There’s a phrase I hear so often in my elite test prep and college process business that it’s come to feel like the repeating chorus of a song stuck in my head. I hear it especially from highly accomplished parents, many of whom graduated from Ivies themselves back in the day. These moms and dads badly want their dear, perfectly GPA-ed son or daughter to get into their alma mater and make them proud. They have sky-high standards for themselves and others. They are often very direct talkers and thinkers. And it's common for these ambitious parents to fret that perhaps their children (however high-achieving they’ve proved themselves to be already) just aren't working hard enough. And so the parents command their kids...
"Study more!"
It’s a prescription meant to instill discipline and restore a sense of order. But what it’s really about is control—the parent’s control over uncertainty, over the future, and over their kid.
The philosophy behind this approach is that doing four hours of SAT prep every day—AT LEAST!—will ensure a perfect or near-perfect score on the SAT or ACT. In turn, that score will ensure a spot at an elite institution. The idea is that by working, by “doing”—even doing unthinking, rote, practice problem sets—an excellent outcome is guaranteed. So by laying down the law of study-more, Mom or Dad gets a sense of security, of certainty. A sense of control.
But take it from me, the person who spends 12+ hours a day developing standardized test plans for her clients, and checks College Board news almost as often as she checks her email:
that’s just not how the standardized test game works.
You see, "Study more!" may help parents sleep more easily, but it doesn't necessarily raise scores.
If you want to actually get the highest score you’re capable of, you can’t just spend hours filling out workbooks on autopilot. You have to be fully present. Your brain needs to be actively engaged. You have to develop a sense of when you feel the information has sunk into your mind deeply enough that you’ll be able to actually use it.
Let’s call it like it is: if you’re really honest with yourself, you KNOW when you truly understand a topic or when you’re kind of fudging it. You KNOW when you’re giving something your all or when you’re just phoning it in, checking the box so you can get your high-strung dad off your back.
And truth be told, MORE studying is not always BETTER.
Case in point: consider our well-intentioned Yale Alum Mom. She’s decided her dear son should do a different ACT practice section each night, every week until the fifth (!) sitting of the test she’s signed him up for. English on Monday. Math on Tuesday. Reading on Wednesday. Science on Thursday. Writing (essay) on Friday...even though no one really does the ACT essay anymore. You get the idea. Sure sounds like a lot of work! So, a cool, perfect 36 is basically guaranteed, right?
Sorry, but no, not necessarily.
Is Dear Son analyzing what he gets wrong on each practice set? Is he noticing patterns? Is he utilizing Mental Mastery Techniques to make sure he’s focused and calm during each section?
Seeing Dear Son do endless practice sets may give Yale Mom a sense of satisfaction and control, but it’s no substitute for a targeted, savvy approach to maximizing his score—and it’s not a smart use of anyone’s time (including Mom’s!). With a bit of analysis and reflection, maybe Dear Son can figure out (or his tutor can help him see) that he needs to drill transition word questions, and that he freezes like a deer in the headlights whenever fractions crop up. Maybe he’s been nailing his practice ACT Science sections, but needs a new approach to the Grammar portion.
These are finite, fixable problems.
And a 30-minute worksheet or strategy session would take care of pretty much all of them. After which, good news: Dear Son is now free to work on his Common App essay, his extracurriculars—even to (gasp!) catch up on sleep or have a little fun during his junior and senior years of high school. Making a game plan and studying smarter, rather than just studying harder, lets him present a well-rounded application that offers elite colleges more than just a great test score.
I'd choose that over "study more!" any day. (And many college admissions committees would, too.)
Maybe you’re a parent reading this and still feel a little skeptical. That’s understandable. What I’m saying here may go against the approach you’ve taken to your own decades-long professional and educational career….and hey, it’s gotten you really far!
But don’t take my word for it. You can learn more here about the results I’ve gotten for my clients with this philosophy. Or, to discuss in exact detail how this strategy would play out for your high schooler, schedule a free twenty-minute call with me here.
