When you’re a junior or senior in high school, you seem to have both everything and nothing on your plate at the same time.
A few of your classes are probably easy and fun, since you are past many of the requirements and have room for electives. But at the same time, you still have those hard courses to finish, extra-curriculars to deal with, and college preparation to handle. And a lot of that college-related work has to do with ACT or SAT prep.
There’s so much to do, sometimes it seems like you’ll never be ready for these tests. That’s why we’ve put together this post for you; it shows you exactly what you need to do in terms of your ACT/SAT test prep each year.
Let’s dive right in:
Your Junior Year
Technically, you should have been preparing for the ACT or SAT before your junior year by taking the PSAT and studying for these tests early on.
However, if you didn’t do that, you still have options. For starters, decide if you can fit enough studying into the first few months of school to take the ACT or SAT in the fall. If not, aim for an early spring test date. Registering online is the easiest way, and don’t forget to include the codes of the colleges you want your results sent to.
Next, sign up for online ACT prep or SAT prep courses. The reason you should consider doing them online is because they are flexible time-wise, so you can fit them in around your normal school work.
Don’t fall behind in your online test prep. It will only make you feel stressed and rushed before the testing date.
Finally, get good rest before the test day and eat an energizing breakfast in the morning. Students who do this often see better results on their test scores than those who don’t.
Your Senior Year
ACT or SAT prep isn’t as complicated your senior year.
If you did well on your ACT or SAT last year, you don’t need to take it again. However, you might want to for a few reasons, like improving your score, seeing what you remember from the last time, or sending your score to a new college of interest. In theses cases, simply repeat the steps you followed as a junior for ACT or SAT prep.
Otherwise, your next step as a senior is to consider taking any of the SAT subject tests. These are especially helpful if you have an idea of what you want to study in college, and will help you show your chops in that area.
Finally, make sure you’re communicating with your final college choices. Make sure they have everything they need from you so that you can focus on finishing your senior year of high school.
Sure, your last two years of high school can be busy, but if done right, you can get everything finished that you wanted to, and end up with great ACT or SAT results to show for it!
