One of the challenges that juniors face is having to prepare for standardized tests despite the barrage of other commitments that students need to keep up: the year is jam-packed with challenging classes, extracurricular activities, and, of course, standardized tests.
At AJ Tutoring, our mission is to minimize stress for students and help them build confidence while achieving their potential. This is the goal of our academic tutoring, which aims to improve deep content mastery and develop efficient study skills. This summer, many students have been coming to AJ to get a head start or enrich their understanding with our academic summer classes. In the coming weeks, more and more students will begin working with AJ Tutoring in order to achieve a strong start to the semester and get the year off on the right foot.
Particularly for juniors, the idea of taking the PSAT, SAT, and ACT, as well as subject-specific tests like SAT Subject Tests and AP Exams, can be intimidating. Luckily, you don’t have to go through it alone. AJ Tutoring is here to help with the process! If you’d like to discuss our comprehensive and highly customized approach to helping each student maximize scores and minimize stress, give us a call today!
The first challenge awaiting juniors is the PSAT, most frequently taken in October at schools. Because the scores won’t be sent to colleges, the PSAT offers the opportunity for a low-stakes way to acclimate to the testing environment and learn some important skills that will come in handy later on.
The PSAT can be a marvelous opportunity to get ahead of the game and build a lot of confidence for future tests. August, September, and October are often really busy months for Juniors.
With all that in mind, here are a few pointers for completing an efficient PSAT prep that fits in to even the most busy calendars.
Start now!
AJ Tutoring offers two options for PSAT prep: a short course and a full preparation. You can learn more here. No matter your choice, it will benefit you immensely to start the process of PSAT tutoring as soon as possible.
In choosing to start early, you have the luxury of being able to space out the tutoring sessions and practice tests, a schedule that better allows you to understand the concepts and strategies on a deep level.
Another benefit to starting the prep early is that it allows you take weeks off for unforeseen circumstances. If you need to go on a last-minute ski trip or if you catch a cold, you will be glad you planned ahead.
Take Advantage of 1-on-1 Customized Tutoring
AJ Tutoring specializes in 1-on-1 tutoring for the PSAT and other exams because they allow the greatest degree of customization in each tutoring session.
One benefit of this customization is its efficiency. Because a personalized preparation targets each student’s unique opportunities and obstacles, no time is squandered, and every minute of tutoring is focused on the most important concepts and strategies for the student’s exam success.
Rather than sitting through hours and hours of content that students have already mastered or concepts delivered at a pace that they can’t absorb, 1-on-1 tutoring is perfect for meeting each student at his or her own level and learning style. That means quicker test prep progress and more time for other things!
Commit to Taking Practice Exams
AJ Tutoring offers free virtual proctored practice exams for our test prep students. Every student who takes PSAT, SAT, ACT, and AP tutoring with AJ is encouraged to make use of this excellent resource: you can find a complete schedule of all of our offerings here.
On the surface, it seems counterintuitive. Why spend hours and hours taking tests if you are busy? Though exams do indeed take several hours of precious weekend time, practice exams are an absolutely crucial part of an effective prep, and the time spent experiencing the real deal is well worth it. Practice exams help build stamina and apply what’s being learned in sessions.
Furthermore, the practice tests results help our tutors further customize and personalize the instruction based on the types of questions students miss. Identifying patterns means noticing a student’s strategy and content needs which we can then target with individualized tutoring.
If you’d like to get started with PSAT tutoring, please reach out to us right away! Our professional test prep tutors know the exam back and forth and are passionate about helping students achieve their potential. We look forward to working with you!
