For years, SAT and ACT exams took a summer break along with students, meaning that students could get away with taking a short break from preparation before taking an early fall exam.
But no more! For the first time ever, the College Board has announced that there will be a summer SAT, which will take place on August 26th.
What does this mean for prep? If your child is a rising senior, it means that this is one of her last chances to take the test before she begins applying to colleges. She has likely taken the test once or twice already and is looking to get that score up in order to get into her target schools. If your child does not take advantage of the summer downtime and begin preparing for the test, the summer slump is likely to kick in and those scores can drop. So the pressure is on to recognize the urgency of preparing this summer.
Have your rising senior follow these 3 steps to ensure she is ready for the August test:
1. Prioritize your areas of focus.
This means that you have to decide which sections you need to review the most. Do this by reviewing your previous score reports (and if you don’t have previous score reports, take a practice exam ASAP!!). See which sections you did the worst on and start reviewing concepts from these sections, since there’s the most room for improvement, waiting a couple of weeks to revisit the sections you did well on.
2. Start prep NOW and make a study calendar!
This means TODAY—not next month. Remember that the first step to preparation is making a timeline and scheduling when you’re going to study, complete homework, and take full length practice exams. Treat your preparation like a class, penciling in a couple 1-2 hour study sessions on your calendar every week.
3. Take full length practice sections and exams multiple times.
Taking full length sections is the ideal follow-up to a study session. Furthermore, taking a full length practice exam after every 4 weeks of prep is essential to conditioning you for the exam and giving you more information regarding your continued areas of struggle and improvement. Don’t forget to add deadlines for taking full length practice exams and full length sections on your study calendar. This will help hold you accountable to actually completing these tasks.
And of course, don’t forget to make sure your child registers for the actual SAT exam here.
Worried your rising senior isn’t ready for her last ditch effort? Let us help! Email our test prep manager, Payton, at Payton@www.ectutoring.com.php72-34.phx1-1.websitetestlink.com or submit a Get a Tutor form today.