College & Career Readiness

What is the Accuplacer Assessment?

Accuplacer is a web-based assessment that will evaluate your academic abilities in reading, writing and mathematics. Technical and Community Colleges often give this assessment to students to place them in appropriate level coursework.  The accuplacer is not offered at Albany High School.  Students who are required to take it should contact the Technical and Community College they applied to in order to set up a time to take the assessment.

Testing Tips:

1. Relax! Accuplacer is designed to help you achieve academic success in college. Your score helps determine where you need to start with your course work.
2. Get plenty of rest and eat properly before taking the Accuplacer assessment. Arrive a few minutes early.
3. Pay careful attention to the directions for each question and be sure you understand the directions before you begin each test.
4. Understand that this is an adaptive test. Questions are chosen for you based on your answers to previous questions. Because the test is given this way, you must answer each question as it is presented. You may not omit or come back to any questions, but you may change your mind before continuing to the next question. If you don't change your mind and you continue, your answer is accepted and you cannot return to it.
5. If you don't know the answer to a question, use the process of elimination to narrow it to the answer that appears to be the best option.
6. Textbooks, notebooks, dictionaries, calculators or other paper of any kind (except scratch paper provided by the proctor) are not allowed in the testing room. Following the test, no test materials will be allowed to leave the room.

Practice Test Resources:

The College Board website is an excellent resource to help students prepare for the Accuplacer.

Test Prep Review at http://www.testprepreview.com contains practice test questions and other resources.

Numerous Accuplacer study guides and practice questions are available at http://www.aims.edu/student/assessment/studyguides/

Sponsored by Purdue University, the OWL Online Writing Lab offers handouts and exercises on grammar, spelling and punctuation.

What Is The ACT?

The ACT is a national college admissions examination that consists of subject area tests in: 

English, Math, Science, and Reading.

The ACT Plus Writing includes the four subject area tests plus a 40-minute Writing Test.

ACT results are accepted by all four-year colleges and universities in the US.

The ACT includes 215 multiple-choice questions and takes approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes to complete, including a short break (or just over four hours if you are taking the ACT Plus Writing). Actual testing time is 2 hours and 55 minutes (plus 40 minutes if you are taking the ACT Plus Writing).

The State of Minnesota now requires all schools to offer students in grades 11 and 12 an opportunity to participate in a nationally recognized college entrance exam on a a school day.  Students may take advantage of this opportunity once as a student at Albany Area Schools. 

The basic registration fee of $23.00 includes score reports for up to four college choices.  If you do not list college choices, you would later be required to pay a fee of $12.00 per college.

What is the ASVAB Career Exploration Program?

The ASVAB  Career Exploration Program can help you take steps now toward finding a career that's right for you.  You can benefit from the program whether you plan to pursue further education after high school or enter the workforce right away. This program is designed to help you:

   1. learn more about yourself and the world of work
   2. explore occupations in line with your interests and skills
   3. develop an effective strategy to realize your career goals

The first step toward finding a career is to spend some time finding out about yourself.  The ASVAB Career Exploration Program includes tests and activities that help you identify your interests and provide information about your verbal skills, math skills, and science and technical skills.  The program can also help you find out how your interests and skills relate to the demands of more than 400 occupations and start making your educational and career plans.

Take advantage of the ASVAB Career Exploration Program as you consider a full range of career options.

To learn more, visit the website at: http://www.asvabprogram.com

ASVAB test is usually given in September at Albany High School.  Sign up in the Counseling Office if you would like to test. 

What is CAREERwise?

CAREERwise is Minnesota's career, education, and job resource that can be used to explore your career, plan your education, and find a job.

Click CAREERwise to start exploring today.

What is MCIS?

The Minnesota Career Information System (MCIS) is a fee-based subscription available in more than 80 percent of Minnesota schools. The system is Internet-based and offers a wealth of career, educational and labor market information in one comprehensive, easy-to-use tool. MCIS included interest and skill assessments, information on colleges, program requirements for various occupations, ACT practice tests and more. Using MCIS, students have the option of building a portfolio so they can plan and track progress toward their educational goals.

Plan Your Future: 

Learn more about yourself, plan your education, and create a career plan.

Assessments: 

Answer questions about yourself and connect to occupations that may interest you.

Occupations: 

Explore different occupations and find out what people do at work.

Learn about industries and investigate career options in the military. 

Find out if self-employment is a good fit for you.

Education: 

Identify programs of study that interest you and schools that offer them.

Learn more about apprenticeships.

Explore your options for paying for school.

Employment:

Create a résumé.

Learn how to apply and interview for jobs.

Find ways to succeed on your job.

Create and save a portfolio.

What Is the PSAT?

The PSAT assesses the critical reading, mathematics, and writing skills students need for college and beyond.

Students sign up for the PSAT in Infinite Campus. A link to sign up for the PSAT at Albany High School is sent to all juniors and their guardians. The cost is $18.

To view PSAT calendar visit this website:

 https://www.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt/calendar

What Is The SAT?

The SAT is a globally recognized college admission test that lets you show colleges what you know and how well you can apply that knowledge. It tests your knowledge of reading, writing and math — subjects that are taught every day in high school classrooms. Most students take the SAT during their junior or senior year of high school, and almost all colleges and universities use the SAT to make admission decisions.

Taking the SAT is the first step in finding the right college for you — the place where you can further develop your skills and pursue your passions. But SAT scores are just one of many factors that colleges consider when making their admission decisions. High school grades are also very important. In fact, the combination of high school grades and SAT scores is the best predictor of your academic success in college.

What's On The SAT:

The SAT doesn’t test logic or abstract reasoning. It tests the skills you’re learning in school: reading, writing and math. Your knowledge and skills in these subjects are important for success in college and throughout your life.

• The critical reading section includes reading passages and sentence completions.
• The writing section includes a short essay and multiple-choice questions on identifying errors and improving grammar and usage.
• The mathematics section includes questions on arithmetic operations, algebra, geometry, statistics and probability.

Taking The SAT:

Most students take the SAT during the spring of their junior year of high school. Many students choose to take the SAT a second time in the fall of their senior year after becoming familiar with the test day experience.

To view upcoming dates for the SAT visit this website:

http://sat.collegeboard.org/register