Explain the development of the US Airline Industry and what role did Essay

Explain the development of the US Airline Industry and what role did the government play from 1910-1950 - Essay Example It was the world’s first commercial flight which travelled from St. Petersburg to Tampa Bay. The earliest initiative to promote the US airline industry was the formation of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in 1915(NACA). This body was funded by the government to research into aircraft design and it was able to create the first supersonic aircraft. NACA was later integrated with NASA. With high speed aircrafts, airplanes began to be seen as an alternative to trains and roads. The major reason behind the evolution of this industry was the United States Postal Service. The USPS used army services during the early 1920 but since the army was involved in the World War, it could not render much time to the postal service (US Air). In 1925, government passed the Air mail act which allowed the private airlines to carry postal mails. The government took this step because it believed that it would promote the airline industry in the country and also provide economical sup port to the country (Harry, 2004). This served as a great initiative and the number of flights rose to a considerably large level. The private airlines expanded under this act and soon a large number of airlines were operating which not only for delivered postal mails but also offered passenger services. However with the increased number of flights and no monitoring and regulatory body, the accidents were very common.

Best Practices in Managing the Human Factors of HR Management Literature Review Essay Example for Free

Best Practices in Managing the Human Factors of HR Management Literature Review Essay Human Resource Management is one of the most significant functions in an enterprise. However, there are different factors that are impacting on HRM. Human Factors has its origins in the Industrial Revolution and emerged as a full-fledged discipline during World War II. It was recognized that aircraft cockpit design needed to consider the human interface for controls and displays. Design Engineers were focused on the technology while Industrial Psychologists worked to optimize the interface. In some cases, Human Factors design can affect bottom-line profitability or can be a life and death matter, e. g. , you dont want to push the wrong button or mistake meters for kilometers in a spacecraft. Companies came to realize that a products success is dependent upon good Human Factors design. Human Factors are very important for the successful operation of the company. The term human factors is to a large extent synonymous with the term ergonomics Human Factors Integration Research with Defense Technology Center is Human Factors Integration is the process adopted by a number of key industries (notably defense like United Defense and hazardous industries like oil gas like Shell) in Europe to integrate human factors elements into the systems engineering process. Although each industry has a slightly different domain the underlying approach is the same. HFI undertakes this by conducting a formal process that identifies and reconciles human related issues. These issues are split for convenience into domains. Manpower The number of military and civilian personnel required and potentially available to operate, maintain, sustain and provide training for systems Page 2 Personnel The cognitive and physical capabilities required to be able to train for, operate, maintain and sustain systems. Training – The instruction or education, and on-the-job or unit training required to provide personnel their essential job skills, knowledge, values and attributes. Human Factors Engineering The integration of human characteristics into system definition, design, development, and evaluation to optimize human-machine performance under operational conditions. Health Hazard Assessment Short or long term hazards to health occurring as a result of normal operation of the system. System Safety – Safety risks occurring when the system is functioning in an abnormal manner. Strengths: Indentifying the Problem, Evaluation and solving issues Weakness: Psychological Human Factors are not treated. Motorola’s Human Factors Engineering One of the best Practice in Managing Human Resource is HFE, Firstly implemented by Motorola, USA in 1984 is considered as the best for employees. In Research with HFE, Motorola is commonly thought of as how companies design tasks and work areas to maximize the efficiency and quality of their employees work. However, Motorola HFE comes into everything which involves people. Work systems, sports and leisure, health and safety should all embody Human Factors principles if well designed. Strengths: Employee Determination at work, Safety Health and Low Stress methods. Weakness: More importance to Leisure time and found some Low Production. Page 3 Encourage Employee Development Growth of a company is closely linked to employee development within the organization where each employee plays a vital role in the success of the company. Employee growth has direct and indirect benefits. More knowledgeable, skilled and capable employees directly impact your company’s ability to satisfy customers, resolve problems and crises, and adapt to changing market conditions. Paying for an employee’s continuing professional education, for example, can help your company gain expertise in new technologies and markets, which can save you money in the long run. This type of practice is found in Coco Cola, where are often send to Trainings on different process. Strengths: Motivational to Employee and Long Retention periods. Weakness: Cost effective and Time Taking Process. Work Life Balance The term â€Å"work life balance† was coined in 1986 in response to the rising trend Human Factors in Development of the Company. The employee Psychological benefits are taken into consideration with many instructions like Stay positive, stay in control, Stay healthy, Divide and de-clutter, Keep stress under control and other safety measures. This helps the companies to maintain good relations with the employees and make them as the best factor of production. In Research with General Electric which follows Work Life Balance as a practice to develop Human Factors. Strengths: High Production Facility, Long Retention and Safe Employee and Company Relations. Weakness: Only limited to Companies with Large Scale of Production Facilities. Page 4 Corporate Mentoring Programs Corporate Mentoring Programs are like teaching classes where employees are motivated to the work and work environment, making employee coordinated towards work. Therefore, companies have started to place greater emphasis on personal attributes while selecting and developing staff. This brings a number of benefits to the business, not the least of which is a cohesive team. On going development of employee potential is critical for business success. Corporate mentoring programs are effective in quickly ramping up employee performance because they facilitate the transfer of business knowledge in a way that is not quite possible in regular training. Strengths: Every Effective Approach in Developing Human Factors, Human Psychological Advantage and Growth Oriented. Weakness: Very Systematic Approach. Metrics to Evaluate the Practices Human Factors Integration (HFI) implemented by Defense sectors is only related to Large Scale industries although it has all the factors of Human Factors. Key Performance Indicator of Human Factor Integration(HFI) is the Objective oriented and Specific Tasking. Motorola’s Human Factors Engineering is also related to tasking and other relations, not dealing with the Psychological factors of the Employees. Encourage Employee Development is training method to make them work in stress and problems, No personal and physical importance is not given to the employees. During this Research we found that the best Practice that develops the Human Factors in the company is Corporate Mentoring Programs, where the employees are motivated on the work and provide various benefits including safety and stress free work Page 5 environment. Research with Minnesota University, I found that more than 80% of the companies in United States uses this Corporate Mentoring Programs. References †¢ Creating a Mentoring Culture: The Organizations Guide, 2007 †¢ A Strategic Approach To Corporate Mentoring Programs, CEO World Magazine, 2006 †¢ Human Factors Methods – Robert Stanley – Edition 2, 2006 †¢ Ergonomics Society, UK †¢ Human Resource Management Programs at Human Factors and Ergonomics Society †¢ Research Center for Work Safety and Human Engineering, Technion, Israel. †¢ Motorola HR Practices, www. motorola. com

Microorganisms Relevant To Bioremediation

Microorganisms Relevant To Bioremediation Introduction Bioremediation is a technology that utilizes the metabolic potential of microorganisms to clean up contaminated environments. One important characteristic of bioremediation is that it is carried out in non-sterile open environments that contain a variety of organisms. Of these, bacteria, such as those capable of degrading pollutants, usually have central roles in bioremediation, whereas other organisms (e.g. fungi and grazing protozoa) also affect the process. A deeper understanding of the microbial ecology of contaminated sites is therefore necessary to further improve bioremediation processes. In the past two decades, molecular tools, exemplified by rRNA approaches, have been introduced into microbial ecology; these tools have facilitated the analysis of natural microbial populations without cultivation. Microbiologists have now realized that natural microbial populations are much more diverse than those expected from the catalog of isolated microorganisms. This is also the case for pollutant-degrading microorganisms, implying that the natural environment harbors a wide range of unidentified pollutant-degrading microorganisms that have crucial roles in bioremediation. This article summarizes the results of recent studies of microbial populations that are relevant to bioremediation. Molecular ecological information is thought to be useful for the development of strategies to improve bioremediation and for evaluating its consequences (including risk assessment). Molecular tools are especially useful in bioaugmentation, in which exogenous microorganisms that are introduced to accelerate pollutant biodegradation need to be monitored. This article discusses recent examples of the successful application of molecular ecological tools to the study of bioremediation. Microorganisms relevant to methane oxidation Traditionally, studies on pollutant biodegradation have been initiated by the isolation of one or more microorganisms capable of degrading target pollutants; however, conventional isolation methods have resulted in the isolation of only a fraction of the diverse pollutant-degrading microorganisms in the environment. In addition, most isolated organisms have shown pollutant-degradation kinetics that differ from those observed in the environment. For example, laboratory-cultivated methanotrophs exhibit half-saturation constants for methane oxidation which are one to three orders of magnitude higher than those observed in soil. Using molecular phylogenetic analyses of isotope-labeled DNA, (Radajewski et al.) successfully identified two novel methanotrophs that actively degrade methane under environmental conditions. Molecular approaches that target the 16S rRNA gene (16S rDNA) and genes encoding enzymes involved in key metabolic steps (e.g. those encoding particulate methane monooxygena se) have been applied to the analysis of methanotrophs in rice field soil, lake sediments and forest soil. Methanotrophs are considered to be important for reducing the emission of methane, a greenhouse gas, from soil and sediment. In addition, methanotrophs co-metabolize trichloroethylene (TCE); therefore, TCE bioremediation often employs methane injection as a means to stimulate the TCE-degrading activity of indigenous methanotrophs (i.e. methane biostimulation). Methanotrophs which occurred at a methane biostimulation site were recently analyzed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified 16S rDNA and soluble methane monooxygenase gene fragments. Marine petroleum hydrocarbon degradation Molecular ecological approaches have also been used to analyze bacterial populations that occur in petroleum-contaminated marine environments. Spilled-oil bioremediation experiments conducted at a sandy beach found that phylotypes affiliated with the subclass of Proteobacteria appeared in the DGGE fingerprints obtained for oiled plots but not in those for unoiled plots, suggesting their importance in spilled-oil bioremediation. Another oil-spill experiment conducted at a beach in the Norwegian Arctic showed that 16S rDNA types affiliated with the ÃŽÂ ³-Proteobacteria, especially those belonging to the Pseudomonas and Cycloclasticus groups, were abundant in fertilized oil sands. Microbial populations which occurred in seawater after supplementation with petroleum and inorganic fertilizers have been analyzed using rRNA approaches; it was reported that bacterial populations belonging to the Proteobacteria and the genus Alcanivorax showed accelerated growth. These studies have indicat ed that some groups of bacteria commonly occur in oil-contaminated marine environments, although other populations change under different environmental conditions. Anaerobic petroleum hydrocarbon degradation As petroleum hydrocarbons are persistent under anaerobic conditions, their contamination of groundwater is a serious environmental problem. The microbial diversity in a hydrocarbon- and chlorinated-solvent contaminated aquifer undergoing intrinsic bioremediation was assessed by cloning and sequencing bacterial and archaeal 16S rDNA fragments. This study detected phylotypes that were closely related to Syntrophus spp. (anaerobic oxidizers of organic acids with the production of acetate and hydrogen) and Methanosaeta spp. (aceticlastic methanogens), suggesting their syntrophic association. Phylotypes affiliated with candidate divisions (that do not contain any isolated organisms) were also obtained in abundance from the contaminated aquifer, although their physiology is completely unknown. A similar syntrophic association of bacteria and archaea has also been reported in a methanogenic enrichment that slowly degrades hexadecane. Likewise, a toluene-degrading methanogenic consortium was characterized by rRNA approaches. The consortium comprised two archaeal species related to the genera Methanosaeta and Methanospirillum, and two bacterial species, one related to the genus Desulfotomaculum and the other unrelated to any previously described genus. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with group-specific rRNA probes was used to analyze a denitrifying microbial community degrading alkylbenzenes and n-alkanes; the Azoarcus/Thauera group was found to be the major bacterial group. Bacteria affiliated with the ÃŽÂ µ-Proteobacteria were found to grow in petroleum-contaminated groundwater which accumulated at the bottom of underground crude-oil storage cavities. Microbial communities associated with anaerobic benzene degradation under Fe(III)-reducing conditions in a petroleumcontaminated subsurface aquifer were also analyzed by DGGE analysis, and it has been suggested that Fe(III)- reducing Geobacter spp. have an important role in the anaerobic oxidation of benzen e. The available electron acceptors are the principal determinants for the types of microorganisms that occur in anaerobic environments, and microbial populations identified in the above papers are considered important for petroleum hydrocarbon degradation in subsurface environments under the respective conditions. On the basis of these results, future developments in anaerobic hydrocarbon bioremediation are anticipated. It is noteworthy that phylotypes that are only distantly related to known genera are often detected as major members of the anaerobic communities, suggesting that parts of anaerobic hydrocarbon biodegradation processes remain unidentified. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degradation Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are compounds of intense public concern owing to their persistence in the environment and potentially deleterious effects on human health. A soil-derived microbial consortium capable of rapidly mineralizing benzo[a]pyrene was analyzed by DGGE profiling of PCR-amplified 16S rDNA fragments The analysis detected 16S rDNA sequence types that represented organisms closely related to known high molecular weight PAH-degrading bacteria (e.g. Burkholderias, Sphingomonas and Mycobacterium),although the degradation mechanisms have yet to be resolved. In soil environments, the reduced bioavailability of PAHs due to sorption to natural organic matter is an important factor controlling their biodegradation. Friedrich et al. reported that different phenanthrene-degrading bacteria occurred in soil enrichments when different sorptive matrices were present. It has also been shown that the application of surfactants to soil enrichments that degrade phenanthrene a nd hexadecane altered the microbial populations responsible for the degradation. These results have common implications for bioremediation; that is, nature harbors diverse microbial populations capable of pollutant degradation from which a few pollutant-degrading populations are selected according to bioremediation strategies. Metal bioremediation Because of its toxicity, metal contamination of the environment is also a serious problem. Recent studies have applied molecular tools to the analysis of bacterial and archaeal populations that are capable of surviving in metal-contaminated environments. Bacterial communities in soil amended for many years with sewage sludge that contained heavy metals were assessed using rRNA approaches, including FISH and cloning and sequencing. The study found that two sequence groups affiliated with the Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were frequently obtained from clone libraries from the metal-contaminated soil, although most Actinobacteria sequences showed low similarity (

The Scarlet Letter Review :: essays research papers

Adultery, betrayal, promiscuity, subterfuge, and intrigue, all of which would make an excellent coming attraction on the Hollywood scene and probably a pretty good book. Add Puritan ideals and writing styles, making it long, drawn out, tedious, wearisome, sleep inducing, insipidly asinine, and the end result is The Scarlet Letter. Despite all these things it is considered a classic and was a statement of the era. The Scarlet Letter is a wonderful and not so traditional example of the good versus evil theme. What makes this a unique instance of good versus evil is that either side could be considered either one. Hester could very easily have been deduced as evil, or the "bad guy," as she was by the townspeople. That is, she was convicted of adultery, a horrible sin of the time, but maybe not even seen as criminal today. As for punishment, a sentence to wear a scarlet "A" upon her chest, it would hardly be considered a burden or extreme sentence in present day. Or Hester can be seen as rebelling against a society where she was forced into a loveless marriage and hence she would be the "good guy," or girl, as the case may be. Also the townspeople, the magistrates, and Chillingworth, Hester's true husband, can be seen in both lights. Either they can be perceived as just upholding the law -she committed a crime, they enforce the law. On the other hand are they going to extreme measures such as wanting to take Pearl, Hester's daughter, away just because Hester has deviated from the norm, all to enforce an unjust law that does not even apply to this situation? Although the subjects of the novel do apply to important issues in history and could have had influences on the time period, they were not great. During the times and in the Puritan community this did not have a large affect on anything. Sure, they did not want anyone committing adultery, most were killed if convicted, but it was not something that upset their way of living in any permanent manner. To an individual or group who was battling something backward in the Puritan society, as were many things, this would have been an inspirational book and possibly a revelation. In short, this book could have been exceptional; it had all the elements of a superb book.

The Benefits of Group work in Learning

Group work is an effectual manner of acquisition and cooperation with others, and the purpose is to larn through group cooperation and promote all pupils to take part in the acquisition procedure. This attack is defined in the schoolroom as a group ( Normally 2-6 people ) . The members obtain utile information from each other to widen their cognition and abilities through the cooperation. Besides this method can be helped by reassigning inexplicit cognition to explicit cognition, and derive some satisfaction by ego betterment and competency through the sharing. This essay is traveling to explicate some benefits held from the group work experience, and besides introduce two of import tips of being successful in group work.Benefits:†¢ Group work requires pupils to inquire inquiries and explicate their points of position to others. This non merely assists pupils to increase the chances to use their cognition, but besides enhances their involvement and ability of larning. Furthermor e, it enables them to accept different sentiments, extends their penetrations, and promotes the sustainability and development of thought. †¢ Group work helps to better larning efficiency. That would mention to every member of the group to actively take part in the acquisition procedure and activities, each member should hold great enthusiasm, and learn from undertakings shared by everyone. Besides, it is encouraged that each member should brainstorm, and to show their point of positions. Everyone is besides encouraged to portion their attempts and make their best with the energy created, so the job can be solved. †¢ Group work can heighten the concerted feelings among pupils, and develop pupils ‘ interpersonal accomplishments. Group work is a procedure of interchanging information and cognition between pupils, which refers to the advancement of directing the emotion and senses by pass oning and assisting others, and particularly understanding the civilization differences which refers to different backgrounds. It should be learned that to take attention and assist each other by acknowledging their virtues and besides be tolerant of their defects. Furthermore, it is encouraged to listen with an unfastened head to larn from others and listen to their points of position. This will let each member to incorporate themselves into a corporate squad, and heighten their corporate consciousness. †¢ Group work assists pupils to develop their self-learning ability. Group work involves pupils to take part instead than be bystanders. It encourages the pupil who has mastered a certain cognition and accomplishments to reassign and learn others who do non hold themselves. Students who seek for an outstanding public presentation in group work must carefully larn the category stuff, and read through the text book analyzing its content. Some contents may non be available in current text books, so it encourages pupils to happen information by seeking on the cyberspace, and besides makes some notes. These enterprises improve pupil acquisition, so that it promotes their self-learning abilities. †¢ Group work broadens the learning infinite for pupils. It is a procedure that transfers the single competition to a collaborative group attempt.Tips:†¢ The Panel discussed the content of concerted acquisition, it is non under all status that the group work ever be the best and effectual. For illustration, sometime we can see this sort of state of affairs occurs: when the pupils in the group during concerted acquisition or coverage exchanges, they either say nil or have no consensus understanding but merely organize their subjective points of position. The chief ground this state of affairs occurs is that pupils either do non analyze in-depth and understand the category stuff exhaustively, or have no instance readying. Therefore, pupils should analyze in progress and understand the importance and high spots from the class. In add-on, group work should hold some interesting content, feasibleness, and unfastened enquiry by finding the input of content and clip demands for co ncerted group acquisition. †¢ Do non disregard and avoid the single answerability to believe independently in the concerted group larning. In general, group work in the schoolroom is based on the procedure of this construction, that is 1 ) . Tasks lead the manner, 2 ) .the single independent acquisition, 3 ) .group acquisition, 4 ) .group exchanges, 5 ) .collective rating. In other words, for new cognition, new information, pupils should believe independently, so the deepness of thought, quality and originality can be developed. Through, group acquisition, single sentiments can be released, so everyone in the group has a opportunity to portion the thoughts and result of the treatment ; so the group will sum up each of the information and contents, and study to the whole category by taking a group representative. Finally, the group result can be viewed under rating of the category and by the instructor.Decision:Group work is a concerted acquisition among pupils through exchange in order to accomplish the c omplementary strengths to advance cognition of building, to the full arouse the pupil ‘s subjective consciousness, explore their topic of individualized acquisition, and developing pupils ‘ creativeness and invention. Besides, it makes pupils larn in an unfastened ambiance, and carry out active exchanges of information and cognition ; therefore heightening assurance, advancing for the best pattern of chances. In add-on to developing pupils ‘ sense of competition, the corporate values and spirit of cooperation, so that establishes a corresponding development for different pupils. Wordss count: 805

2017 2018 Full Review of Every SAT Test Date

2017 2018 Full Review of Every SAT Test Date SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Deciding when to take the SAT can be stressful because the best test dates aren't the same for everyone. Levels of preparation, goal scores, and other academic conflicts should all be considered in devising the most logical testing schedule for each student. The following is a full description of the pros and cons of each SAT test date in the 2017-2018 school year for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. You can use this guide to come up with a game plan that works for you! 2017 Test Dates These fall dates are usually best for juniors taking the test for the first time or seniors trying to improve those last few points to reach their goal. August 26, 2017 Sophomores This is probably too early for incoming sophomores to start taking the SAT. You most likely won't have learned all of the concepts that are being tested. Additionally, you probably won't know what your college goals are yet. It's better to hold off until you have a clearer idea of what colleges you are aiming for and thus what scores you are targeting. However, this is a great time to start preparing for the test. Junior This is a good first test date for juniors. You will know pretty much all the concepts that are tested and you will have time to prep over the summer. Plus, you'll have plenty of potential dates to retake the test later if you want to improve your score. Seniors If you're hoping to retake the test one last time before application season gets in full swing during your senior fall, this is a solid test date choice. You will also be able to devote time in the summer to studying so you can really improve your scores.This is also a good choice if you haven't taken the test at all because then you will have time to study and retake in November or even December if you need to. October 7, 2017 Sophomores Sophomore fall is too early for most students to begin taking the SAT because you may not have learned all the concepts that are tested.You can feel free to begin preparing at this point by doing practice questions or getting review books, but you should hold off on taking the test for realuntil you know exactly what you’re dealing with and what your score goals are.Most sophomores haven’t yet begun their college search, and knowing where you plan on applying is important in nailing down a target score. Juniors This is a good date for juniors to take the SAT for the first time. You will have learned pretty much all the concepts that are tested. Plus, You'llhave plenty of time after you get your scores back to study for test dates later this year if you’re still unsatisfied with your performance. Seniors If you want one last shot at the SAT after preparing over the summer, this is a good date to take it if you can't make the August 26 date.It’s before you’re too stressed out about college applications, and if you’re applying early decision you’ll still have plenty of time to send colleges updated score reports. QAS is offered on this test date! QAS is short for Question-and-Answer Service, which is a completeguide to your scores that will help you review them in more detail. It can be very useful in preparing for future retakes because you'll be able to see all the original questions, their difficulty levels, their types, and which you answered correctly and incorrectly. This can tell you a lot about the nature of your mistakes and how you might be able to avoid them going forward. QAS is offered for the October, MARCH, and May test dates. For the other dates, you'll be able to order the SAS, or Student Answer Service, which is a less comprehensive version of the QAS. PSAT Test Date: October , 2017 It's important to keep this date in mind if you're a sophomore or junior and plan to take the PSAT in preparation for the real test. You might shift your test-taking schedule forward or backward to accommodate the PSAT if you're worried about getting testing fatigue. Spending too many weekend mornings filling in little circles in unfamiliar classrooms could make anyone go crazy. November 4, 2017 Sophomores I’d say this is too soon to take the test as a sophomore unless you’re extremely well-prepared.It’s tough to know what your score goals are at this point because you probably haven’t started seriously looking at colleges.If you’re concerned about the SAT already, just take a practice test or the PSAT to get a better idea of what you’re expected to know and how much you need to prepare before you take it for the first time (ideally junior fall). Juniors This is another solid date for juniors to take the test for the first time.If you miss the October date, it’s a pretty good option unless you're taking the PSAT in late October and are worried about getting overwhelmed with too much standardized testing at once. If you take the SAT in November, you’ll still have a pretty solid buffer between getting your scores back and the test dates in spring 2018. Seniors This is the latest date for seniors who are applying to college early decision to take the SAT.Most schools still allow scores from the November test date to be submitted along with early decision applications even though the deadline has technically passed, but check the policies at your chosen colleges before signing up for this test date.If you’re applying regular decision this is a decent test date for you, although you might be busy preparing other components of your application.In general, I’d aim for August or October instead. December 2, 2017 Sophomores This is, again, a bit early, but there’s nothing wrong with taking the SAT at this time if you feel confident in your abilities.Don't stress yourself out too much about the SAT yet, though.If you’re curious about where you stand score-wise, I’d suggest just taking a timed practice test so you can see what you need to work on before you attempt the real test for the first time. Juniors This might be a tough time to take the SAT if you have big mid-year tests coming up or are distracted by the holidays.Still, if you didn’t get a chance to take it earlier in the fall, this could be a decent option.It’s well before the test dates in late spring and summer, so you’ll have time to look at your scores and study constructively before a potential retake in May, June, or August. Seniors For some schools, this is the last date that you can take the SAT and still submit your scores with a regular decision application.If you took the SAT in October as a senior and still are not happy with your scores, this might be your last chance to retake.Don’t focus on improving slightly on the SAT over completing the rest of your application, but if you wantone last chance this date is your best bet. Make the most wonderful time of the year even more so by taking the SAT! Can you say comfort and joy 2018 Test Dates Spring and summer dates will be too late for most seniors, but they are ideal for juniors and ambitious sophomores. March 10, 2018 Sophomores This is the earliest I would suggest taking the SAT as a sophomore. Some concepts that come up on the SAT are typically taught sophomore year.It’s best to wait until you’re more than halfway through the year so you’ll know what you’re doing on most of the questions even if you haven’t prepared much.If you take the test on this date your sophomore year, you’ll have a solid five months to review your scores and study for upcoming junior year test dates. Juniors This is actually a pretty good time to take the test as a junior because it won't conflict with most mid-year tests and finals.You’ll also have enough time to review your scores from fall test dates and make meaningful progress.You will get back your scores far in advance of senior year, and you can even retake the SAT in May, June, or even August if you’re hoping to finish up standardized testing this year. Seniors It’s too late by this point for seniors who applied to college this year to take the SAT.Make sure you get in your last chances earlier in the year if you’re still not satisfied with your scores. QAS is offered on this test date! May 5, 2018 Sophomores If you want to get started early and feel you are up to speed on all of the topics covered by the SAT, this could be a good date for you to take the test for the first time.You’ll get back your results in June and be able to use them to prepare for your first retake in August or in junior fall.At this rate, you could finish with standardized tests before you even start filling out college applications. Juniors This is a good time to take the SAT as a junior because it will probably happen before your finals, and you’ll get your scores back right at the beginning of the summer.You’ll have the whole summer to review your results and continue studying if necessary.The only issue with this date is that it might conflict with AP tests.If you’re in AP classes and are worried that you’ll be overwhelmed, I’d suggest taking the SAT in March, June, or August instead.Ideally, this will be your second time taking the SAT after your first attempt junior fall. QAS is offered on this test date! June 2, 2018 Sophomores Like the May test date, this might be a reasonable option for sophomores who feel prepared and are hoping to use this as a jumping off point for a retake junior fall.The main issue is that as a sophomore you’re more likely to take fewer AP classes and more regular classes that have finals that conflict with this test date.If you plan on taking the test sophomore spring, I’d suggest May over June. If both dates conflict, you could also do the August date. Juniors This is another reasonable testing option for juniors, especially those who feel confident about the test and have already prepared extensively.Sometimes, this can be better than the May test date because it doesn’t conflict with AP tests.However, it may conflict with regular in-class finals. You could also do the August test date if both dates conflict. August 25, 2018 Advice for this date is similar to advice for the 2017 August date: if you're a sophomore, this is too early. But this is a great choice for a junior taking the test for the first time or a senior who is taking the again before application season. After the test, you can get back to sitting around bonfires with your friends and being mad when someone else steals the seat right next to your crush so you can't wallow in one-sided sexual tension for hours (high school was a tough time for me). When Should You Take the SAT? There are seven SAT test dates offered over the course of the 2016-2017 school year, so you have lots of choices, particularly if you're a sophomore or junior. If you plan on taking the SAT as a sophomore, you should probably wait until the second half of the year. The top three dates for sophomores are May 2017, June 2017, and March 2017 in that order. As a junior, you could choose to take the test at any time during the year. You'll have to make an informed decision based on how prepared you are. The best strategy for most people is to take the SAT in August, October, or November, study from the results, and go for a retake in either May, June, or the following August. You might fit in a third test date in the winter, but only if you feel that you have the potential to improve substantially from your fall scores. If you'll be a senior and want to take the test one last time, your best bet is the August test date followed by the October date, which come before the hectic application season. November is also a possibility. I'd try to avoid taking the test as late as December, but if one of this datesis the only one that works for you and your schools will accept scores from tests taken that late in the year, then those are acceptable last-resort options. It's a great idea to plan out your testing schedule in advance so you don't forget to sign up for an important date. Consider the advice in this article and your college plans to come up with the best way to structure your standardized testing over the course of the upcoming school year! What's Next? Still not sure whether you should take the SAT or the ACT? Read our guide to choosing the best test based on your strengths and weaknesses as a student. Setting practical goals is a huge part of the process of standardized testing. Learn how to calculate a target score for the SAT based on where you plan on applying to college. If you're a junior or senior, you may be trying to decide whether or not to retake the SAT. Follow this three step process to figure out the best course of action. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: