How to Make Time for SAT/ACT Prep

Spring might be the busiest time of year for students. At this point in the year, students have lot on their plate what with upcoming final exams, team sport commitments, and end-of-year celebrations like prom or graduation. What's worse, the warmer weather can prove to be a major distraction.  

With all of this going on, how can you possible have time for SAT or ACT Prep? 

One option is to avoid taking the SAT or ACT in the spring. Trying to cram in a test at a busy time of the year can be a recipe for disaster. For this reason, the spring months might be the worst months to take the test. 

However, it is possible to squeeze it all in with a little diligence and discipline. 

A diligent student will make test prep part of the normal routine. Making things a routine is a life skill that will help test preparation, as detailed in Score #1500 of 2400 SCORES: 24 Life Lessons to Demystify the SAT and Boost Your Score. Just like brushing your teeth, the more test prep becomes part of your regular routine, the easier it is to manage. 

While diligence will help you build a routine, you also need discipline to maintain it. One way to stay disciplined, is to save your dessert for last. Saving your dessert for last is another life skill detailed in 2400 SCORES: 24 Life Lessons to Demystify the SAT and Boost Your Score. The idea is that you delay the gratification of dessert until you eat all of your vegetables. In other words, postpone any fun things until after you finish your test prep. Doing test prep first and giving yourself a reward after will make you more productive and could make the fun things even more enjoyable. 

This is a crazy time of year. Finding time to prep for the SAT or ACT can be a challenge, but with some diligence to follow a routine and some discipline to delay gratification, you can squeeze it all in even during busy times.

Learn more about preparing for the ACT and SAT by contacting CROSSWALK, the Monterey Peninsula's local resource for private tutoring, test prep and ACT/SAT Boot Camps. Read 2400 SCORES: 24 Life Lessons to Demystify the SAT and Boost Your Score by Brooke Higgins for more tips to get ready for test day. 

The More Things Change...

Just when you thought you had prepared all you could for the SAT, they had to go ahead and change it up on you. 

But don't fret. The new changes to the SAT announced by the College Board won't be put into effect until the spring of 2016. 

And truth be told, many of the changes to the SAT are not too drastic. It seems that the College Board simply wants to align its assessment closer to the work done in both high schools and colleges. 

If you haven't read the overview of these SAT changes as originally announced in the New York Times, visit this article. For a more condensed version of the same information, here are the major changes coming in two years:

• Scoring: the penalty for wrong answers is no longer and the score will be scaled out of 1600 like it was prior to 2005
• Vocabulary: more emphasis will be placed on the vocabulary used in college courses as opposed to those uncommon albeit famous SAT words like "ascetic"
• Essay: what was obligatory will now be optional
• Math: content is streamlined to include linear equations, complex equations, functions, ratios, percents and proportions among others and no calculators will be allowed on the test
• Reading: passages will include excerpts from famous historic texts, like the Declaration of Independence 

Yes, change is in the air and those in the Class of 2017 and beyond will want to take note. 

Get ready for the SAT and ACT with help from CROSSWALK. Boot Camps, private tutoring and study help are all ways that CROSSWALK can lead you on your path to learning success.