Preparation For College (A Note To Parents And Students) – 2

Ninth Grade

After twenty years, all my coaching experience told me that the typical six week preparation course was a waste of time. Then, in early 1992, by mistake really, I included several 10th graders in a year long preparation course. They continued in the 11th grade. The increase in their scores was remarkable! The next year I included ninth graders and after three years the results were even better.

The ninth grade, though, seems to be the limit of preparation. Three years is plenty. That may not be the ninth grade for a homeschooler if he/she is graduating early. But three years. Not four or five–one can actually burn out the student. Preparation can be accelerated to two or one year (i.e., one school year or thirty-two weeks) but any less is pretty useless. In the homeschool community in particular I have found a group of folk who are willing to work for three years on SAT preparation with remarkable results.

This community also is ideal for another observation I have made. It is better for a person to work alone rather than in a group–although group preparation is helpful if it is implemented once a week. There is no substitute for individual reflection and study in the SAT preparation process.

I would like to see a ninth grader read about 32 books. Reading is the key to a high verbal score. A ninth grader should also take very seriously his spiritual formation. Spiritual preparation is perhaps the most important preparation a Christian student will have. It is his stress reduction and it reminds him that he is preparing to please God not to please man. I would not take the PSAT or SAT during the ninth grade.

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