Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine MOMENTUM SUMMER 2019 | Page 26

EDUCATION
JODY CERISANO
Huntington Learning Center of League City
832.864.2769
SUMMERTIME: An Ideal Time
for SAT or ACT Prep
I
f your teen is preparing to take the SAT or ACT this
fall, there is no better time for him or her to register
for a customized exam prep course. Summer
break is the perfect opportunity for students to
focus on studying for the SAT or ACT because
their schedules are far less crowded with school and
extracurricular activities. Your teen can work from a
targeted schedule to put him or herself in the best
position for the September or October exam.
To get the most out of his or her efforts, here are a few
tips for your teen as he or she engages in summertime
exam prep:
Choose the test to prepare for. Colleges accept
scores from both tests, however, if your teen has a list of
preferred colleges, it is worthwhile to investigate whether
the colleges prefer one exam over the other. The SAT
and ACT are very different, so it is important to find out
for which test your teen is better suited. If they took a
PSAT at school, have them take an ACT practice test and
compare the scores using a concordance chart published
by ACT.org or CollegeBoard.org. Most of the time, the
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deciding factor on which test to take is by choosing the
test that they feel more confident about.
Register. Encourage your teen to register now so that
he or she has a committed date on the books—and a
goal to work toward. That date will be the starting point
when developing a study schedule.
Make a plan and stick to it. Your teen will be far more
successful if he or she has a schedule and a detailed
plan to follow at each study session. Every session’s
work plan should be divided into exam sections and
should take into account the student’s strengths and
weaknesses so he or she does not waste valuable time
on areas where he or she is stronger and gloss over
areas where he or she is weak. The best way to assess
those strengths and weaknesses is by taking an initial
practice exam.
Don’t underestimate the practice
exam. No study plan is complete if it
does not incorporate practice exams.
Your student will get a much better
feel for the SAT or ACT’s structure and
different question types (and how to
answer them) when he or she takes
an actual, full-length, timed practice
exam.
Work on speed. Both the SAT and
ACT are timed exams with no “fluff”
time. Subject-matter knowledge
is critical, but your teen must also
be able to manage his or her time
effectively to earn the best score.
That means he or she will need
to become comfortable reading
and understanding the questions,
narrowing down the choices and
recognizing wrong answers—all very
quickly.
Summer goes by quickly, so do not delay in getting
your teen started on exam prep! Your teen will
appreciate your foresight when they get to relax while
their peers are stressed out having to juggle school,
extra-curricular activities and prepping for the SAT or
ACT at the same time.