will help him land scholarships, and the colleges he's eyeing - including Hampton University, Howard University and North Carolina A&T - don't want slouches, either.
But is the test the be-all and end-all? ``No, not at all,'' he said. ``I'm not mad at myself or anything like that. As long as I know I gave it my best then it's OK.''
It's not that Robbie hasn't prepared.
Last school year, he attended a weekly SAT prep class. He saved the test guide used during the course and occasionally thumbed through it in the weeks leading up to today. This school year, some of his teachers also have offered students test-taking tips or sprinkled problem-solving exercises similar to those on the test in regular classroom lessons.
Now, it's a matter of staying calm and relying on shortcuts and strategies he's learned, Robbie said.
While an 890 may not be particularly stellar, it's near the average total score of 902 nationwide and 893 for the Commonwealth. On the other hand, Robbie's current score is anywhere from 126 to 184 points behind average scores of other Virginia students who, like him, have A-range grades and strong math skills.
Larry Matthews is an associate director in the southern regional office of the College Board, which runs the Scholastic Aptitude Test program. He said students like Robbie shouldn't ``let their world turn on whether they get 1,000,'' the score Robbie's aiming for.
``I try to get kids and parents to put it all into perspective,'' Matthews said from Atlanta.
``The best predictor (of college success) is the high school record. The SAT is a good measurement; I don't want to diminish that. But a three-hour experience isn't necessarily equivalent to four years of schooling.''
Therein lies part of the problem. The SAT is a mini-marathon and Robbie hates sitting for hours to complete any kind of exam. Sitting for what seems like years in front of his television playing a Sega Genesis video game is a different matter, however.
As you take your first sip of coffee this morning, Robbie and other students will be hunched over a copy of the SAT, diligently trying to solve ``x'' or pick the right word to complete a given sentence.
``Before I start, I'm just going to say a little prayer. . . just something like, `Lord, help me do the best I can. . . please,' '' Robbie said, grinning.
In four to six weeks, he'll find out if his prayer was heard. ILLUSTRATION: LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff [color photo]
The SAT is a mini-marathon, and Robbie Scott hates sitting for hours
for any exam. But sitting for what seems like years with a video
game is a different matter.
by CNB