What’s important in the changing admissions is strategic planning!

What will change in the future is difficult to say, but I wouldn’t expect a major revision of the SAT any time soon. There are some schools that have dropped the SAT (or at least announced plans to drop the SAT) as a requirement. I expect most schools will keep an ACT or SAT score requirement, though. Students should not assume that dropping the requirement means that admissions will be ‘easier’. The general effect of such a change is to make the process more ambiguous.

I would encourage students to cover all possible bases when preparing for admissions, to send the best possible signal. That does mean having your SAT score ready, but it also means you’ve put in a consistent effort in school to keep your GPA up, you’ve got a presentable resume of experiences and achievements, etc. And now that they’ve eliminated all SAT Subject tests, you should also put your effort into select AP subjects.

Two ways to prepare for SAT Reading and Writing exams

There are two tracks to improvement in this area: one fast, one slow.

The fast road is the training in strategies, efficient methods, etc. These can help to drive your score up by a considerable amount pretty quickly. But often there will be a limit, set by the slower track, and that’s the harder part.

The slow track to growth is determined by the quantity of reading experience and the depth of your vocabulary, which are by their nature harder to acquire quickly. But even if you think you’re starting farther back than others on this slow path, don’t assume you can’t catch up. If you’re driven, you can make it happen.

A must-have habit for a high score in SAT Reading and Writing

What students should focus on partly depends on which R/W class they’re in. But in general I would say that students who are working hard in a R/W class have their pencils out and are actively making notes about their mistakes, new words that they’re encountering, explanations for the mistakes they’ve made, and so on. This will help you to refer back to and retain what you learn.

When you read something and encounter a new word, don’t just pass it by. Or maybe you look it up in the moment, but forget it soon after. No. Underline it and write it down separately to be reviewed, or punch it into your favorite vocabulary memorization app.

Have your scores hit a ‘plateau’?

You need to make a diagnosis of what’s holding them back and push at the area of weakness. And if your scores are low, even after practicing for a while, the most important thing is to not mentally give up. You have to believe that you can do well in order to make progress. So be patient with yourself and keep pushing. Beyond that, I would need to know something about the student’s specific situation to offer more fitting advice.

For the students feeling overwhelmed by Test-Prep

As a test-prep instructor, I find the SAT interesting, but I understand that students will mainly just see it as a burden. And it is a burden, but when I’m teaching I hope to convey some of that interest, and by decoding the test together and getting more familiar with it, I hope we can make it at least seem like less of a burden.

To students who dream of going to dream school

Entrance exams are one of the hurdles to entering college, but college is itself just another step. Your chosen major and the experience you have there will launch you into the next steps: your career and independent life. What do you want that to look like? What does success look like for you? I recommend that students try to form a clear-eyed view of what they want from college, so that they get the most out of the experience.

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