The Importance of Being Earnest (about your Summer Test Prep):
An Important Message for Rising Juniors and their Families
By Jessica Muse
Co-Founder and Program Director, Modern Muse Education
Sophomore year is sometimes considered the “last hurrah” of high school: a
student is no longer a freshman, and the classes aren’t as intense as the upper
classmen in 11th and 12th grade. It’s a nice deal until the last day of classes, right
after finals, when students realize: “Oh no, I’m going to be a junior next year”.
Not only are these students and their families faced with making sure they pick
the right classes to adequately prepare them for college (more so than in 9th or
10th grade), but now the alphabet soup of dreaded exams are approaching: ACTs,
SATs, SAT Subject Tests, and APs are the exams most commonly taken during
junior year. How do these students ensure they’re ready? Summer Study
Sessions.
Make a Plan: Self-Promises
Ask your student to make a quick plan and a self-promise. Teenagers are
inundated with advice and lectures from adults who are trying to help them.
Studies have shown students are more effective studiers when they commit to
helping themselves. Ask them how much time they plan on dedicating to summer
work. If the answer is one week, ask them to agree on the week and hold them to
it. Ask them to put it in their phone, or write it on the family calendar. This way, it
is their choice, but enforceable by the parent.
Know your Student, Know their Test
Endless time will be spent on standardized test prep in junior year, but there is no
need to take both exams. With the New SAT still coming out of the woodwork, it
is becoming more important than ever that students have a good handle on
which test works better for them. Some students prefer the exam dates of the
ACT (September, October, December, February, April, June), while others prefer
not feeling rushed on the SAT (students, on average, get more time per question
for the entirety of the exam). Sign them up for two practice exams, one of each
test, to see how they do and ask them how the felt so you know which test they’ll
be taking as the year progresses.
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The Importance of Being Earnest (about your Summer Test Prep):
An Important Message for Rising Juniors and their Families
Have the “major” talk
Not every student will know what they want to be when they grow up (most
adults don’t either, to be fair!), but some have a very solid idea of careers they
are interested in pursuing. Some colleges require (or strongly recommend) SAT
Subject exams, and this will almost nearly be impossible to avoid for students
interested in sciences, mathematics or foreign languages. This will have to be
factored into the Junior Year Testing Plan as some subject tests are only offered
certain times of the year.
The Study Fit
Some students will benefit from tutoring, and others can be self-taught. Ask your
student what they ultimately want to do and then start shopping. The most
important thing to consider when looking for test prep companies is making sure
that the company’s mission is aligned with what you want for your student and
what your student wants for him or herself. Cheap companies are not always
well-read, and more expensive companies don’t always mean higher quality. You
researched the best diapers for your child when he or she was an infant. It’s no
different for finding the right test prep company for your child.
About Modern Muse Education
Modern Muse Education seeks to address the needs of non-traditional students
by providing college counseling, math and science tutoring and test preparation
that comes from the fundamental understanding of these students' experiences
and cultures and education. Modernmuseeducation.com.
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