A 2020 Guide to SAT Prep During COVID-19
Use this large block of uninterrupted time while you’re social distancing to improve your SAT score and enroll in an intense online SAT bootcamp.
This is an amazing opportunity to not be distracted by school or other things, so it’s a great time to form an SAT habit.
SAT prep in the time of distance learning
A lot of folks have reached out to me recently, talking about coronavirus/COVID-19 and SAT prep: They worry that their tutors are canceling and SAT prep is canceled. “Even though the May 2020 SAT is canceled, my child will eventually need to do well on this test - and I know SAT prep usually takes a long time - from 6 months to a year,” said one parent. “So what can I do to prepare for the SAT during coronavirus and social distancing? How can I use this time effectively for the SAT?”
This is an amazing time to do something intense to increase your SAT score. Because of social distancing, kids can’t go anywhere; all his/her/their extracurriculars and sports are canceled, and school frequently isn’t giving particularly challenging or demanding work as teachers and school systems rush to adapt online learning platforms and courses.
I have two suggestions for you to use social distancing to your advantage to prep for the SAT:
1. Social distancing? Use the time to do something that needs to be uninterrupted: Enroll in an intense online SAT bootcamp.
The number of people who’ve reached out to me with this particular problem has inspired me to create online bootcamps at Socratic Summer Academy/Yleana Leadership Foundation, the two orgs of which I’m Executive Director. Use this large block of uninterrupted time to improve your SAT score. We all know that SAT score increases can’t be gotten overnight; you need to spend a lot of time doing it - and most of the time, kids never manage to find enough time/energy/effort/concentration to put into SAT prep, because of everything else going on (sports/extracurriculars/events/commitments). Now we’re in a situation where you have nothing else going on. So if you need to work on a certain concept within math, or want to master the distinctions of usage in comma vs semi-colon, you are in the perfect time to do that.
If you don’t want to take our online bootcamp, that’s totally fine! Here’s what to look for in another:
1. A person who has taught an online bootcamp before or is experienced with virtual learning
The number one problem that arises with online tutoring is distraction. It’s very easy to get distracted; I’m sure each of us has been on an online or conference call where we were doing other things besides listening actively to the person who was presenting. :) As a teacher/tutor in real life, you are constantly scanning the room to get non-verbal cues from your students to figure out whether or not they’re actually paying attention to you. In virtual teaching/tutoring/tutoring, you have to scan twice as carefully and twice as often. Good teachers also will make sure to ask questions to check students’ understanding - to make sure not just that they’re tuning in, but that they’re understanding - because that’s also easier to disguise. For us, one of the big assets is that our staff is already used to working virtually (they are scattered all over the country) and we have been doing online tutoring with students since 2009 - so we’ve had a lot of time to get good at this.
2. A person who has the SAT mastered COLD
Teachers have to pay so much attention online to those non-verbal cues that you cannot have anyone who doesn’t know their subject matter COLD. When I was an opera singer, I used to say that if I really knew a role, you could wake me up at 2am and ask me to sing it and I could - because it was in my bones. That’s how well an online tutor needs to know his/her/their subject material - because anything can happen, and she/he/they has to be ready.
Bootcamps are a great way to get the best teacher possible - without the limitations of geography. One of our best teachers is our curriculum director, who is based in Chicago. When he does online work, he can work with kids all over the globe and it doesn’t matter where they’re physically located - I have the luxury of giving our students access to him regardless of geography. And when he and I teach together, it doesn’t matter that we’re not physically in the same room - we know each other well enough and have taught together so long that a micro-expression tells one of us what the other is thinking about. Students get the advantage of two people with over 25 years of combined experience - and they don’t have to leave their couches.
2. Use social distancing time to create a habit: Increase your SAT score by forming an SAT habit!
We are all too busy, in our daily lives, to commit to the kind of long-term habit that really makes substantive change. SAT prep that really moves a score 100+ points starts at the 80-hour mark, and usually takes 6 months to a year of prep to achieve. None of this is fast, and usually it’s a grind.
A lot of the reason it’s so hard/grinding is because we are constantly distracted by other things and under a tremendous amount of pressure. Remembering what we’ve learned in a tutoring session a week ago and have not dusted off till right now is hard, and that means progress is often slower than it needs to be. We’re human, and that’s part of life.
But right now, we have an amazing opportunity to not be distracted by outside things and constantly pressured by school.
That means you can make WAY MORE PROGRESS way faster than usual. So use this time to get ahead on the SATs - create an SAT habit while you are online learning and social distancing!
I recently finished a 9-part blog series - the 9 steps to forming an SAT habit - which walks you through the steps in detail. A lot of us commit to things that we want to change, but because we don’t plan for the amount of work it will take to achieve them or think through all the small interstitial steps we will need to support ourselves, it’s easy to not actually concretize a habit within yourself. You’re not lazy or dumb or unmotivated; you just didn’t quite understand what the commitment meant and whether or not it was actually something you could repeat, every day.
Remember: The idea is that you’re doing it every time; the utility of habits is repeatability.
So if you want to use this time to do something productive - something that you’ll be happy you did later, and something that’s normally a luxury for you, lay the foundation of your habit carefully, thoughtfully, and with consideration. I promise, the 9 steps to forming an SAT prep habit are what you need. :)
Stay safe! And reach out anytime - I love doing free consultations with parents, students, and families! - Alyssa the College Expert
