January Action Steps for Test Prep

1. Decide where you think you’re going to apply. Make the list longer than it needs to be, just to be thorough. This isn’t final; it’s just something to work from.
2. Make a list of the kinds of test each school requires (just the ACT or SAT? SAT and Subject tests? ACT only without subject tests? ACT with or without Writing?)
3. Look at the calendar of test dates and think about your AP courses. You might like to take your Subject tests right around the time you’ll take APs. That’s a great plan, but you won’t be able to take the SAT Reasoning test on the same day, so you’ll want to strategize accordingly.
4. Get started! You can always work hard now and slow down later. If you need to work on vocab, it’s easier to begin now than in May. If you start earning awesome scores earlier in the spring, you have less to worry about this summer. Plus, taking tests in the spring is far less stressful than the Last-Ditch-Effort you may find yourself making in October or November.

Find out more about choosing between the ACT and the SAT. Or, find out more about Elizabeth’s book, Outsmarting the SAT.

Around age fourteen or fifteen I was one of these students myself. I really had no idea why I should be putting all sorts of effort into coursework that, to be blunt, didn’t appeal to me.

My mantra was, “I really don’t care.”

Yes, really.

Having gone through this myself and dealt with scores of students with the same attitude, I’ve come to a conclusion: at the end of the day, when a student is saying, “I don’t care” about a school subject or a test like the SAT or ACT, he’s more often than not really saying, “I don’t know why I should care.”

When you talk with a student in the hopes of motivating her to work harder or, really, “to care,” talk with her around these central themes:

Preferences

I think sometimes it’s OK to hang up this idea of the “well rounded student” when we talk with kids about what they really like to do and helping them find a sense of individuation. It’s important to be vocal about valuing those things that your child values. If he hears that you really understand how important basketball, art, or the saxophone is to him, he’ll feel less threatened when you ask him to do things in addition to it.

Relevance

Our educational system is so oriented subject by subject that the integrated relevance of science and history, history or literature, or even art and science aren’t really talked about in school. It’s easy to forget that students honestly really don’t understand why a lot of what they’re doing matters, particularly simple things like reading. Talk with your student and her teacher about finding ways of creating relevance for your student. A lot of learning goes well beyond, “When am I ever gonna uuuuuuuse this?” Understanding relevance often leads to motivation.

Long Term Goals (or Discipline because of Necessity)

It’s okay to be honest. It’s very fair to say, “You know, everyone has things in their lives that they just have to do in order to get where they want to go.” Not very many people love organic chemistry, but lots of people want to be doctors. Not many musicians love memorizing the technical elements of music theory, but they love how creative they can be once they know the rules. Often pretending something isn’t frustrating can make a student feel alienated, whereas it’s our job as adults to come alongside them and help develop them develop discipline.

If failing to learn Algebra is going to keep your young writer out of an Ivy League school, then learning Algebra it is. If an insufficient reading score keeps a young mathematician out of MIT, then trusting the guidance of his teachers/parents that reading consistently is important is just what has to happen.

What excuses are you hearing for not studying?

I want to talk about extra time on the SAT and ACT.

I’ve met so many students who, admirably, qualify for extra time and don’t want to take it—they don’t want to be singled out at school as having what they perceive as a “deficit” and they like the satisfaction of working and competing against everyone else.

I love this can-do attitude. I really, honestly do. It’s a sign of a student who is self-respecting and wants to play a fair game. Ten years ago I would have said, “You don’t want to take it? Fine. Good. Don’t.”

But now? If you can get extra time on the SAT or ACT, I say you should take it. Period.

Here’s what’s changed my mind: I’ve met so many students who have qualified for the extra time that do take advantage of it…students you might meet on the street and would never think for a second that they’d qualify. I’ve worked with dozens and dozens of them during my career and at this point, it’s time to face it: at the end of the day, students who use extra time when they qualify for it are providing themselves with a leg up in admissions over qualifying students who choose not to take it. Colleges are required not to (and I don’t believe they would anyway) hold a learning disability against a student. There is no harm in using extra time. That means your 26 in regular time pales against the 31 of a student who took advantage of the extra time.

Let me spell it out: the kid of comparable skill who took the extra time is most likely going to be accepted to college before you do.

Qualifying for extra time on the ACT and on the SAT is a little different for each. You’ll want to check with the ACT and College Board themselves, but what it generally takes is a diagnosis as having one or multiple qualifying learning disabilities or differences or, occasionally, anxiety disorders, OCD, etc.* Sometimes it can take a few months to get approved, and many students need to reapply and bolster their cases to get it. Some students receive accommodation on one test and not the other.
Either way, think strategically. Don’t be afraid to take the time if you qualify…. After all, higher test scores are higher test scores.

*This is by no means a complete or definitive list and we recommend your check with the testing companies for their official word on qualifying diagnoses/requirements.

You have to believe success matters.

According to The Procrastinator’s Digest by Dr. Timothy Pychyl, “One of the most important pre-conditions for successful change is a deep commitment to that change. You really have to value that change.” (Pychyl, loc 520) For a student preparing for a standardized test, that change needs to refer specifically to improvement, to a higher score.

If you don’t think you’re going to college or you can’t find a college that seems to meet your needs (or, worse, you’re being forced to go to apply to a college you don’t want to attend), you’re going to be less likely to care whether you get a higher score.

If you don’t care, you’re not going to bother.

You have to believe success is possible.

Nobody likes to try things when they know there’s no possible way they’ll be successful. It’s demoralizing and feels like wasted time. This means you have to fundamentally believe that it’s possible to learn that new math problem or to learn those new vocabulary words. You have to know that, some way, somehow, what you’re attempting to do will pay off.

Success has to be defined by achievable goals.

One of the best ways to work figure out what’s achievable is to set incremental goals, like “I want to get above a 700 on the math section. On the last test I got a 600, so on the next test date I’m shooting for a 650.” It’s hard to know what a realistic SAT score is for you if you don’t go step-by-step. If you’re scoring in the 400s on a section, work on getting yourself into the 500s instead of getting all bent out of shape that you’re not in the 600s yet.

Likewise, if you’re a parent, you must encourage your kids as they make incremental progress. If you’re not satisfied till they get the top SAT score, you’re no longer an advocate.

One thing at a time makes the process much more manageable.

Next time we’ll talk about how to equip students to reach their goals and identify a payoff worth working towards.

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Check out these tips from an Olympian on developing your mental toughness, the other key element of achieving your best SAT score.

But it’s important to understand why this question is perfectly fair and why, as a writer and thinker, you have to be prepared for this type of prompt. This is not an unfair SAT essay prompt. It’s just different.

The question read, “How authentic can these shows be when producers design challenges for the participants and then editors alter filmed scenes?” Instead of the more typical, obvious questions about what motivates change, human will, or technology, this prompt was about authenticity—or, more, “is seeing believing?”

You don’t have to watch reality TV to understand the question or answer it. You don’t even have to use reality television as examples.

If students decided to answer that these shows are inauthentic because they are filmed and edited, they’re simply answering that anything that’s edited doesn’t necessarily show us the true story. They could have used extreme examples like propaganda, which usually misrepresents reality, or, as one student mentioned in The New York Times article about the prompt, how Jacob Riis’ photography told a story he wanted to tell about how “the other half” of society lived in tenements. Riis’ photos are famous for finding people in disarray and terrified—but if you know anything about him, he was bursting in unannounced on people living in tenements. In other words, people were living in tight quarters in the dark, and Riis would blow into their apartments uninvited and use flash photography to capture them.

No wonder they looked that much more miserable.

At the end of the day, every SAT question is not intended to be a literal question. I guarantee you that the readers who are grading these SATs are not looking forward to reading all about Jersey Shore, and they will reward any student who was wise enough to take the question in stride and write an essay answering, “Are things always what they appear to be?” …which is what this prompt was really about.

Hope you enjoy it!

Here’s why:

• It’s flexible. You can work from home, turning your attention to the session at the moment it begins and getting back to your other homework and studying right after. You’re not dragging yourself and your books and pencils and junk around town, hoping you’re not late, and rushing through dinner to get to your appointments. It’s hard to put into words just how much more convenient online tutoring is.
• It’s personalized. We often think of working online as something that requires software or some sort of automated course, but technology has gotten so good that tutors and students are able to work with real time audio and video. At our company every tutoring session is personalized based on the needs of the students; it’s a true private tutoring session that’s no different than working at the kitchen table.
• It’s more user-friendly. We can send files back and forth to students on the fly—no looking for this book or that list of vocab or something buried on the shelves. Kids are already doing this with each other; students video chat on iChat and Skype all the time anyway. We find that they’re more comfortable with the technology than we are. It can freak parents out because they’re not usually hanging out late chatting with their friends over the internet, but you have to remember that most teenagers are. It’s not strange to them. Once you get comfortable with choosing to go with one of the many online tutoring companies out there, make sure you think about their experience and tutoring philosophies. Here’s our philosophy to get your research started.

It’s pretty common knowledge that volunteerism is looked upon as an important facet of your college application. More importantly, it should be looked upon as an integral part of your life. Since the summer is upon us, it’s time to start thinking about what you’ll be doing with all your extra time. Some of these projects are great to start in the summer and then launch an organization in your school in the fall, which translates to leadership qualities on your application.

Here’s how the process has been typically going. I’ll say “OK! We’re going to do page 773 number 17.” He’ll read the question and invariably he says something like this:

“Oh gosh, oh come on? Are they serious? Factors make me crazy.”

or

“What does that even mean? What is that? Have I seen that before? What the heck?”

or

“Oh man, here we go again. Come on. Why do they have to write like this? I hate this problem.”

Really? Because the problem doesn’t hate you.

He’s fighting a one-sided battle, and he’s making it more likely that he’ll lose the war.

This student, like everyone, has a sense of his own limitations. He, like most people, has no idea where his limitations actually lie. In other words, he doesn’t know how good he is and how, even more importantly, just how good he could be.

That’s fine. He’s just learning about himself. We can work with that.

But the funny thing about the situation is that at this point he’ll deliver this string of complaints and then, far more often than not, solve the problem without any help!

In Carol Dweck’s book Mindset she looks at the minds of champions–incredible athletes, businesspeople, and creative types. You name it: they all share one thing, what Dweck calls the “growth mindset.” If someone’s an incredible achiever, someone who achieves beyond what they seem capable of, no matter what they’re doing, they enjoy a growth mindset. It’s something you want to cultivate in yourself. Here’s what Dweck says about people with the growth mindset: “Those with the growth mindset found setbacks motivating. They’re informative. They’re a wake-up call.” ¹

That means that for my student to really get where he needs to go, he’s going to have to lose the attitude. Coming across a nasty exponent problem should be a wake up call that he needs to get excited, work harder, and work better–and make sure he’s working with people who can help him! If he changes his attitude when he sees an exponent problem, he actually makes it more likely that he’ll achieve his goals if he believes that this exponent problem is an opportunity to learn and conquer.

If you’re fighting math problems on the SAT, realize that the fight is one-sided. Even if you hate the problem, the problem doesn’t hate you. If you stop the fight you open the first door to the growth mindset, to becoming someone who loves a challenge, to achieving your best possible SAT score.

We’re compiling articles that Elizabeth has written and publications all over to give you the best in test taking strategy and skills advice. A lot more will be appearing in the blog, but here’s a great place to start:

Attention for the SAT

Attention – Learn more about how much you pay attention, how to control it, and why you only have a limited amount of it to spend per day.

Concentration for the SAT

Concentration – Actionable tips from Elizabeth King on how to begin rebuilding your ability to concentrate over a long period of time. After all, standardized tests are hours long.

Confidence for the SAT

Confidence – If you’ve already read Olympic Gold Medalist Barbara Ann Cochran’s thoughts on test anxiety and confidence building, this is the next place to go–even more sports psychology for success on the SAT and, more importantly, in your life.

Test Psychology for the SAT

Test Psychology – Find out about your Inner Game of SAT.

We believe in coaching the whole student–finally understanding a parabola can be a moment of confidence that leverages across a student’s life. If you need help with confidence building, we want to support you. Please contact us with questions; we’re ready to help!