What Should my Child do about the SAT/ACT?

If you’ve been keeping up with the news (or our last blog post) you’ve seen that college admissions processes are on a path toward change when it comes to standardized testing. These headlines have thrown families a curveball when it comes to their child’s preparation plan. I’ve been hearing confusion and anxiety when speaking to parents regarding whether or not their child needs the SAT/ACT after all or how they should handle test taking all together. Many families, due to the news, are postponing preparation indefinitely.

So, what should you child do about standardized tests?

The answer is prepare for them.

If college admissions is on the path to change regarding their policies on standardized tests, that path will be a long one that will take multiple admissions cycles to set in place. For at least the current rising sophomores, rising juniors, and rising seniors, standardized tests will still play an important role in their college admissions process. It is essential to remember that even if standardized tests are not a mandatory part of the admissions process at the school your child is applying to, a strong score can still set them apart from other applicants.

Now, more than ever, we are recommending that students prepare early. The most successful SAT/ACT students I’ve had began preparing as early as the summer after eighth grade. Like many other activities, standardized testing is best mastered when it is incorporated into the child’s learning processes. There are several critical parts of the test taking process (like grammar skills and reading comprehension) that can, and should, be taught much earlier than a student’s junior year in high school. Preparing early for the SAT/ACT can have innumerable other benefits like stronger PSAT scores, better performance in the classroom, and placement in higher level classes in high school. Below, we have included our recommendations for your child based on their year in school. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a consultation to discuss private tutoring, please visit our contact us page.

If your Child is a Rising Senior

Many of our rising seniors were well into test prep before the Coronavirus pandemic began. If your child is a rising senior, they should devote a good portion of their summer to completing their college essays and supplements, finalizing their college list and common app, and ensuring that they have a preparation plan in place for standardized tests in the fall.

If your Child is a Rising Junior

Rising juniors should focus on getting ahead. Testing seats will be limited at test centers due to the number of seniors who still need to test take. Rising juniors should be creating a test-taking plan with a professional and spending their summer seriously preparing. Rising juniors should also take the SAT subject tests into account and determine if they will play a role in their college admissions process.

If your Child is a Rising Sophomore or a Rising Freshman

Rising sophomores and rising freshman should work on a light touch preparation approach. This could include meeting with a tutor who has worked on pre-SAT/ACT strategies before and isolating areas of weakness like reading comprehension, early Algebra and Geometry skills, or grammar.