Dear juniors,

It’s coming to be that dreadful time of the year, the moment you’ve been preparing for throughout all your years in public schools. This may be considered the most important test of your life, one your teachers have warned you about for years.

That test is the SAT.

For last year’s set of juniors, the SAT was just like an experiment. Just a year prior, the state of Michigan made the decision to scrap the ACT as mandatory and stuck the SAT in its place. However, it wasn’t your standard SAT. It was re-formatted on a different grading scale. This test became a flavor like no other and all those years spent studying for the ACT were suddenly disregarded and scrapped. The class of 2017 crammed their preparations for their major test into just a few short months. They were the state’s guinea pigs.

So juniors, if you’re feeling nervous about taking the SAT, you have every right to be. It’s a long, extensively time consuming test, filled with questions that retain no practical use for the real world. But last year’s juniors could all tell those who wish to do well the same thing: study hard, get plenty of sleep, and don’t stress yourself out.

Studying hard is the most obvious key to success in increasing your chances of doing well on the SAT. However, there is no exact formula to studying for the SAT. The best way you can replicate a study guide for the SAT is to take the practice tests provided to you as seriously as possible. The PSAT is considerably one of your best methods of being able to judge what the SAT will be like. It’s very similar to the SAT, and therefore it puts your mental capacity and stamina to the test for how well you can maintain yourself through the real SAT. But let’s admit it, at least half of you took the PSAT without putting in much effort at all. Admitted, half of last year’s juniors probably did, as well. If you fall into that category, don’t fret. There’s still practice tests elsewhere, such as the one provided by College Board. For those breaking a sweat over getting good scores on this test, it is highly recommended that you run through these practice tests at least once. The essay portion of the SAT is especially something you should do your research on, since it took many students by surprise last year.

The key to a healthy mind is a good night’s rest. Anyone who’s taken a psychology class can tell you that it is scientifically proven that getting a full night’s sleep will always be better than staying up all night to cram in extra studying hours. If you stay up all night, it will leave you fatigued and cut your attention span in half. Sleeping throughout the whole night will repair your body and mind, and if you study before you sleep, it will actually help you remember information better the next day.

Lastly, don’t stress. While this will probably be one of the most important tests of your life, overthinking it will do more harm than good. When it comes to testing time, you get way more than enough time to finish the test, to the point where it’s basically necessary to look back and review your answers. Just take your time, have a deep breath, and if anything else, feel free to guess because you will not be penalized for guessing. At the end of the day, if you don’t feel happy with your score, it is possible to retake the SAT if you truly see it as needed.
To all you juniors out there, and future juniors to come, I wish you the best of luck with your SAT testing this upcoming spring! Once you become a senior next year, all those tough testing days will be paid back with plenty of days off!