SAT/ACT Prep for Sophomores

Many parents call us to ask about their ambitious sophomores. Is studying for the SAT or ACT now a good thing? Our answer is "probably". Ambition and willingness to work tend to lead to early success, in the form of scholarship awards and college admissions offers. If your kid wants to prepare for these tests early, he or she is advancing oneself in a very good way. Here's why it's almost certainly beneficial for sophomore students!

During the school year, there's very little you have to wait to learn to do well on the SAT. The SAT bases all of its verbal on things you likely learned in the 5th, 6th or 7th grade. By freshman or sophomore year, you're ready!At Ivy Bound, we help to hone your readiness for the test. Looking at the math section, most of what's covered is taught in 9th grade or earlier, with the exception of a subject like trigonometry. One or two questions may show up on the SAT and three to four on the ACT. Even if your child has never experienced this subject in school before, we can still coach it. There's no need to wait!

Benefits of Early Prep

If you don't have an ambitious child or have one who will put up barriers, don't push it. There's plenty of time for SAT or ACT prep in junior year. Our ideal time is usually the summer before junior year but again, if you have a sophomore who's ready to start going, they could be done! Colleges do not care when you take your test. If you get a great score as a sophomore, you could be finished. Or you could use junior year to get 40 more points on top of an already good score from sophomore year.Early test prep also targets certain groups that might offer you admissions interest. For some kids, that's athletic coaches - they love when they see a really good store held by a sophomore! It could also be a science program where there's an award for doing an extra project, but it coincides with a really good ACT or SAT score.We see no downside to someone who wants to take on the test sophomore year. There's also no downside to a lower score in sophomore year that's replaced by a good score junior year. It all depends on when your child feels ready and motivated to take on the challenge.