What Are The Regents?: At the end of the academic year, every high school student residing in the New York State is required to take the regents exam and receive a passing grade on five different exams in order to graduate high school. The regents test students on an array of subjects such as math, ELA, social studies, chemistry, and etc.
Why It’s Important: Regents are important because it creates certain educational goals that teachers have to meet by the end of the year. Teachers are responsible for teaching and covering materials that are going to be on the regents, and it keeps teachers in check from going off tangent which ensures that students from all over the NYS are learning the same material.
The regents also helps students become better intellects because the exam requires students to examine, synthesize, and organize information from different sources. The questions given on the exams help students become better thinkers, deliberators, and organizers. This will help students become better prepared for their studies in college.
The Difference: There are two different types of diplomas a student can receive when they graduate. The first diploma most students receive is known as the regents diploma, while the second one most students and parents don’t know about is known as the advanced regents diploma. In order to receive an advanced regents diploma, students must pass:
3 math regents (Algebra, Geometry, and Algebra 2)
English
US History
Global History
One physical science
One life science
Foreign language
What It Means: The difference between these two diplomas is what colleges see. While receiving a regents diploma is nonetheless something to be proud of, an advanced regents diploma shows college admission boards that you went above and beyond the minimum requirement. It shows college admission boards how motivated and serious you are about your education. In addition, if the student takes three years of foreign language and receives a passing grade on their foreign language regents, they are exempt from taking a foreign language in college and same goes for math as well. Some colleges will exempt students from taking a remedial and/or required math courses if they pass all three math regents exams! (which saves you roughly around a few thousands of dollars)
Tips On How To Prepare For The Regents:
Study Everyday: Don’t wait till the last week or last few days to start studying!! We cannot stress this enough. Students should at least use an hour of their time to really get down to business and study the different types of materials that are going to be on the regents exam. Remember, the regents will test students on a whole years worth of material. The best way to be able to cover all the material the students have learned over the past year is to start from the beginning. Start from the very first lesson plan and work your way up! Don’t like studying alone? Gather some friends and create a study group! Having a study group will allow for students to teach and quiz one another on the material.
Take Old Exams: Another way to prep for the regents is by taking old exams. This will help your child understand and give you a feel on what to expect.
Take a Test-Prep Course: Getting some outside help/one on one tutoring will help your child better understand the materials that are going to be on the exam. THiNKPREP offers an array of regents prep courses that go on from Monday-Saturday. Unlike most places, THiNKPREP work around our students schedules and custom tailor courses to our students needs to guarantee an improvement on their scores and test taking habits!