News

Members from the Class of ’11 Begin Standardized Testing This Weekend with the SAT Reasoning Test

Starting as early as Lower spring, members of the class of 2011 have turned to off-campus tutors to prepare for the SAT Reasoning and Subject Tests. Audrey McMurtrie ’11 believes that the competitive nature at Andover has driven students to seek tutors in order to enhance their college opportunities. “The environment at Andover puts a lot of pressure on students to do well in order to get into the best possible college. A big part of the college admission process is our SAT scores, so getting an SAT tutor is just another way we can better set ourselves up to get into the college of our choice,” McMurtrie said. Will Walker ’11 began meeting with his tutor last spring. Walker is working with the same tutor who helped him to prepare for the Secondary School Admission Tests (SSAT), required in the application to Phillips Academy. “I have heard from many people that [a tutor] will help to boost your SAT score,” he said. Similarly, McMurtrie hired a tutor at the advice of her older brother, Dan McMurtrie ’10. “I don’t think Andover does enough to prepare its students for the SATs. If the school even offers tutors, they don’t advertise them well enough, and it is often up to the student to take time out of their schedule to find and meet with a local tutor,” said McMurtrie. “This test is really important, and I think we should be offered more help in preparing for it,” she continued. Many of the students that have turned to SAT tutors have done so because they do not feel the Andover lifestyle allows for independent preparation. “I found it necessary to get a tutor because the amount of information that we have to know for the SATs is beyond the basics that I have been taught. Also, there are certain concepts that I never fully learned, so a tutor offered the perfect one on one opportunity to have these concepts taught to me,” said Khadijah Owens ’11. Owens will be meeting with an SAT tutor beginning in late October. Owens hopes to become a better test-taker through her SAT tutor. “I feel that it is important to review certain material and have advice on how I can improve my test taking skills,” she said.