Students in the class of 2011 are electing to begin the college process early by taking the SAT Reasoning Test this Saturday. The College Counseling Office generally recommends that students take the SAT Reasoning in January of their Upper year, although it is not uncommon for Uppers to take the test earlier. Nathan Wagner ’11 said he is taking the SATs in October because of the prep work he did over the summer. Wagner said that the October sitting “made it easiest to transition directly from [the work I did over the summer] to the test.” “Plus, if I do well, I get it over with, and if I want to improve, I can take it again later,” he added. “My sister [Nicole Wagner ’09] did the same thing, and it worked out well. She took the SAT her Upper fall, didn’t get the score she wanted, and had the chance to take it again,” he said. Wagner also said that knowing that he has additional opportunities to take the test reduces how stressful it is. “I don’t think I’ll be as nervous as I would be if I were taking it later,” he said. Midori Ishizuka ’11 also based her decision on the experience of her older sister, Megumi Ishizuka ’08. “My sister took her SATs during fall term of her Senior year, and studied for them the summer before. Our mom realized how much stress that created, with SATs and college apps, so she wanted me to do prep this summer [after Lower year] and take the test in the fall,” said Ishizuka. “This way if I don’t get good enough scores I don’t have to worry, since I can take them again in January,” she said. Rishabh Bhandari ’11 also intends to take the SATs this weekend. “Worst case scenario, I’ll have to retake [it] later when everyone else does it,” he said. Despite these students’ intentions to take the SATs early, the amount of time they have committed to studying has varied. “I got the [College Board SAT study guide], and did some drills and practice sections, and took three or four practice tests. I tried to learn from my mistakes,” said Wagner. “The last few weeks of summer I did casual tutoring sessions, and worked from a book on my own,” said Ishizuka.
