Why Early Preparation is More Important than Ever
By Mark
Greenstein, Test Prep Advisor
Founder and Lead Instructor of Ivy Bound
Publication
permission granted so long as the name and URL are included.
The benefit
of early preparation has never been higher.
Students who get down to the business of college planning well
before the traditional start have a heaping advantage in the college
admissions game.
Traditionally, guidance counselors meet students in January or February
of junior year (usually after their seniors have finished their January
applications). By this time
many juniors have missed out
on taking courses that could burnish their college resumes.
In those winter meetings, students also find they missed out on
taking an early SAT prep course, and totally missed the boat on the
possibility of earning National Merit Scholarship recognition.
The time to
consult with a good counselor is fall or winter of
sophomore year.
That's when the counselor can help structure the spring schedule,
help steer towards a meaningful summer, and help assess which, if any,
SAT Subject Tests or AP exams should be taken that spring.
Sophomore
year college counseling allows students who face momentous decisions on
extracurricular activities to gain wisdom from the track records of
hundreds of students before them.
Sophomore year is usually the last good chance for a student to
take up an activity that will impress colleges.
By junior year, colleges want to see that you have delved
passionately into your extracurricular activities.
If your
counselor cannot do an in-depth assessment and start planning with you
by winter of sophomore year, get
an independent consultant.
One good source for consultants across North America is
www.iecaonline.com .
(My office also has references for many strong consultants).
I have long said that
a good consultant gives the
admissions value of attending a Prep School for four years.
Though you
don’t need a college counselor in 8th or 9th
grade, you still can be aided by good planning.
For example, entering a science competition for the first time is
best done as a freshman. You
will not likely place high as a freshman, but by the third year, you’ll
have learned how to do it doubly better and triply better, and likely
place high then. The same
goes for artistic competitions: situational experience matters.
Let’s say
you do place high in a competition as a freshman.
Your sophomore year entry has an even better chance because of
your “pedigree”. “She placed
fourth last year…she MUST be good” is near-universal thinking among
judges.
Now, among
the advantages of early SAT preparation:
1)
Studying for the SAT tangentially helps one’s academics.
The grammar, essay instruction, and vocabulary that a good SAT
course provides are likely to help students improve their English grades
in school. The regimented
independence that many SAT study courses provide creates a good
foundation for studying when electives pre-dominate an upperclassman’s
agenda.
2)
Starting early means more chances for success.
The SAT is not a one-shot deal, and multiple chances mean on SOME
occasion a student fires on all “24 cylinders” and gets a turbo-charged
score. Most colleges
“cherry-pick” (a.k.a. “superscore”) section of the SAT, so good scores
from multiple dates get combined into one great score.
3)
Being done early allows smart assessment of colleges.
When a junior is sitting on a solid SAT score from a December (or
earlier) test, s/he can make intelligent college visits over the next
few months (February and April breaks are my favorite times to visit
colleges). A good SAT score
means you need not visit so many “back-up” colleges.
4)
Being done early is a relief.
The junior spring is often crowded with AP exams, SAT IIs,
finals, sports banquets, proms, awards ceremonies, college visits,
plays, girlfriends, driver education, spring fundraisers, volunteer
events. To keep the SAT out
of that mix is wise.
5)
Being done early means you can apply more strategically.
While colleges accept October and even November score for ED
(Early Decision), CHOOSING that one college for an ED application is
best done based on knowing your SAT score rather than guessing what it
will be. ED continues to be
advantageous in college admissions and EA (Early Action) helps with
merit scholarship awards.
As I’ve
written elsewhere, nothing in the junior year curriculum directly helps
SAT success (unless your school gives a dedicated for-credit SAT
course). Thus early
preparation has no downside.
At Ivy Bound our junior fall testers show test scores equivalent to our
senior fall testers. And
since SAT scores have never been more important, students choosing to
wait should have a very good reason for the delay.
Parents
seeking to enroll their children for an upcoming class, for Skype
tutoring, or for private tutoring with the instructor coming to the
home, can e-mail
