Sunny Studying
Welcome to summer (in just over a week), otherwise known as the primetime for learning. Haven’t heard that before? Yeah… me neither, but I think we can make it “a thing”. While taking a nice break is important for kids and adults alike, keeping your brain moving doesn’t have to be torture.
The hot days are a great time to work on solidifying strong study habits, even if you’re putting in fewer hours, but what should you study? For rising juniors, summer is the perfect chance to start SAT preparations. For rising seniors, it’s your last summer to do some SAT studying and a great time to get ahead and write your college essays.
SAT Prep
Why start over the summer? I advise starting early! Slow and steady, just like my tortoise (whose name is Bystro, by the way), rather than cramming and getting overwhelmed. Plus, you can’t really cram for a test that measures so many skills and strategies. So, set up a plan and use active study strategies, which I will discuss more in later posts. Sign up for the College Board Daily Practice app to fit in a single problem on days when you don’t plan to study extensively.
Don’t just notice that you got a question wrong, study it! Now is your chance to learn the skills that you may not have and raise your score. Practice isn’t quite enough. Practice AND learning are what we are looking for. Great at math but struggling with the reading section? Your study time should reflect that. Maybe you do a few math problems to keep things fresh, but spend the majority of your study time timing yourself as you read passages and respond to those tough questions.
When you’re ready to get some practice in, check out this resource for some free practice tests provided by CollegeBoard. They even provide answers and scoring materials.
College Essays
Senior year is tough. You’re probably taking your hardest classes yet, you’re adjusting to new teachers, you may have a job or have taken on some leadership roles in extracurriculars, etc. I could go on and on. Getting your college essays started over the summer means far less stress, and it means being ready for any application deadline that starts to sneak up.
The first step is to pick an essay topic, which is an entire post all on its own. What I can cover in this post is editing. Do not just edit your essay once, and do not just edit your essay yourself. Let others read it, and let them be mean. Make changes and go back to them. Are your points clear? Do they learn enough about you? Would they let you into their imaginary (though very prestigious) university? Don’t be too proud. We all need help with our writing, and you want your essay to reach a variety of audiences.
So, with summer arriving shortly, think about what you could do to keep your study skills strong while also getting ahead for the next year! Please let me know if you have any questions, or if you have requests for future posts.