Question: Do you think an aptitude test is as important for a high school student as SAT tutoring in charting their future? Apples and oranges, tomato-tomahto. Higher SAT scores can seal the deal. Yet…a battery of tests that show where you are naturally gifted and where you flail can give you a blueprint for life. Counselors in the two leading aptitude tests — Highlands and Johnson-O’Connor — can show you where your cluster of strengths fit the clusters of different professions.
Both tests and tutoring are costly.
What do you think?
Tomorrow, one of my favorite students from Cesar Chavez Prep, will take the online, 3 1/2-hour Highlands Ability Battery. Later this week, she’ll have a two-hour counseling session.
She is indulging me in this experiment. SATs are on her mind.
I want to know whether by the end of the week, she — let’s call her G., for Grit — will see her future more clearly. For example, would she thrive or despair as an occupational therapist? One of the universities on her list offers a two-year associate’s degree, which qualifies her for a starting salary of $58,000 in DC. Afterwards, G could finish her bachelor’s degree in the university’s work-study program, which would boost her salary to $85,000 to $100,000 here.
On the other hand, does G have the spatial ability to be an engineer? She’s taken Pre-Calc. Her top strength on the Strengths Finder 2.0 quiz (for $18) was Problem Solver. Engineering is a lucrative way to solve problems.
We’ll soon know more.
