Preparing for SATs and college can seem like an overwhelming task; students may not know where to start or what to use or who to talk to. But worry not, Stevenson High School has many resources you can use at your disposal.
Counselor Dakota Debeul is a reliable resource for students, and she said the counseling center has information available on the Counseling Schoology page. In the page, you can see many folders that can help students by giving information on many topics. Some examples would be College, Post-Secondary Readiness, and Tutoring. To access this, go to your email and get the access code.
“During the month of October, we have College Reps coming to school,” Debeul said. “As well as a College Rep night where 18 colleges will come to give a 30-minute presentation.”
Being both an Algebra and AP Pre-calculus teacher, Briana Siwicki works with students to prepare for the math portion of the SAT. She suggests you can use Khan Academy to help you as it’s free for students to use and the practice tests in Bluebook.
“Some common mistakes are that students do not take the PSAT seriously or use their time wisely on the practice test,” Siwicki said. “Another common mistake is students forget to go back to questions, so they leave an answer blank, or they spend too much time on one question.”
Having graduated from Stevenson last year, Kong Nguyen said he suggests students get as much help preparing for the SAT both in and outside of school.
“I would suggest having a tutor to help with the math section and also learn how to use the Desmos, Desmos is the key to having a good math score,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen said that he found the English portion to be easier.
“The English section is easier for those who are good at skimming through passages but as always read the question first before you read the passage, it might give more clear help with finding answers.”
Nguyen advises that students should plan ahead when studying for the SAT and to pace themselves.
“Try to not study too much but try not to cram it in last minute,” Nguyen said. “Spread out your study sessions to a few every month up until the test date.”