It might be summer, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to slack off if you’re gearing up for applying for college this Fall! Here are some tips for staying sharp this summer from online tutor Natalie S…
It is finally summer! The school year is over, and suddenly you have tons of free time to kick back and hang out. Consider taking just a small portion of that time each day and allotting it to an SAT study plan. It may not initially sound like an appealing way to spend your summer, however, just a few hours each week will make a huge difference when you’re prepping to take the SAT in the fall.
Check out a few of our simple tricks and tips below for adding an SAT study plan to your summer, and you will be on your way to acing the test!
- Incorporate test prep into your daily routine. Set aside an hour or two every day at the same time to work on your SAT study plan. Pretend that it’s a mandatory class that has a specific start and end time, and make a commitment to show up. This will help you hold yourself accountable for summer time studying.
- Review vocabulary words every day. Make flashcards of common words found on the SAT, and go over them once a day for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes a day doesn’t feel like a lot of study time, but after reviewing them everyday for three months, you will begin to learn how to use a plethora of new words. Start with a small stack, and then add to it as you learn more and more.
- Read! You have more free time over the summer, so try to tackle one or two books of literary merit. These books will challenge your brain and keep it sharp during your time off from school. Even better, you can use texts of literary merit as “evidence” in the essay portion of the SAT. Pick a couple of classic books that you’ve never read before and check them out!
- Consider taking an SAT prep course or even better, working one-on-one with an SAT prep tutor. Ask your tutor to give you a recommendation for their favorite test prep books and begin to work with those in your review sessions. There are many comprehensive guides available that demonstrate and offer explanations on how to do well on the exam. These books explain how the test is structured, how to strategically get the best score, and how to use shortcuts for answering certain problems, and they also offer tips on how to read and interpret the questions.
- Schedule your SAT. Believe it or not, by scheduling your SAT for the fall, you’ll be helping yourself prepare for the exam. Suddenly, you’ll have a test date that you’re preparing for. You’ll have a deadline – a goal – and this will help motivate you to work toward that goal.
It’s important to stay sharp and work hard during the summer months, so when it comes time to take the SAT, you are confident, prepared, and ready to ace the exam. Instead of cramming and panicking for the upcoming test, you’ll simply review the material you’ve already studied.
Enjoy your summer, and remember how beneficial it is to set aside just a small amount of time to prepare for a test that has a huge impact on your educational future.
Natalie S. tutors online in English, ESL, History, Phonics, Reading, and Test Prep. She received her BA in English Education at the University of Delaware, and her MA in English Literature at San Diego State University. Learn more about Natalie here!
Photo by Peter Miller
Suzy S.