7A- Testing an Opportunity

1) The increasing of SAT scores in order to obtain the Florida Full-Ride scholarship. 

2) Millions of high school students in the state of Florida will be affected by this drastic change to the Bright Futures Scholarship. This change will require a bigger effort from students and a higher demand for SAT teaching services.

·        The who: High School students in Florida

·        The what: The full-ride scholarship will be harder to obtain.

·        The why: Less students ae going to be able to afford college.

3) Testing the who: Will this require more high school students to seek help?

·        Testing the what: What are the ways in which high school students can improve their score on the SAT? What will they look to improve on the SAT generally? Will high school students look for more teaching centers for help?

·        Testing the why: The majority of high school students stress and struggle with getting a sufficient score on the SAT that will guarantee them the scholarship. The range of people that are going to need to seek help after this law is passed is tremendous. Here in Florida the amount of SAT tutors and programs that exist, both in school and out, are very large and I only expect that to increase with the passing of this law.

4) Interviews: Questions I will ask.

1. When the overall score that needed to obtain was a 1300, how many attempts did it take you to do so?

2. How often would you practice the SAT?

3. How often would you say you will practice now, after this law?

4. Did you ever use attend an SAT teaching center?

5. If you do not meet the requirements in accordance to this new law, what would be your alternatives?

6. Would you say that it would be exponentially more difficult to achieve this requirement?

Interview 1- Cristina Cancio, high school student.

I decided to interview a longtime friend of mine who is currently attending high school. She stated that she is currently on her 3 attempt at the SAT and she still fails to meet the 1300 requirement. She continuously states that she practices the SAT everyday for 3 hours. She also has attended 4 different SAT teaching centers in need of help. If this Bright Futures scholarship is not obtained, it will be very difficult for her family to afford to send her to the university of her choice. She is also concerned that after this law is passed, other students will be majorly discouraged and not even attempt to achieve the scholarship.

Interview 2- Lorrany Oliveira, Current high school student.

I have decided to interview my sister. She claims that she took the SAT a total of 3 times before she got the 1300 score. She says that it not only stressed her out, but it was increasingly to prepare for it after not getting the desired score. She would practice on the weekends for about three hours each day and would take an in school SAT course. She sates that if she hadn’t obtained the score that it will be almost impossible to afford college, especially with a relative that already attends college.

Interview 3- Jackline Petrides, My mother.

As a mother, she has had two kids who have attended high school. She clams that it is stressful to watch both her kids’ study for the SAT for hours. She has invested large sums of money in purchasing SAT practice books and private tutors. She is also worried for other parents who will not be able to afford to pay for a college without the Bright Futures scholarship.

Interview 4- Kivany Hernandez

I decided to interview my neighbor who is a Sophomore in high school. This new law will directly affect him and make it harder for him to achieve the required score. He is deeply worried about not being able to achieve the required score and is prepared to invest in teaching centers in order to earn the scholarship. He has already become slightly discouraged by his inability to reach the score on the PSAT. He also said that If he doesn’t get the 1330 on the SAT he will be forced to not attend college and work a job until he can afford to pay for college.

Interview 5- Tristen Nador, current college student.

As a former high school student, Tristen Nador found it difficult to achieve the once acceptable score of 1290. He saw his academic grades plummet due to his overbearing demand for an acceptable SAT score. Tristen Nador spent hours out of the day studying for he SAT and can’t imagine what it would have been like for him to get this new score.

5) Before conducting these interviews, I underestimated the struggle that some student undergoes because of the SAT. A lot of money and time is put in to the SAT and with this new law that will be passed in Florida, I can only see a higher demand for SAT help.