When Should I Take the SAT or ACT?

Standardized tests are an important—and stressful—part of your application, and trying to figure out when is the right time to take them may be confusing. So just when should you sit for the SAT or ACT? It is important to remember that the age-old adage â€Å"the earlier the better† doesn’t necessarily apply here. The older you are when you take the SAT or ACT, the better you are likely to perform on the test. So, you probably won’t achieve your best possible score if you take it as a freshman. However, you are technically allowed to take take the tests as early as you want. Doing so may give you a starting point to find out the areas in which you can improve. Starting early also enables you to retake the test, although given that the the SAT is administered around seven times per year and the ACT is given around six times per year, you should have ample opportunity to do so even if you take it later on, as long as you don’t wait until the last possible sitting. It is also worth keeping in mind that you generally shouldn’t take the SAT or ACT more than three times , because you are unlikely to improve your score substantially after the second time, and admissions officers tend not to like seeing students take the tests too many times. If you are applying Early Decision, plan on taking standardized tests no later than the October or November administration deadlines your senior year of high school. This year, those dates are November 5 th for the SAT (register by October 7 th ) and October 22 nd for the ACT (for which registration has closed). If you are applying Regular Decision, your deadline is likely December or January. The 2016-2017 admission cycle, those dates are January 21, 2017 for the SAT (register by December 21 st ) and December 10 th for the ACT (register by November 4 th ). NB: There are late deadlines as well, but you will have to pay a late fee if you don’t register by the initial deadlines. Be sure to check the policies regarding standardized test deadlines of the schools to which you are applying. Some colleges may prefer that you complete all testing prior to submitting your application. There are many disadvantages to waiting until the the last possible minute to take the SAT or ACT. First, you may have to pay additional fees to rush your scores to the colleges on your list if you wait too late. As mentioned above, there are fees associated with waiting too late to register as well. Additionally, if you take the test during the final possible administration for your purposes, you won’t be able to retake it. That means you are stuck with whatever score you receive, when you could have potentially performed better if you took the test a second time—in fact, many students (though not all) do receive higher scores in their second go-around , due to a decrease in stress, better preparation, or more familiarity with the test. Our students see an average increase of 250 points on their SAT scores. Another important decision to make is when you should take the Preliminary SAT (PSAT). You are not required to take the PSAT as part of your college admissions process, but many students choose to do so any way, since it offers you a good way to practice for the SAT and discover where you should focus your improvement efforts. Additionally, the PSAT also functions as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT) , meaning your scores will be used to determine if you are a National Merit finalist. You may take the PSAT earlier, but only the scores you receive on the PSAT you take your junior year may qualify you for a National Merit award. Some students choose to take the test in their sophomore year for additional practice as well as their junior year. Another advantage to taking the PSAT is that when you take it, as well as the SAT or any AP test, you have the option of opting into College Board’s Student Search Service , which shares your contact information with schools at which your academic profile is similar to that of their typical applicants. If you participate, colleges will contact you with important information, which can help with your college search and honing your final list. The PSAT is administered by your high school once a year. This year, your high school may choose among the following dates: College Board’s recommendation is the primary date. If you want to take the PSAT, you must do it on the date your high school designates. While you can usually take standardized tests as early as you would like, we at recommend that you take the PSAT in the fall of your junior year and the SAT or ACT at its first administration in the spring of your junior year. Doing so allows enough time to retake the test as many times as you need or want to, and ensures that you have reached your maximum (or near-maximum) potential score because you are older and have been in school longer than you were as a freshman or sophomore. Taking the test too early is not necessary and can cause unnecessary stress.

Organizational communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organizational communication - Essay Example All human resource managers rely on communication in their organizations to air their views and have plans implemented. Without communication from one official to the employees, management might crumble. Therefore, any successful human resource manager usually acknowledges the importance of organization communication as it has a positive outcome on the output provided of the given workforce. An excellent example of human resource and organization communication is the case of BMG international (Poole, 2012). Rudi Gassner emerged to be an effective leader who employed many ways of human resource management to form a winning team that led the company to achieve its objectives (Poole, 2012). Any human resource is often equipped with the responsibility of leading, planning and staffing. Rudi ensured that he employed the right leadership style to help in his management. In addition, he chose a 9 member executive team to help him in his management. In using transactional leadership style, he was able to establish a good reward punishment system in the organization that led to improvement of its output (Poole, 2012). A good communication between the human resource management and employees is key for an organization to succeed (Poole, 2012). Decision making process is an important tool in communication. For instance, Rudi Gassner left the decision making process to his executive team, but still ensured he took part in the overall decision making process (Poole, 2012). This ensured that the decisions made were in line with the companies’ objectives and vision. Gassner left the decision process on the directors and only came in to give the final say. His management style hence brought more success, but also resulted in conflicts within the committee (Hill, 1995). Gassner ensured that he was involved in every business activity of the company and ensured he observed what occurred in them. This brought a number of doubts in his management as those at the lower levels

Concepts of Population Health, Primary Health Care and Health Essay

Concepts of Population Health, Primary Health Care and Health Promotion - Essay Example The rate of unemployment has shot over 20% and theft incidences in the grocery store have markedly increased in the past year. As a community nurse, I also noted multiple signs of anemia, fatigue, and a high level of susceptibility to respiratory infections among members of families of various ages. Smoking is also prevalent in this community, which requires an urgent intervention. There are also concerns about diet adequacy and insufficient funding from the Social Services unable to meet their basic food needs. This requires sensitization and financial support to be accorded to the community. It is also certain that due to the distant urban center where large stores are located, the families cannot make it there to do their shopping and end up purchasing food items in the local stores where food prices are significantly higher. However, such families have accumulated huge debts in those stores and the owners, though sympathetic, cannot extend their customer’s credit lines. Th e community has also grown pessimistic about both the economic and unemployment situation in the community; however, some parents are still expecting things to turn around. These mentioned situations are demanding and as a community health nurse in the region, I have decided to work closely with the community to promote the situation in collaboration with the small group of local businessmen and farmers who have expressed their concern in developing a food bank to ensure needy families help each other. Therefore, this proposal seeks to integrate the concepts of primary health care, population health promotion, and health promotion in addressing the existing situation in the community. According to the World Health Organization, health promotion strategies can be applied to multiple population groups, diseases, risk factors, and other settings. This is because the strategies of health promotion are neither limited to a particular health related problem nor to a set of specific behavi ors. As a community nurse in this case study, I advocate health promotion that will put emphasis on community education, food policy development, community development, and regulations and legislation which are vital in preventing high poverty levels as well as communicable and non-communicable diseases. Action needs to be taken in this community so as to improve the health of the people, especially those who have shown the signs of anemia, fatigue and respiratory infections. The health promotion strategies influence most of the underlying factors and those that determine the health of the community members. This approach is recognized by both health promotion and population health. As a nurse, I would work with the community in constructing a population health promotion model in order to develop strategies that would curb the deteriorating health status of the community. In reference to the population health promotion, the following action areas need to be addressed in order to cur b the existing situation in the community: Building healthy public policy which ensures that all the public and private sectors are committed to health promoting situations Creating a supportive environment that recognizes the nature of the rapidly changing society Strengthening the community action in order to facilitate the ability of the community members to make decisions and set priorities on issues affecting their health Developing personal skills to impart knowledge and skills on community members that can help them meet their daily life challenges and make contributions to the society Reorienting health services in order to create systems focusing on the

Importance of Children in Foster Care Homes Thesis Proposal

Importance of Children in Foster Care Homes - Thesis Proposal Example This time, however, one of the peasants jumps up and begins to run away from the shore. His friend, horrified, rushes after him shouting, â€Å"Where are you going? Aren’t you interested in saving this child?† The departing peasant looks back and replies as he rushes away. â€Å"I can’t sit idly by and watch the destruction of one child at a time. I am going upstream to find the root cause, what’s at the heart of this unfortunate situation.† Introduction Children in foster care homes have been separated from their parents and families over a period of time. There are various factors that contribute for children being in foster care homes. Some of the factors are poverty, violence and abuse in the home, the death of parents, armed conflict or natural disasters. Separated children are not a homogenous group. Separation comes in many different forms. Children in foster care homes can be categorized according to the factors that may have caused their se paration. Some examples are: children who have been orphaned, especially those orphaned by HIV and AIDS; children who have been separated for the purposes of exploitation; child refugees who have been separated from family by armed conflict; and children with a disability placed in institutional care. There needs to be more focus on children living in foster care homes by providing safe, permanent, nurturing families within the child's community. Children being separated from their parents are an important issue because it can affect a child's survival and development. Very young children are especially vulnerable, with 0-3 years old facing increased risk of mortality if they lose their mothers (UNICEF et al 2006). The sexual abuse and early sexual activity associated with some forms of separation, such as early marriage or trafficking into prostitution, exposes children to sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and girls to the risks associated with early pregnancy (Pinheiro 2006) . Children living on the streets and children who have been in conflict with the law have been noted to engage in risky activities which expose them to HIV infections. Orphans are also more at risk of STIs than non-Orphans. Violence, abuse and neglect suffered by separated children can threaten physical health and chances of survival. The abuse, neglect, exploitation and loss often associated with separation can also cause major mental health problems. Researchers suggest high levels of anxiety and depression amongst orphans with 12% stating that they sometimes wished they were dead (UNICEF et al 2006). It has also been reported that a staggering 1 in 10 young people living in the foster care homes commit suicide (Pinheiro 2006). There is widespread evidence that children who are denied a loving, continuous bond with a parental figure suffer major developmental setbacks. Background and significance There are over 500,000 children in the United States that have currently resided in s ome form of foster care. Placements in foster care have dramatically increased over the past 10 years. Despite the increasing numbers, children in foster care and foster parents are mostly invisible in the communities and often lack many needed supports and resources. Majority of children that are separated from their parents are unable to receive an adequate education. Children in foster care homes lag behind their peers on every measure of educational opportunity. The numbers include a 23 percent dropout rate compared with 9 percent of the general student population, half in special education compared with 12 percent, and 52 percent reading below grade level compared with 38 percent. In addition, only 3 percent of foster children obtain a Bachelor's

Advertisement from 1925 and 1927 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Advertisement from 1925 and 1927 - Essay Example Due to mass production, the concept of marketing of consumer goods began to grow. Therefore, large organizations started to market their products through advertisements. The examples of the advertisements from 1925 to 1927 are: advertisement for Berkey & Gay Furniture Company (1925) and advertisement for Eveready Flashlight and Battery (1927). Both the advertisements are written in the style of a story in which the product and its pros have been described. These advertisements show that customers were convinced about the utility of the product through a scenario which represents the use of the product. The customer would know about the products through the advertisements which would appear in the newspapers and wall posters. The advertisements are written in such a manner that the customers would read them along with the rest of the articles. The customers would care about the advertisements because they provide a realistic scenario and they would compel the customer to think about the product. Thus, it can be concluded that the trend of advertisements in 1920s was triggered by the rapid economic and social change. The examples of the advertisements provided above show that the advertisements were presented as short stories which attracted the attention of the customers due to their realistic

Effects the Media has on Child development Research Paper

Effects the Media has on Child development - Research Paper Example From the first appearance of television sets in living rooms in the 20th Century, there has been a concern on their impact on the viewers, particularly the children. Recent years has seen this concern extended to electronic media including computers. The fact that children spend seven hours per day on average in media such as televisions, computers and other electronic devices, as noted by the American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP indicates the important role that the media plays in shaping development in children. Kirkorian et al. (39) observe content as the most crucial determining factor in evaluating how media affects development in children. Therefore, depending on the content in the media under focus, the effect on child development could either be positive or negative. Media play an important role in language acquisition. As observed by Kirkorian (40), children who watched Sesame Street, a preschooler educational program, learnt vocabulary, identification of numbers and letters and concepts including shapes and colors. Television viewing has in particular been noted to impart language learning especially if the programs include on-screen characters talking to children. Children to whom English is not their first language could take advantage of this opportunity to learn the language as they watch English programs. Media has been credited with designing programs that aim at communicating social or academic skills which help children in learning the intended lessons. Programs dealing with diverse literacy in children including science, mathematics and social skills promote learning in children. Kirkorian et al. (46) observe that Blue Clues, a television program focused on cognitive and social problem-solving skills among preschoolers, caused children to be more systematic and successful in problem solutions. The Canadian Pediatric Society (303) also sites Sesame Street as an example of a television program that teaches children important social aspects such as cooperation, kindness, racial harmony and the alphabet. Such programs stimulate children to visit libraries, museums and bookstores among other active recreational places that impart positive learning. This could also be said of Internet websites that have curricula to prepare preschoolers for schooling. In fact, various software programs have been produced to this effect and the impact has been positive. Therefore, educational media improve on educational achievement of children. Critics argue against media as negatively impacting on the development of cognitive skills in children. This argument mainly revolves around attention development. According to Sigman (102), the frequent switch in content and scenes disrupt the ability of children to sustain attention. Additionally, early exposure to non-educational entertainment and violent media programs has been positively associated with attention problems. Kirkorian et al. (45) give an example of a study that compared the effect of a pro-social program, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and violent cartoon, Batman. The findings support the correlation between the content of media programs and attention skills in the children being studied. The children exposed to violent cartoons showed decreased self-regulation whereas those exposed to the pro-social program exhibited tolerance of delay, rule obedience and task persistence. It would be important to appreciate that the two programs not only

Critical Review for the Article Essay Example for Free

Critical Review for the Article Essay The electronic journal entitled: ‘The Long-Term Performance of Horizontal Acquisition’, by Laurence Capron of the Institut Europeen dAdministration des Affaires (INSEAD), published in 1999 by the Wiley and Sons publishing, has studied the creation of â€Å"horizontal mergers and acquisition†. In Capron’s paper, he dated his studies from mid-1980’s to early 1990’s financing strategies of firms in divesting and liquidating its assets which he referred as the â€Å"horizontal mergers and acquisition†. Capron has cited about 253 firms in Europe and America that patterns the financing strategies. According to Capron (1999), examination reveals divestment of assets and capital infusion (re-financing of liquidated assets) makes effective to â€Å"acquisition performance†, but could have potentially detrimental impact. As what Capron emphasized on the performance of acquisition based on â€Å"divestment and redeployment (re-acquisition) of resources†, his study examines the defects and compliments on effective means in â€Å"horizontal mergers and acquisition†. Key points and rationale As reviewed from the journal, the â€Å"horizontal acquisitions† may be exemplified as a means and strategy in establishing the resource-divestment scheme, in which by doing so, it â€Å"optimizes or exploits the values of cost-based and revenue-based synergies† (Capron 1999: p. 988). As explained, it may be perceived that the â€Å"synergy† patterns the continuing acquirement of business values, as a result of divestment wherein merging of the newly diversified firm or business values acquires more assets and capital budget. According to Capron (1999), the cost efficiency theory emphasizes on the significance of cost-based synergies that occur when assets have been divested resulting the integration of cost-saving measures. Thus, the firm performs effectively in enhancing its revenues that synergizes with the redistribution of the capital towards an enhanced capability. It may be analyzed from the findings of Capron that the 1980’s and 1990’s rapid growth of industries brought about by globalization have emerged more investments in the supply chain. One of which is the positioning of developed and high-end industries within raw material sources. Like, for example, diversification process has been developed in Asian countries wherein more investment in cheap raw materials and labor are available and can be acquired easily. The â€Å"horizontal acquisition† could be drawn from establishing partnership, subsidiary in operation, joint ventures and inter-dependency in export and import schemes. Hence, for example â€Å"Company A† has divested in establishing â€Å"Company B† to engage in tire manufacturing that source out the cheapest raw materials. In which case, a diversified industrial firm could venture out into â€Å"versatile† business values that optimize capital investments for a larger revenue generation translated into cost effectiveness that means substantial profitability. In Capron’s finding, the so-called â€Å"economy of scale† became the bases of diversification process that paved the way to a â€Å"large-scale† industrialization. The 20th century practice of the economy of scale has favored more industries to capture the â€Å"investment areas†, specifically in poor countries. The â€Å"dispensation of merging† through open-ended stockholding in small-medium-large enterprises units has put significant relevance in acquiring industrial partnership, wherein capital investment has a critical role in merging companies. As cited from Capron’s findings, the logical economic explanation is capturing revenue-based synergies which are commonly identified as allocating and complementing resources by providing â€Å"core competencies† or â€Å"mobilizing invisible assets† (Penrose 1959; in Capron 1999: p. 989). As cited, Capron also pointed out in his â€Å"theoretical model† of post-acquisition and target redeployment (Capron 1999: pp. 990-995). According to Capron, the theory describes the diversification process as focusing on (1) asset divestiture, (2) cost-saving, (3) resource redeployment, and (4) revenue-enhancing capabilities as an effective means of â€Å"acquisition performance† (Capron 1999: p. 992). The theoretical model refers to and explains the â€Å"basic economic behavior† as outlined in the acquisition performance. Capron further theorized that capabilities in a divested firm are being distributed as an organizational undertaking. Meaning, it can be explained that the system of corporate governance and human resources are distributed or being shared that composes the acquisition performance. However, key â€Å"organic elements† were emphasized to have been integrated in the divestment process, in which the re-deployment (or deployment) of the organizational â€Å"system or setting† are acquired. Conclusion Capron’s examination on the horizontal acquisition and projection of model in strategic post-acquisition and redeployment could be understood as a fundamental undertaking in diversification process. It may be true that most of merging firms in their acquired assets or business are mainly distributing their in-placed â€Å"organizational or corporate system†. However, the merging firms could likewise optimize or â€Å"streamline the existing organizational set-up, which is the common occurrence in most firms that undertaken a â€Å"buy-out†. It may be perceived that the revenue-generation could be largely acquired into options by streamlining the existing organizational set-up or re-organizing both human and capital resources. Capron’s findings have emphasized more on the performance capability on the theory of â€Å"horizontal acquisition† referring only to capital budget, as implied on the capital resources or fixed assets of the firms. The human resource aspect [as a critical unit] of the post-acquisition process may have not been well emphasized. What has been generally discussed in the study is the transformative business value in divestment schemes referring to capital investments and fixed asset liquidation. It could be reflected that the capital investment and fixed asset liquidation are the critical factors in the divestment schemes as the primary resource of merging stakeholder. It could be suggested that the â€Å"potentially detrimental impact† [as also pointed out by Capron] could be referred to the human resources or labor force in a diversified industry. The merging stakeholder in Capron’s findings were much given relevance on how they could effectively perform in targeting their post-acquisition and redeployment, in which the study itself envisions to complement the performance capabilities of the stakeholders. At this point, we may re-examine Capron’s â€Å"theoretical model† as giving more â€Å"weight† to the envisioning of transnational and multi-national enterprises in furtherance of globalization, in which the continuing divestment scheme competes in the large scale economy of labor market and capital build-up. We may then conclude that Capron’s findings could be re-examined with further studies relating to human resources re-deployment or deployment on its horizontal development complementing the diversification of industries, in which the parallelism envisions both human and capital divestment. Section B Morrison’s bid to Safeway The electronic magazine of the Financial Times on its December 8th 2003 issue at the www. ft. com web site has published the news article of Richard Milne entitled: ‘Countdown Starts for Morrisons Bid for Safeway’. According to the news article, the Morrison Supermarket bided 21 days from its competitors, such as Tesco, J. Sainsbury and Asda-WalMart, following the UK government’s offer to sell the Safeway supermarket. The UK Department of Trade and Industry disclosed that â€Å"Morrison was willing to sell its 53 stores if acquisition of Safeway is successful† (Richard Milne 2003; in Ft. com 2008). Morrison’s negotiation was favored by the UK Competition Commission that disqualified the three major competitors from the bidding and upheld Morrison to takeover Safeway with a share of 219-1/2 from the 279-1/2, in which Safeway acknowledged the buy out. In a follow up report in 2004, after a year of the buy out, the Safeway has gained 40% of sales growth. Financial analysts claimed that Safeway has â€Å"migrated customers† to Morrison supermarket, as it cited that â€Å"quality of sales has gone better because Morrison has stopped the Safeway policy of rolling deep discounts† (Martin Dickson 2004; in Ft. com 2008). Perception of the issue Morrison’s takeover of Safeway supermarket has gauged the situation of significant financial divestment venture. The business potentials of Safeway [being an established supermarket that solely competes with Tesco, J. Sainsbury and Asda-WalMart] were the â€Å"strong intent† of financial divestment of Morrison to even offer the sell of its 53 stores. The financial divestment of Morrison could be relating Capron’s findings on the â€Å"horizontal acquisition† of merging stakeholders by way of capital investments through diversified assets. In which case, the Safeway supermarket has found by Morrison as a â€Å"potential divestiture† that shall absorb the vulnerability from tough competitors. The merging of stakeholder through a buy-out or takeover of an established investment [like Safeway] may have validated Capron’s theory of â€Å"post-acquisition and redeployment†, in which Morrison has able to â€Å"contain† the migratory customers and could further develop the acquisition performance of divesting financial investments. The divestment process of Morrison’s takeover to Safeway has likewise described Capron’s finding on merging firms that engages in the economy of scale. One that Morrison has learned from the Safeway’s enterprise approach on rolling deep discounts, wherein it found to be defeating the â€Å"selling schemes†. Thus, managing the risks in â€Å"horizontal acquisition† has gained Morrison’s capability to undertake strategic competition that transformed the â€Å"old Morrison business† through the new outfit of Safeway supermarket. It may be then generally perceived that Capron’s theory on â€Å"horizontal acquisition† has transformative business value in enhancing the financial investment and liquidating a frozen asset [like Morrison’s 53 stores that are non-performing], of which a â€Å"unilateral† financial divestment scheme in managing risk investment, that is vulnerable to tightened competition, gains flexibility upon acquiring an established business venture. However, this assumption is perceptive of a challenge to the continuing financial divestment of core industries in the global market. List of References Capron, L. (1999) ‘The Long-Term Performance of Horizontal Acquisition’. Strategic Management Journal, pp. 987-1018, John Wiley Sons, Ltd. , CCC 0143– 2095/99/110987–32. Dickson, M. (2004). ‘Companies UK: Safeway Sale’. The Financial Times (2008). [online] available from http://search. ft. com/ftArticle? queryText=Morrison%E2%80%99s+takeover+of+Safe wayy=3aje=truex=16id=040521002246ct=0 [14 June 2008] Milne, R. (2003). ’ Countdown Starts for Morrisons Bid for Safeway’. The Financial Times (2008). [online] available from http://search. ft. com/ftArticle? queryText=Morrison%E2%80%99s+takeover+of+Safe wayy=3aje=truex=16id=031208004508ct=0 [14 June 2008]