As a leading guru on the subjects of test prep and the college process, I sometimes get SOS emails from confused or distressed high schoolers (and their parents). Occasionally I have a chance to answer their questions here on my blog. The below letter is from a junior who wrote to me last Spring, and I encourage you to read it now—just as second semester is getting started—for a plan on how to slay the last half of 11th grade!
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Dear Kristina,
Mayday! I’m a junior in high school, and I need a flat 1500 on my SAT to get into my dream college. My last SAT was my highest score so far, but it was still only a 1390 (EBRW 700 Math 690).
I'm starting to wonder what the point is of pushing myself so hard during this whole stupid SAT prep process….if I’m STILL not going to get the scores I need. At this point, I will have to switch gears to the new Digital SAT and hope the colleges on my list will let me superscore between them—or that I just get my 1500 on a completely new test!
I’m seriously considering changing course and just applying to schools that don't require standardized tests at all. Especially since I’ll probably need to be studying for the June SAT at the same time as I’m taking finals for my (challenging) courseload. It’s all too much. Plus, I feel like taking a timed test doesn’t really say anything about what kind of person I am or how I think.
So, I guess my question to you is: what the heck should I do? Is it ok to just decide the whole SAT thing isn’t for me??
Yours,
Losing Hope
Dear LH,
I wish I could give you a big hug right now! I hear the frustration and anxiety barely beneath the surface, and first of all, I want you to take a deep, slow breath. I promise: it will be okay. Yes, you’re in a famously difficult period of high school—but please remember it’s only temporary.
Secondly, I want to remind you that everyone in your grade is trudging through the same muck right now: you’ve all got multiple attempts of the SAT or ACT left to take, possible AP or Regents or IB exams, and then final exams and projects for your actual end-of-year grades. That’s a recipe for a seriously stressful junior year.
So…you’re not the only one who's feeling the crunch right now. Pretty much everyone who's applying to any college in the US is dealing with this same thing. So unfortunately, a full plate isn't really an excuse; it’s the norm. And that means it’s time to bite the bullet and make time for schoolwork AND standardized testing.
Do standardized tests measure something real?
I hate to say it, but the answer is Yes. This might be the first time you’re experiencing this degree of academic pressure—but the truth is, the standardized testing cocktail of pressure and time crunch and stress is a preview of what college is really like….and what LIFE is really like. In college, your midterms will all fall during the same few weeks. Your final papers will somehow all be due on the same day—which happens to be right after your chamber music group’s big performance (which required three months of rehearsals and which you have to travel to another city for). If you want to apply to graduate school (or med school, or law school...), you'll be completing applications while you finish your coursework and exams during your senior year. The PhD program you're applying to won't care that you were traveling for your baseball tournament while you were filling out the application; they'll just assess your materials alongside everyone else's.
Jump cut to the real world. Pretty much no matter where you work (even if you work for yourself), you will have deadlines. You'll have emails to your boss or briefs due to clients who are paying your company for a service, and frankly, don't really care if you were stressed because you are also raising a two-year-old or nursing a sick cat or going through a breakup at the same time. Even if you're an artist, you will have deadlines—that soundtrack that that director commissioned from you for his short film will need to happen by a certain date. And it had better be finished on time, because there's a particular film festival submission deadline that he needs to meet.
That's life. You have to learn to stop making excuses and deal with doing things that are inconvenient for you. That's what the standardized testing process is REALLY testing: how much grit you have. How much you can call on your inner resolve and get done what needs to get done when life demands it. Learning to call on those resources is hard, but the amazing thing you’ll discover is that you CAN do it! It's mostly a matter of not melting down.
So now, Losing Hope, you've hopefully realized that your anger towards this process does not serve YOUR real end goals, which is getting into the right college for you. What will serve you now is that strong will that I know you’ve got inside, and digging deep for every last bit of it in this difficult stretch. Remind yourself that it’s not supposed to be easy, and that being stressed out doesn’t mean you’re a failure. Then, all you have to do is make a weekly SAT study plan (that link will help you find the time, no matter how busy you are!) and take it one day at a time.
Can I apply only to testing-optional schools?
I don't want to dismiss out of hand your idea of applying to schools that have no SAT or ACT requirement. As my post on the subject notes, there is a growing list of quality schools that make testing optional, either as a permanent policy, or as a temporary pandemic policy. If you actually love some of these schools, they could be the answer to your dilemma. And if you have a learning or other neurological issue that medically or psychologically makes standardized testing a problem for you, this could be a great option.
However—and you need to really be honest with yourself here—if you have your heart set on other choices, please don’t give up on your dreams just to make the next few months slightly more relaxing! This is your time to buckle up and show the world what you’ve got—not the time to start settling and putting your ambitions on the shelf. Especially since you've already locked in some pretty awesome SAT scores! Seriously, you are much closer than you think!
Hang in there and let me know how it goes!
xo,
Kristina
P.S. If you feel like you might be more stressed out than the average teen by the current or future prospect of standardized testing—you find yourself obsessively thinking about the SAT, or maybe you just freeze up every time you have to take a Math midterm—I’ve designed a totally self-directed course on how to overcome your test anxiety:
