As the year is coming to an end, Sophomores are figuring out whether or not they should study for the SAT now or later in the school year. When students get to their junior year of high school, they start to take a standardized test called the SAT, which will help them be evaluated for their reading, writing, and math skills to get into more prestigious universities and colleges. Although some students plan on going to community colleges, they still plan to try to do well on the test.
“The SAT is not necessarily important to me, because you don't have to have the highest SAT score to go to Washtenaw, but I do think it's important to know what's on the SAT, because it's stuff you would need for a daily basis,” Zane Russel (‘28) said.
The BlueBook exam app has a big practice section where there are 12 different sections to study from. The parts include reading and writing skills and math skills. This is a study tool sophomores tend to use to keep the concepts of learning in their mind until school starts back up in the fall.
“There's 12 different practice tests that you have the possibility of taking on the Blue Book app. All of them are optional. I think I'm just going to do it for myself, so I can get some practice,” Isabella Young (‘28) said.
It takes a lot to get a perfect score on the SAT. Some sophomores take tutoring classes, use online resources, go to camps over the summer to be extra prepared, and be able to maintain focus on the sections that might be hard on the SAT. Tutoring classes are frequently used for the math portion of the test because it is a more content-based test than the English sections.
“The math section is way trickier, because I don't use math in my everyday life, apart from my classes. I use English and grammar to talk when I'm expressing myself. So it's not as common to talk about math in everyday conversation,” Young said.
Taking the SAT can be very stressful for some students who find it harder to manage time on a timed test that does not have an unlimited amount of time. Studying in summer is hard to do with busy schedules and vacation plans, but developing testing strategies can be a good investment in the future.
“Don't stress about the time, and additionally try to answer as many questions as you can. It doesn't matter if it's right, because you have a 25% chance of getting the question right anyway,” Young said.
Students are also excited to take the SAT and are confident in doing well on it, even without studying, because of a busy summer schedule. They are hoping to get some study time when they find a study tool that works for them.
“I'm doing a little bit of extra stuff outside of school work.doing some extra studying, in SAT form. I plan on studying so hard that I have no problems, and it's all going to be the easiest thing in the world. I'm gonna get a perfect score,” Russel said.
If you don't have time during the summer, there are still opportunities to study during the school year. Taking time to do extra work, studying for tests, and learning about some extra parts can help with harder SAT questions.
“I'll study for different tests if I have one coming up after lunch, or sometimes during zero hour before I get to school. I'll take a look at some notes. I do spend a decent bit of time at lunch to get in extra work,” Russel said.
