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September 9, 2019

Do You Want to Go to Stanford? Take Risks.

It's as true in college as it is anywhere else: If you want big rewards, you have to take risks.

The typical high schooler just wants an A in AP Calculus and maybe a job as a manager someday. Those are small rewards, and they come only after you do exactly what you're told to. If you take that path, people will tell you what to do for the rest of your life.

At Stanford, the expectations are totally different. Look at what's published on its Web site:

Study shows Stanford alumni create nearly $3 trillion in economic impact each year
Stanford University has long been known as one of the world's leading centers for innovation and a breeding ground for the entrepreneurs who created – and continue to shape – Silicon Valley. Now, for the first time, a study puts into perspective the sheer scale of the university's economic impact, not just in Silicon Valley and California but across the globe.
The word innovation appears 10 times in that article. Entrepreneur shows up 14 times. Founded is seen five times (companies founded twice, organizations once, firms once, and legendary founders once).

Stanford rewards risk-taking. It wants students who will enhance its reputation as a leading center for innovation and add to its $3 trillion in economic impact each year.

Stanford has entrepreneurship classes. That's the sort of thing that should make you salivate. Keep a hanky on you just in case.
High schools don't make innovation opportunities part of their normal curriculum. You have to seek them out. That's what makes you an entrepreneur.

Check out Paul Graham, the startup founder with a degree from Cornell and two from Harvard. He's written some insightful articles, including one titled Inequality and Risk:
Why not just have the government, or some large almost-government organization like Fannie Mae, do the venture investing instead of private funds? 
I'll tell you why that wouldn't work. Because then you're asking government or almost-government employees to do the one thing they are least able to do: take risks
As anyone who has worked for the government knows, the important thing is not to make the right choices, but to make choices that can be justified later if they fail. If there is a safe option, that's the one a bureaucrat will choose. But that is exactly the wrong way to do venture investing. The nature of the business means that you want to make terribly risky choices, if the upside looks good enough.
If you're studying for a history test, yes, you should worry about failure. That's a low-risk, low-reward activity. If you decide to goof off, you'd better be able to justify your decision later.

You can't treat your Stanford application like a school test. An exception might apply if you're a star athlete or math competition champion, someone who's already taken risks and proven herself on the battlefield.

My rooommate at Stanford was a risk-taker. He programmed and hosted Stanford's first social media network — two years before Mark Zuckerberg founded the precursor to Facebook. I watched him do it from his 120 square foot bedroom. (Since then, Stanford may have become even more entrepreneurial.)

Don't worry too much about success. Put my roommate's accomplishments next to Zuckerberg's and ask yourself whether the former's seeming failure makes the idea any less remarkable.

The first attempt to innovate is usually underwhelming. Look at Brownian motion, the random movement of dust and pollen grains, which a biologist first observed in 1785. (Dust particles move without being pushed, but they're not alive?!) The research was set aside until 1880, when someone was able describe the observations mathematically. Scientists started to apply the equations in diverse ways, ranging from evidence for the existence of atoms to a pricing theory for stocks and options. An observation about dust (!) that failed to generate results for 95 years eventually led to Nobel Prizes in both physics and economics.

Apple's 1993 attempt at a hand-held computer failed, only to set the groundwork for the launch of the PalmPilot four years later and, eventually, the iPhone.

Failure is normal. Don't punish yourself. It creates great learning experiences that you can write about in your application essays.

To succeed, you have to fail. To fail, you have to start.

Pick one or two extracurricular interests and drill down deep. Get noticed. Blog about your progress every week. Have opinions. Disagree with your teachers (the ones who are okay with it).

Let people see you catching fire!


September 6, 2019

SAT/ACT Tutoring in Exchange for Multi-Factor Strategy

Update: I've added a link to Adaptive Asset Allocation and added an additional note for those selling insurance products.

Open Offer

I'll provide $10,000 of free SAT/ACT tutoring to the first East Bay financial adviser who offers as an investible option a strategy that has historically done better than the multi-factor one described in AQR's recent paper Buffett's Alpha (supporting documentation required).

Buffett's Alpha
This chart is from Buffett's Alpha, one of the papers covered in my Quant Finance course.

To be clear, such strategies exist, but they're not normally offered to retail investors like us. I'd like to know whom I can direct people to who will do a good job.

Since most managers don't have a history going back to 1976, funds with a transparent investing methodology that can be backtested back to 1976 or earlier would suffice. Funds with semi-transparent strategies, such as AQR's funds, may qualify if their Portfolio Visualizer factor loadings are large and consistent with the funds' stated goals. A reasonable case can be made for a fund if its factor loadings are greater than Berkshire Hathaway's.

There are publicly traded ETFs and mutual funds that qualify. The adviser would need to provide evidence, such as a Web link, that those funds are offered to clients on a regular basis.

If you sell insurance products that are intended to provide downside protection (floors), you're welcome to use the Sortino ratio, which should make your products look more favorable. (Managers should be using the Sortino ratio anyway as their default metric.)

Strategy Example

Here's another strategy that's historically worked and is relatively simple: Adaptive Asset Allocation. After trading costs and fees, it has a Sharpe ratio of 0.82, higher than Warren Buffett's 0.79. The historical annualized return has been 7.7% percent with 9.4% volatility (a smoother ride than the stock market itself), is positive in 84% of all years, and handled the 2000 and 2008 recessions very well.

Meb Faber tests a similar strategy back to 1973 in his mini-paper A Quantitative Approach to Tactical Asset Allocation. AQR has also done an extensive out-of-sample test of a related concept, trend following, in the paper Trends Everywhere and finds that it works in "normal" assets classes (U.S. and international stocks) as well as alternatives like VIX futures and long/short factors.

Needless to say, if you implement something like this for your clients, you qualify.

This chart is from Adaptive Asset Allocation, one of the papers covered in my Quant Finance course.
The offer is transferable to the relative of your choice. I have perfect scores, so it's not a run-of-the-mill offer. Please contact me if you're interested. Thanks!

(This page has been active since June 11, 2019. I've sent it to every financial adviser who has contacted me as well as those who have advertised their services on NextDoor. So far, no one has attempted to claim the prize. It's still available!)

August 26, 2019

Summer Science Programs (Bay Area)

Update: I've added a link to my Quantitative Finance course.

Check out these summer science programs for high school students in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Quantitative Finance course
This curriculum starts at a fairly basic level (introduction to diversification, trend following, and relative momentum) and culminates with advanced reading in academic papers. 
Prerequisites
  • A deep-seated interest in how financial markets work
  • An A grade in either precalculus or high school statistics (AP Calculus AB or AP Statistics preferred)
  • Ability to commit a minimum of six hours per week to finance homework

John Muir Summer Internship Program
The John Muir Health (JMH) Summer Internship is an eight week, full time, paid internship for high school students entering their junior or senior year, with an interest in pursuing a health care career. Students are hired as temporary JMH employees, are placed in a single department for the eight weeks and perform clerical work (no patient care) in that department. At the end of the internship, interns receive a performance appraisal, just like all JMH employees. Students completing the summer internship with a passing grade will receive high school elective credits.

Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program
The Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR) is an eight-week program in which high school students from diverse backgrounds are invited to perform basic research with Stanford faculty, postdoctoral fellows, students and researchers on a medically-oriented project. The goals of the program include increasing interest in biological sciences and medicine in high school students, helping students to understand how scientific research is performed, and increasing diversity of students and researchers in the sciences.


Stanford Medical Youth Science Program
Stanford Medical Youth Science Program is a five-week residential enrichment program focused on science and medicine that is open to low-income and underrepresented minority high school sophomores and juniors who live in Northern and Central California.

Santa Clara University's Summer Engineering Seminar 
The School of Engineering at Santa Clara University is pleased to announce its 28th annual Summer Engineering Seminar (SES) program. This special summer experience is for current high school sophomores and juniors who are interested in exploring the field of engineering. The program is designed to acquaint participants with the engineering profession, the academic expectations of college, and the nature of life at a university. 
NASA Education Associates Program 
The NASA Education Associates Program (EAP) offers students, post-docs and faculty paid internships that allow students the opportunity to work with scientists and engineers on NASA projects. The NASA EAP is a unique workforce development program that provides hands-on experience for participants in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and other academic disciplines. The NASA EAP is a year-round program and has a variety of time frames available. 
NASA Internships
NASA Internships are educational hands-on opportunities that provide unique NASA-related research and operational experiences for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students as well as educators. These internships integrate participants with career professionals emphasizing mentor-directed, degree-related, real-time world task completion. During the internship participants engage in scientific or engineering research, development, and operations activities. In addition, there are non-technical internship opportunities to engage in professional activities which support NASA business and administrative processes. Through these internships, participants leverage NASA's unique mission activities and mentorship to enhance and increase their professional capabilities and clarify their long-term career goals.

Metropolitan Transportation Commission High School Internship Program
Bay Area
MTC provides approximately 30 High School summer internships.  These positions are located throughout the nine counties of the SF Bay Area:  Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. Each internship is for a maximum of 250 hours and is between the months of June thru August. 

Sonoma State University: Summer High School STEM Internship Program
Rohnert Park, CA
Since 2008, this program has matched top Sonoma County high school juniors with faculty mentors at SSU to collaborate on research projects in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In addition to $1,000 stipends, students are given opportunities to work on challenging research projects in state-of-the-art facilities and interact with faculty and SSU students in the university environment. These students then act as ambassadors to relay the highlights of their work to their classmates, friends, counselors, teachers, and principals during their senior years.

Summer Youth Intensive Program (SYIP)
Berkeley, CA
SYIP is intended for the most accomplished high school students who are passionate about learning and doing scientific research in chemistry, biochemical chemistry, material science, or related fields and who are focused on maximizing their future success in college.
Selected students are paired with an assigned mentor in a faculty research group. The mentor provides 9 months of remote coaching. Students learn about the mentor’s current research, strategies, and aims in preparation for a 4-week on-site internship in the assigned mentor’s research laboratory.

Introductory College Level Experience in Microbiology
Berkeley, CA
The Introductory College Level Experience in Microbiology (iCLEM) is an eight-week paid summer science intensive for economically disadvantaged high school sophomores and juniors. The program seeks to broaden students’ understanding of biotechnology, microbiology, and biofuels. In addition to completing a research project, the program also exposes students to career exploration and preparation for the college application process.

Berkeley Lab: K-12 Programs (article)


Summer Research Program at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute
The CHORI Summer Research Program is designed to provide an unsurpassed opportunity for students to immerse themselves in the world of basic and/or clinical research for three months during the summer. The program pairs students with one or two CHORI principal investigators who serve as mentors, guiding the students through the design and testing of their own hypotheses and methodology development. At the end of the summer, students present their research to their peers just as any professional researcher would do.

UC Davis Young Scholars Program
The UC Davis Young Scholars Program is a summer residential research program designed to expose approximately 40 high achieving high school students to the world of original research in the natural sciences with emphases on the biological, environmental and agricultural sciences. To be eligible for the summer of 2017, students must be currently enrolled as sophomores or juniors in high school. UC Davis Young Scholars Program participation is not limited to California students. Participants in the 2017 UC Davis Young Scholars Program will work one-on-one with research faculty and research groups in state of the art laboratories for six weeks. Each student will work on an individual project and prepare a journal quality paper and symposium presentation about their work. In addition to scientific research, the UC Davis Young Scholars Program strives to introduce participants to the climate and culture of living and working on a university campus. Staff make every effort to model the experiences that participants will have during their first years of college.

August 23, 2019

Q&A: How much do college admissions consultants charge?

Update: I've added a link to the $10,000 open offer.

Admissions consultants typically charge $100 to $500 an hour. That sounds high but has to be placed in context with other professionals' fees.

For example, a Merrill Lynch financial adviser typically charges about 2% per year of your $300,000 brokerage account, which amounts to $3000/hour if you meet with him two hours per year. You're likely to just be placed in funds that track with index funds anyway, so there's probably not much value added from security selection. (By the way, if you put your clients into strategies that will add value, please contact me. I have a $10,000 open offer than you can claim.)




Plumbers, electricians, and even lawyers are cheap by comparison.

If an admissions consultant can help you secure scholarships or schools with programs you didn't otherwise know about, I think it's worth the money.

Take the time to interview a couple of counselors and then decide whether you'd prefer to hire someone rather than do the job yourself. Start here:

Audrey Slaughter (A Road Map for College)

Kristen Fang (Admissions coaching and preparation for investment banking careers)

August 17, 2019

SAT Literature Subject Test: The Best Prep Books

Update: I've added material to the Background Knowledge section of this post.

The SAT Literature Subject Test, like SAT Critical Reading, is very difficult to write practice questions for. Each question has to be properly tricky while still having one objectively correct answer and four others that are unambiguously wrong. The College Board's tests do this far better than third-party practice tests do.

You'll need a hybrid study plan: College Board tests combined with content review from a third-party company. Here's a list of the best prep books.


The Official Study Guide for ALL SAT Subject Tests

This book has the only officially released SAT Literature practice test available.

Pros
If you're going to take several Subject Tests, you need this book anyway.

Cons
The answer explanations only cover the answer choice that's correct for each question and ignores the incorrect choices. If you want to prep effectively, you have to be able to explain to yourself why each of those choices is objectively wrong.


College Board Online Practice for SAT Literature

You need all the official practice you can get for this test.

Pros
These are official questions, and they're free!

Cons
There aren't enough online questions to form a full practice test, and they're easier than the questions you'll see on the real exam.


Ivy Global Online SAT Literature Practice Test and Answer Explanations
Ivy Global, which has published fairly accurate SAT practice tests, has a downloadable SAT Literature practice test.

The test itself is realistic, but it has answer key errors. (The online explanations contradict the key at the back of the test.)
#26 is D, not A
#27 is A, not D
#43 is B, not D

Here are my own answer explanations for two questions for which I thought Ivy Global's explanations were not very clear:

For #4, the poem describes a train rushing through the city's great gaunt gut, which literally means a large, thin intestine.
(A) doesn't match the idea of an intestine,
(B) points to criminals that aren't in the poem, and
(C) is problematic because there's no support for the word efficient or for whatever the subway is supposed to be digesting.
The word viscera in (E) works, but the words bloated and distended don't, as they suggest a swollen stomach and not a gaunt one.
(D) is the answer, as "sprawling" matches the idea of a long intestine, while "cheerless" matches the words weary, sick, heavy, swallowed, and moans.

#8 is tough because of the vocabulary words in the answer choices:
(A) doesn't work because the word bucolic refers to the pleasant aspect of countryside life, and most of the imagery in the second half of the poem is ocean-related.
(B) is wrong because there's so suggestion that the wind will end up escaping the subway in the future. Just because it "wants" to doesn't mean that anything will happen.
(C) contrasts concrete (actual) realities with surreal (bizarre, unrealistic, dreamlike) fantasies. Unfortunately, the metaphor of a subway as a human intestine (a strange description of reality) is more bizarre than the picture of wind gently blowing palm trees and ships (a fantasy grounded in reality).
(D) is wrong because the poem is talking about the wind desiring to be somewhere else, not about some imagined war between humanity and nature.
(E) is correct: everything the wind touches in the first half of the poem is either human or human-made, while everything in the second half of the poem describes the setting the wind would like to be in.


Kaplan SAT Subject Test Literature

This is the only prep book I've seen with well-written content review practice questions. The 2017 edition is identical to the 2015-16 edition I'm reviewing.

Pros
Considering how inaccurate and confusing unofficial questions tend to be, the ones in chapters 1-7 are actually pretty good. The only poorly written question is problem 2 in chapter 4.

Cons
This book will overprep you slightly: you probably don't need to know the term anastrophe, for example, although it's helpful to be familiar with the idea that poetry can change a sentence's word order to make it fit a poem's rhyme scheme and meter. You don't need to know a sonnet's exact rhyme scheme, although it can be helpful to be able to identify a sonnet and to recognize that its main point is always contained in the last two lines.

The practice questions in chapters 1-7 are well-written, but the answer explanations are unhelpfully short.

Avoid the diagnostic test and the practice tests. which have poorly written questions that will make you legitimately confused about which answer choices are correct.


Ivy Global's SAT Subject Test in Literature: Study Guide & 6 Practice Tests

Ivy Global's content review chapters aren't as good as Kaplan's, but the Ivy Global practice tests are better.

Pros
I worked through all of the content review as well as the first three practice tests and didn't run into any issues except for two questions on test #2 - pretty impressive for a subject that's hard to write practice questions for.

The tests' answer explanations are thorough and accurate.

Cons
This is a big one: the practice questions in the content review don't have answer explanations. Good luck trying to review your work on your own!

If you need explanations, go through the content review in the Kaplan book before taking Ivy Global's practice tests.

Errata
On the second practice test, watch out for #16 (nostalgia requires positive feelings about the past that aren't present in the passage) and #33 (it seems to me that both self-interest and pride are valid answers, as self-interest isn't strictly incompatible with consideration for others' feelings; you just have to consider your own feelings before those of others).


The Official SAT Study Guide, 2018 Edition

The Critical Reader: The Complete Guide to SAT Reading (Erica Meltzer)

Yes, I'm recommending regular SAT books. The new SAT's Critical Reading section is tricky enough to help you train for the SAT Literature and AP English tests. Here are the differences:



New SAT Critical Reading SAT Literature AP English Literature multiple choice
Passage Difficulty Medium Hard Hard
Question Difficulty Hard Hard Very Hard
Time per Question 75 seconds 57 seconds 65 seconds
Curve Brutal Hard Forgiving

Neither SAT Literature nor the AP test has the SAT's tricky Supporting Evidence questions ("Which choice provides the best evidence for...").

The more forgiving the curve, the easier it is to overprep and get a perfect score. On practice tests, I usually get 52/52 correct on Critical Reading (a 400/400), 59/61 correct on SAT Literature (an 800), and 51/55 correct on AP English Literature (a 5).

You can download SAT practice tests for free online or read my reviews of SAT prep books.


AP English Literature Released Exams

If you want to challenge yourself, take the multiple choice sections of official College Board AP English Literature tests. The passages are similar to those in SAT Literature, but the questions are much harder, and they don't have any answer explanations.

You'll find a few complete released exams along with a wide selection of free-response questions at the AP English Literature Web site. Here are direct links to the complete exams:

2012 AP English Literature exam

1999 AP English Literature exam (As of 3/23/19, this link is broken. I'll keep the link on this page for now in case the College Board decides the make the test available again.)

1987 AP English Literature exam

You can also find sample multiple-choice questions starting at page 12 (PDF page 16) of the AP English Literature Course Description booklet.

If you're really serious, you can purchase more released exams from the College Board's catalog or from Amazon.


Background Knowledge

Understanding how Western thought has developed from medieval times to the 20th century is critical to finishing the SAT Literature test on time with a score of 700+. Here's a reading list designed to help you get that knowledge as quickly as possible.

I've already mentioned Kaplan SAT Subject Test Literature as a useful way to review the test's content and question types.

Sophie’s World is an engaging, readable introduction to the history of western philosophy. If you can identify how a difficult passage interacts with a major viewpoint like Christianity, Romanticism, or post-modernism, you'll be able to read much faster.

Read as many of Shakespeare's sonnets as you can. (My favorite is #130.) Get familiar with the way sonnets use meter, rhyme, and couplets as organizational tools. If you struggle with sonnets, read the couplet at the end (the last two lines) in order to figure out each sonnet's main point and return to the beginning with that information in mind. Sonnets tend to be about love or death - and sometimes both.

If you prefer to listen to a podcast, subscribe to The History of Philosophy and Christian Thought (taught by the late Dr. Ronald Nash, a professor at a Christian seminary). Listen to episodes 16- 19 (on Augustine) for an overview of medieval thought and episodes 24-27 to learn about Renaissance and Enlightenment rationalism and empiricism.

Books to Avoid

Unlike the Princeton Review's normal offerings, Cracking the SAT Literature Subject Test has confusing, poorly written questions throughout the entire book.

Barron's SAT Subject Test Literature will overprep you with a plethora of literary terms you don't need to know. The Level 1 vocab list at the beginning of chapter 5 is pretty good, but the Level 2 and Level 3 lists are a mixed bag. Why are sarcasm, imagery, and conflict in the Level 3 list, with ballad, sprung rhythm, and antiheroine in Level 2?

Going for a Perfect Score

To get a perfect score on the publicly released SAT Literature practice test, you need to get 59/61 questions right. That's like getting a 97% on a comprehensive 12th-grade English final.

This article contains everything you need to get an awesome score, but if you'd like personalized help, you can sign up for in-home or online tutoring.

August 13, 2019

SAT Chemistry Subject Test: The Best Prep Books

Update: I've added an Errata section to my review of For the Love of SAT Chemistry.

As a credentialed teacher with an M.S. in chemistry, I've noticed that some SAT Chemistry study guides are great, some are so-so, and some must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence they came.

Let's start with the great ones:

The Official SAT Subject Test in Chemistry Study Guide

If you can only afford one book, get this one. It has two official practice tests and answer explanations.

Neither of these tests is a copy of the one in The Official Study Guide for ALL SAT Subject Tests, so you should get both books if you can.

Pros
Official material is a true confidence builder. Every question you get wrong contains skills you need to practice.

Most prep books have poorly written questions, answer key errors, and questions that are unrealistically easy, difficult, or off-topic. If you get questions wrong or run out of time on unofficial tests, you'll have trouble figuring out whether the fault lies with you or with the book you're using.

Based on the raw-to-scaled score conversion tables in the book, raw scores of 80/85 and 76/85 will get you perfect 800's on the first and second practice tests,

Cons
There's no Kindle edition, so you'll have to plan ahead and order a physical copy from Amazon.


The Official Study Guide for ALL SAT Subject Tests

This book has an official chemistry practice test that isn't the same as the two in the dedicated chemistry guide (above).

Pros
If you're going to take several Subject Tests, you need this book anyway.

Cons
The test questions in this book are easier than the ones in the dedicated chemistry guide, and the curve reflects that difference: to get a perfect 800, you need a relatively high raw score of 82/85.


Strategy for True/False/CE Questions
  1. If either the first part or second part of the question is false, don't bubble in CE. For example, neither "All elephants have four legs BECAUSE elephants use their legs to eat peanuts" nor "All elephants have five legs BECAUSE elephants use their legs to walk" deserves the CE mark.
     
  2. Mark "CE" if the second part of the sentence is a good reason to believe that the first part is true. For example, "The back side of the moon never faces the Earth BECAUSE scientists have never observed the back side from the Earth's surface" should be marked CE. Strictly speaking, this is not the correct way to use the word because, but it will get you the right answer on SAT Chemistry tests.


Cracking the SAT Chemistry Subject Test

This is a good all-around study guide. It contains content review, useful strategies, and decent practice tests.

Pros
The first two practice tests are very similar to real College Board tests, and there are no answer key errors. The third one, however, contains a few poorly written questions (#104, 37, 38, 56, and 62). You may want to use that one for untimed practice.

The book's helpful content review chapters can keep you from feeling lost. The Chemistry Subject Test covers a broader range of topics than you're likely to learn in your high school class, so content review is a must.

Cons
You'll need a calculator to do some of the practice questions in the content review chapters. You're not allowed a calculator on the actual Subject Test, though, and the full practice tests included in the book are very doable using mental math.

The Princeton Review is all about giving you what you need and not one iota more. Since this book is meant for the Subject Test, you'll need to get an additional study guide if you're planning on taking the AP test, which goes into greater depth and has some additional topics you need to know, such as laboratory chemistry and reaction kinetics.


For the Love of SAT Chemistry (Chris Reddick and Michael Cerro)

This book is geared at about the same level as The Princeton Review's, but it focuses less on textbook-type content review and more on practice problems and answer explanations.

It's an excellent place to start if you like inductive learning. If you prefer to review content in an organized way before starting practice questions, go with The Princeton Review's book.

Pros
The material, including the four practice tests at the back of the book, closely mimics the content and feel of real College Board questions. The answer key is mostly accurate.

Cons
After grading each practice test, you'll be left with a raw score (out of 85 total points) without any way to convert that into a scaled score (out of 800). The scoring instructions and conversion table are waaaaaay back on pages 9-10. Follow the directions carefully: you need to remember to deduct 1/4 of a point for each answer that's incorrect!

Errata from Practice Test 2
#107 is written in an unclear way; don't penalize yourself if your answer doesn't match the book's.
#64 doesn't provide enough information for you to solve the problem, so don't worry if you get this one wrong.

Errata from Practice Test 4
#112's answer should be "T, F, no CE."
#39's answer is correct (C), but since a solution of copper(II) nitrate is blue, not colorless, choice (B) is unnecessarily confusing.
#40's answer is not (C): an ion can't take on a visible color by reflecting ultraviolet wavelengths, which are invisible to the human eye. (D) is a better choice because absorbing more light at some wavelengths than others also suggests that some wavelengths are reflected more than others.


SAT Chemistry Subject Test Problems (Christopher Bozza and Dr. Steve Warner)

This bank of practice questions has the best answer explanations I've seen in any chemistry book. The questions target exactly what's on the Subject Test, and the answer explanations are about two pages long per question.

Pros
This book has the same format as Dr. Warner's SAT and ACT Math books. You can jump right in and start working without having to wade through preliminary reading.

The practice material is very similar to real SAT Chemistry Subject Tests.

The problems in this book are arranged by topic and difficulty level, so students who don't need any content review can jump straight to the chapters that contain what they want to work on.

Cons
Most of the content review is in the answer explanations, so you can't treat this book like a textbook. You really have to engage with the material to receive the maximum benefit.

Errata
#56 on page 81 is worded in an unclear way (and therefore not answerable).

The answer to #110 on page 153 is (B), not (A). The book's answer key is mistaken!

#151 on page 205 is unrealistically difficult. Although you'll need to know how to do unit conversions for SAT Chemistry, you won't have to convert between amperes, coulombs, and moles.

#39 on page 225 has two correct answers: (C) and (E).

#68 on page 233 expects students to (1) figure out that lanthanum has a larger radius than potassium, and (2) go against their intuition that potassium should actually be more reactive, since it's an akali metal that reacts violently with water. Those expectations go against students' experience with metals' reactivities and would not show up on a real test. #71 (below) has a similar problem.

The answer to #71 on page 234 is (B), not (E). Potassium is more metallic than barium based on its Mohs hardness and its reactivity with water.

#83 on page 238 is unrealistically difficult: vapor pressure is related to boiling point, since a liquid boils when its vapor pressure becomes equal to atmospheric pressure. Students shouldn't be expected to know which of the liquids in the list has the highest boiling point (and therefore the lowest vapor pressure). The book's answer is wrong anyway: bromine, octane, and nitrogen trichloride all have boiling points that are higher than 100°C and therefore have lower vapor pressures than water does.

#88 on page 240 is also unrealistically hard. The correct answer should be (C), not (D), since Mg(OH)2 is not a strong base due to its poor solubility in water (0.00064 g/100 mL at room temperature).

#94 on page 241 has two correct answers: (A) and (C).

#125 on page 250 is problematic because the nitrogen atoms in the NH2 groups have lone pairs that can be delocalized into the benzene-like rings through resonance. Those nitrogen atoms are likely to be either sp2-hybridized or somwhere between sp2 and sp3. For this reason, (B) is a better answer than (D).

The second sentence of #130 on page 251 should read "saturated hydrocarbon," not "unsaturated hydrocarbon."

The answer to #136 on page 253 is (B), not (D).

#145 on page 255 has two correct answers, (A) and (B). RbCl and RbF are both soluble in water, while PbO and PbS are insoluble. The soluble salts will produce equal numbers of ions, causing the light bulb to glow with equal intensity, while the insoluble salts will produce negligible concentrations of ions, making the light bulb very dim.

#149 on page 256 is slightly questionable: HI is larger molecule but should also be less polar than HCl, so strictly speaking, students would have to look up the boiling points of both compounds to know the answer. HCl does have a lower boiling point, so it has a higher vapor pressure. (Recall that something boils when its vapor pressure becomes equal to atmospheric pressure, so high-vapor-pressure compounds boil first.)

#159 on page 260 should say, "Absorption of a photon CAN [but doesn't have to] cause electrons to become excited to a higher energy level." Photon absorption can also result in a change in electron spin (radio waves), molecular vibrational states (infrared), or molecular rotational states (microwaves), so the problem needs to be clear that photon absorption can lead to consequences other than just electrons becoming excited (visible and ultraviolet radiation).


Sterling Test Prep SAT Chemistry Practice Questions: High Yield SAT Chemistry Questions with Detailed Explanations 

This is a huge bank of practice questions. It's useful if you're already scoring 800 and want to challenge yourself some more.

Pros
Sterling highlights the trickiest topics on SAT Chemistry, including amphoteric compounds, flame test colors, solubility rules, and unusual Lewis structures. If you like hard questions, this is the book to get.

Cons
Despite the claim on the book's cover, most of the questions don't have answer explanations.

Since the questions are organized by topic, you have to work on one chapter at a time. There aren't any timed practice tests.

The book covers some topics that are so hard I doubt they'd ever show up on the Subject Test. For example, it expects you to know the exact role of each of the four quantum numbers. You also have to calculate a dipole moment given the size and distance of two separated charges. (!)

Don't use Sterling until your foundation is very solid. Be willing to Google the explanations for topics you don't understand.

Books to Avoid

I'm not sure how Kaplan's SAT Chemistry (2013-14 edition) got its four-star Amazon reviews. The practice questions in the content review chapters are very calculator-based, and the content review includes some difficult AP-only topics, such as zero, first, and second order reaction kinetics and complicated redox reaction balancing involving H+, OH-, and H2O.

The diagnostic test isn't any better. Out of 85 total questions, two are AP-level rate law questions (#107 and #37), one is an AP-level diffusion rate question (#44), and seven are written in a way that could legitimately make you think there's something wrong with the answer choices (#9, 30, 31, 58-60, and 64). In addition, some of the diagnostic questions are hard to do without a calculator. #69, for example, makes you do a proportion involving the ratio 2/7. (2/7 is about 0.29, in case you're wondering.) Official tests stick to easy fractions like 5/2 or 88/44.

Barron's SAT Chemistry (2009 edition) is even worse: out of 85 questions, the diagnostic test has ten unrealistically tricky questions (#4, 9, 113, 34, 38, 45, 49, 57, 67, and 70) and eight unclearly worded questions (#14, 17, 106, 107, 43, 46, 52, and 56). The 2016 edition fixes questions 4, 17, 113, 45, 52, 56, and 67, but questions 9, 14, 106, 107, 34, 38, 43, 46, 49, 57, and 70 remain problematic.

If you're planning to take the AP test, know that McGraw-Hilll's 5 Steps to a 5 on AP Chemistry (2017 edition) is also really bad. There were so many incorrectly drawn diagrams and poorly written questions on Practice Test #1 alone that I had to quit before I got to the free-response section. I know this book has a four-star Amazon review average, but pay close attention to the negative reviews!


Suggested Study Schedule

Unlike Math Level 2, SAT Chemistry doesn't have many quality prep books. I suggest following the study schedule below.
  1. Take the first Princeton Review practice test and read the answer explanations.
  2. Go through all of the content review in the Princeton Review's Cracking the SAT: Chemistry. Alternatively, you can go through the first thirteen chapters of For the Love of SAT Chemistry.
  3. Read the articles on my Web site about flame test colorssolubility rules, saturation/unsaturation, and avoiding small calculation mistakes.
  4. Take the second Princeton Review practice test and read the answer explanations.
  5. Go through Dr. Warner's SAT Chemistry practice book. Read the answer explanations carefully.
  6. Borrow an AP Chemistry textbook and review your weakest topics. Keep reviewing and re-taking the original two practice tests until your score is 800.
  7. Take the official practice test in the Official Study Guide for ALL SAT Subject Tests. Go over the test with a fine-toothed comb. Make sure you understand every question so well that you could stand up and teach it in a classroom.
  8. Do the same for the two official practice tests in The Official SAT Subject Test in Chemistry Study Guide. At this point, you should be scoring solid 800's.
  9. If you need more practice tests, use the four at the back of For the Love of SAT Chemistry.
  10. The week before the real test, re-take one practice test a day. Your goal at this point is to increase confidence, not to learn new material. You should receive an 800 on each of the five re-takes. If you don't, you have a good idea of what to review.

Going for a Perfect Score

A raw score of 80/85 will usually get you a perfect scaled 800 on SAT Chemistry. Even after the test deducts a quarter of a point for every question you get wrong, you can afford to miss four of the eighty-five problems. That's like getting a 95% on a comprehensive high school chemistry final.

The books above contain everything you need to get an awesome score, but if you'd like personalized help, you can sign up for in-home or online tutoring.

May 31, 2019

Four Ways to Create a Presence on the Internet

When you type your name into Google's search engine, what do you find? That's what colleges will see.

A social media presence can either help or hurt you. Whether you're applying for a selective program or building a reputation that will help you find a job later, it's important to present yourself as a knowledgeable member of the community.

Start by filling out in the blank in the sentence below:

"I want the world to see me as ________________________."

Here are some examples: "the owner of a growing yard care business," "a budding expert in food chemistry," "the go-to person for information about new home sales in Walnut Creek, CA"

All of the examples above can be self-fulling prophecies. If, for example, you start a blog and post pictures of and information about every newly built home that sold in your home town from 2017-2019, you will become an expert in your niche of the real estate market.

You won't have any trouble finding information for new posts, and if you do a good job, Realtors will start linking to your blog as a convenient source of information. Google will use those links to raise your rankings in its search engine. Colleges will perceive you as an expert because, for all intents and purposes, your dedicated work will have made you one. The blog might even kick-start your career.

Start by creating focus in your existing online presence. Privatize or erase any content in your social media accounts that would distract people from the image you'd like to create. Remove any posts that are politically motivated (unless you specifically want to become an expert in politics).

Doing this will leave you with no choice but to become better at the things you are allowed to post about. You'll have to interact with people who share your interests in order to keep your accounts on-topic, which will eventually lead to future job opportunities and project collaborations.

Here are four great places to build your online presence:

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is specifically designed to help people build and search for online resumes. A well-constructed profile is also the fastest way to get onto the first page of search results when someone Googles you. (The first result when you search for my name is my own LinkedIn profile.)

This is the place to start if you have any prior work or research experience in your field. Here are some resources to help you create a profile that will get people's attention:

Why You Should COMPLETE Your LinkedIn Profile

Please Change Your LinkedIn Headline Now.. Here's Why and How

LinkedIn All-Star Status Rocks & How To Reach it in 7 Steps

12 Steps to Reach All-Star Linkedin Profile Status

How to Fix LinkedIn's Biggest Annoyances

Twitter

More than any other option in my list, Twitter feels like the social media platforms you're used to. It has a slick Web site, easy ways to find interesting accounts to follow, and an app you can add to your phone if you feel like getting addicted.

Twitter's 140-character limit for posts will force you to express your ideas as clearly and concisely as possible. This makes it easier for people to respond to what you're saying when they're browsing on their phones.

If you have a longer idea to express, you'll have to break it up into a logical sequence of easily digestible posts, like this series about stock market volatility:


The best way to get followers is to be helpful to others:

  1. Post insightful material. Even if it's just research summaries like the one above, you're helping others who have less time than you do.
  2. Interact with others by asking and answering questions. This gets you involved in discussions where you can get noticed. Stay friendly and be willing to acknowledge both sides of every issue. You're most likely get a response from someone who has less than a thousand followers, so don't be a fanboy/girl.
  3. Be consistent. Post ten high-quality links a day or one high-quality article a week. You want to be noticed as someone who has done this for a long time by the time something you post does get attention.

You'll have to do it for a few months with slow progress - perhaps gaining one follower a week - until someone decides to share your posts. In the chart below, you can see that my own account added a large number of followers on May 22, with only slow progress during the rest of the month. Be obsessed with doing good work, and the followers will eventually come.


Finally, check out Alex Dainis's Twitter account, which she's using to market herself as a future college professor. Carolyn Bertozzi, one of my former professors, also has a pretty active Twitter presence.

YouTube

Here's a high school student who has made a YouTube channel with study aids for college-bound students. She now has 68,000 (!) subscribers and adds a thousand more each month. It's not hard, but she's been doing it very consistently for years.

That channel - along with her stellar grades, test scores, and essays - helped her get into several Ivy League schools (but not all of them).

Blogger

If you're the quiet type who likes nothing better than to write long articles and revise them until they're perfect, a blog is a great place to start. Unlike social media, a blog is completely under your control and can even be given its own "dot-com" domain name. My own Web site, for example, is a blog. Did you notice?

Keep in mind that, unlike Twitter and YouTube, there's no easy way for users to click and follow you, and you'll have to generate a lot of content in order to attract traffic to your site. For this reason, a blog is possibly the most challenging - and most rewarding - way to leave your mark on the Internet.

Start by posting a few articles or book reviews on your Blogger account. If you write one high-quality post a week for a few years, you'll have an impressive collection that you can refer to in your college application essays.

The Importance of Identity

People have short attention spans, so remember to keep your content focused. If you have two interests, create a blog for one and a Twitter account for the other. You can always link to both in your college application, but you'll never recover a follower who chooses to click away from your content.

Have a good time writing!