Audio Books Helped Melinda Get Into the College of Her Choice!
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Paul Simari asked:
Her parents both graduated from Princeton. Her brother is a junior at Princeton now, and plays on the basketball team there. Even her uncle is a mathematics professor at Princeton, so when it came time for Melinda to choose a college that she wanted to apply to, it was an easy choice. She wanted to be a Princeton Tiger as well.
But Melinda knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Her brother, James, didn’t have the best grades in the world, but was able to get in with a basketball scholarship. Melinda, however, wasn’t blessed with any natural talents, and so she would have to get in like everyone else - the hard way. She was a B student in high school - pretty good. But ‘pretty good’ usually isn’t good enough to be accepted at Princeton - you have to be among the best. She had some other positive things going for her - she was the leader of the school marching band, and had done a lot of volunteer work with cancer patients. So with some luck, and maybe the help of her professor uncle, Melinda had hope.
But there was one thing that was sure to work against Melinda - her SAT scores. Melinda was a smart girl, but for some reason, test taking was just not her strong point. Maybe it was nerves, she wasn’t sure. The first time she took the SAT about halfway through her junior year, she scored a 1090 - still in the top third of her class, but nowhere near Princeton material, which requires a minimum SAT score of 1200 to even be considered as an applicant. If Melinda was to become a Tiger, she would need to improve her SAT score … but how?
When Melinda approached her guidance counselor with her problem, the counselor gave her an audio book on tips and techniques for taking tests. “Go home tonight and listen to this,” Melinda’s counselor said. “Take notes on what you hear, then return it to me. This should help you raise your score to what you need it to be.”
Melinda went home that night and listened to the tape. She jotted down things that the tape said would help her score higher - such as to get a good nights sleep the night before, and listen to classical music for the hour directly prior to the test. That weekend, she took the SAT a second time, and immediately noticed that she was more relaxed, focused, and sharp. Sure enough, when she received the results in the mail, Melinda learned she had scored a 1270 - an improvement of almost 200 points! Later on in the year, she was accepted to Princeton and joined her brother and uncle as fellow Tigers - and she had an audio book to thank for her success!
Roland
Her parents both graduated from Princeton. Her brother is a junior at Princeton now, and plays on the basketball team there. Even her uncle is a mathematics professor at Princeton, so when it came time for Melinda to choose a college that she wanted to apply to, it was an easy choice. She wanted to be a Princeton Tiger as well.
But Melinda knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Her brother, James, didn’t have the best grades in the world, but was able to get in with a basketball scholarship. Melinda, however, wasn’t blessed with any natural talents, and so she would have to get in like everyone else - the hard way. She was a B student in high school - pretty good. But ‘pretty good’ usually isn’t good enough to be accepted at Princeton - you have to be among the best. She had some other positive things going for her - she was the leader of the school marching band, and had done a lot of volunteer work with cancer patients. So with some luck, and maybe the help of her professor uncle, Melinda had hope.
But there was one thing that was sure to work against Melinda - her SAT scores. Melinda was a smart girl, but for some reason, test taking was just not her strong point. Maybe it was nerves, she wasn’t sure. The first time she took the SAT about halfway through her junior year, she scored a 1090 - still in the top third of her class, but nowhere near Princeton material, which requires a minimum SAT score of 1200 to even be considered as an applicant. If Melinda was to become a Tiger, she would need to improve her SAT score … but how?
When Melinda approached her guidance counselor with her problem, the counselor gave her an audio book on tips and techniques for taking tests. “Go home tonight and listen to this,” Melinda’s counselor said. “Take notes on what you hear, then return it to me. This should help you raise your score to what you need it to be.”
Melinda went home that night and listened to the tape. She jotted down things that the tape said would help her score higher - such as to get a good nights sleep the night before, and listen to classical music for the hour directly prior to the test. That weekend, she took the SAT a second time, and immediately noticed that she was more relaxed, focused, and sharp. Sure enough, when she received the results in the mail, Melinda learned she had scored a 1270 - an improvement of almost 200 points! Later on in the year, she was accepted to Princeton and joined her brother and uncle as fellow Tigers - and she had an audio book to thank for her success!
Roland
