SAT II MATH TEST ACED TRAVIS CURTIS, 17 CAN FIGURE THE ODDS.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer LANCASTER - Lancaster High School Lancaster High School may refer to:
``I took statistics in my junior year. I did really well and enjoyed it. I thought a career in that would be very worthwhile,'' Curtis, 17, said. He took the SAT II math test for the first time in December and did nothing special to prepare for it. ``It was just review with my teachers, because it's kind of hard to prepare for it, because it's very general. It was just looking back on the basics of the subjects I took the previous years,'' Curtis said. Curtis does recall, however, drinking a lot of juice while studying. ``I found myself drinking a lot of apple-juice boxes. That's brain power right there,'' Curtis said. Curtis earned 680 on the literature section and 610 in physics in other SAT II tests. The SAT II subject tests are used by colleges to help with decisions about admissions and to assist in course placement or exemptions. Curtis also did well on the new Scholastic Assessment Test last May, when he scored 700 in math, 640 in writing and 600 in verbal skills. The new SAT includes an essay section and no longer has analogies and quantitative comparisons. Algebra algebra, branch of mathematics concerned with operations on sets of numbers or other elements that are often represented by symbols. Algebra is a generalization of arithmetic and gains much of its power from dealing symbolically with elements and operations (such as II questions and shorter, critical reading passages also were added. The new writing section includes multiple-choice grammar questions and a 25-minute essay. Instead of scores from 400 to 1,600 points, the new SAT runs from 600 to 2,400 points. It also takes 45 minutes longer to complete - for a total test time of three hours and 45 minutes. Curtis has a grade-point average of 4.5 and is one of Lancaster High's valedictorians. ``He's already been early-accepted to the UC system,'' head counselor Jef Anderson said. ``He's one of the top 10 in the history of our school - his GPA GPA abbr. grade point average Noun 1. GPA - a measure of a student's academic achievement at a college or university; calculated by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number attempted , the classes he's taken. He has taken 14 honors or A.P. classes. He's been doing that since his freshmen year.'' After graduating from high school, Curtis plans to study either math or business economics at the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). , Irvine, or Azusa Pacific University External links
He wants a career as an accountant or as an actuary actuary One who calculates insurance risks and premiums. Actuaries compute the probability of the occurrence of such events as birth, marriage, illness, accidents, and death. calculating statistical risks, life expectancies Life Expectancy 1. The age until which a person is expected to live. 2. The remaining number of years an individual is expected to live, based on IRS issued life expectancy tables. , premiums and other information for insurance companies. ``You can be very successful, and the starting pay is very high,'' he noted. Curtis' father is a Boeing engineer and his mother is an elementary school elementary school: see school. teacher in Lancaster. He is the younger of two children. Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Travis Curtis, 17, who likes working with statistics, scored a perfect 800 on the new SAT II math subject test. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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