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For the college-bound high school student, there's one thing that is as sure as homework and tests: taking the SAT. For the parents of the college-bound high school student, there's one thing that is becoming as sure as death and taxes: paying for SAT prep classes. It seems that as both the competition and stakes rise for getting into the right college, more and more people are jumping on the test prep bandwagon, following the herd and paying any cost to obtain the best test scores possible. It has almost become a craze, especially among "high-expectation" parents and students. I have seen kids as young as 13 years old, crammed into cubicle-size classrooms, bury themselves in 8-inch thick SAT books, preparing for a test as far as five years away. I have a friend who took the SAT three more times after scoring a 1570 just to achieve the elusive 1600, a perfect score. I have seen parents shell out as much as $1,700 - more than a dollar a point - for summer SAT courses, which are oftentimes just organized baby-sitting with a vocabulary list. This fanatical pursuit of the "good" score has reached a feverish pitch (even a movie has been produced about SAT mania, titled "Perfect Score") and hundreds of test prep centers have sprung up across the country. What parents and students must now seriously consider is whether SAT test preparation is worth it. Undoubtedly, having solid standardized test scores is tremendously important in the college admissions process, and doing some review can only improve your chances of scoring well. In fact, I recommend it. Learning the directions and format of the exam will save huge amounts of time come test day. However, test preparation, in many cases, has been taken to the extreme, and this is where you need to draw a line between what is needed and what is not. There are SAT "boot camps" where students study during their summer vacation five days a week, eight hours day, for two months. In my opinion, that's too much. Take, for instance, one of my friends who attended an SAT boot camp last summer and took the test in October. Some $1,500 and 320 hours of studying later, she scored 1310, a disappointingly low score for her abilities. She then studied by herself for two weeks about two hours a night and took the December exam. She scored a 1490, an improvement so drastic that SAT testers were prompted to verify that the same person took both tests. What was the difference? The second time around she wasn't overwhelmed with 2,000 vocabulary cards, two, 3-inch binders full of notes, and the hundreds of "tricks" her prep class teacher had taught her to pull through the test. The second time around she was relaxed, focused and confident about the knowledge she already had, the knowledge she learned from her high school teachers. Now I know parents may be protesting, "Well, my child can't study on their own. They're not disciplined enough, and they need help from someone experienced." This is definitely a valid concern and should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to sign up for prep classes. However, this seems to raise a much more important question in my mind. If your student isn't disciplined enough to study for the SAT test, are they disciplined enough to study for regular school tests, as well? If not, are you going to hire a tutor for every single subject of their high school career to make sure they do study? What happens when they go to college? Instilling good study habits and a strong work ethic is, for the most part, a parent's responsibility. However, in today's bustling society, many parents no longer have the time or energy to establish such values in their kids. That is why the test prep industry is booming: Parents compensate for not devoting enough time and attention to their kids by paying money to have someone else do it. Before signing up for SAT prep courses, really examine the underlying reasons and then decide what the right course of action is. It could be an either/or. Rajiv Bhuta is a senior at Troy High School in Fullerton. |
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