Test Prep: The One Thing That You Can Control That Makes The Most Difference For College Admission

Last year, I read The One Thing, a book that posits that we should focus on our energy on the one thing that can change our lives.  The one thing that students can change dramatically: test scores. Through the years of working with students throughout Connecticut, we know these higher test scores can radically change one’s entire college prospects.  I thought of this in relation to many of our college counseling clients throughout Shoreline, Connecticut.

When we meet for college counseling, the students are typically in the second half of junior year.     The student’s activities can be increased incrementally.  The soccer player can become captain and the violinist can make Eastern Connecticut’s orchestra.  But it is rare for someone to take up soccer or start playing violin junior year.  Grades, of course, should always be a focus.  But students, with 2.5 years of grades in the books can only do so much to shift their GPA.  Our meetings often occur after Connecticut high schools release PSAT scores.  Those that take test prep seriously – usually through our Winter SAT-ACT Mastery Seminar – radically change their scores and, in doing so, do the one thing that radically enhances their college admissions chances.