This summer, many students decided to study for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) by taking classes at schools such as Berkeley2 Academy, Princeton Review, and Revolution Preparation. Some even decided to hire personal tutors to work one-on-one with them. Summer was the most convenient time for most of these students, since the school year would be filled with homework.

“I decided to take classes over the summer because, to be honest, going to SAT preparation is a part of life for Westwood students,” Sree Maram ’19 said. “Doing well on the SAT is really important and these classes can help me achieve that.”

Most SAT classes at Berkeley2 Academy were held for about two to four weeks, but could be as long as seven weeks. Each class period lasted for five hours, including a series of practice tests done in the class.

“My classes at Berkeley were from Monday through Thursday, and on Fridays we took tests, which last for four hours,” Navya Neerukonda ’19 said. “It takes real dedication to go through these classes and I’m glad that I had my friends there to make the class less stressful.”

Other classes such as those taught by Revolution Prep were held online so that students could attend their classes on a computer instead of traveling the distance to attend their SAT class.

“Usually, it’s hard to go out anywhere during the summer because my parents are working,” Mehak Satsangi ’19 said. “That’s why Revolution Prep was the best class for me.”

All SAT teachers taught the same curriculum with different strategies to ace the math, reading and revising and editing portions of the test. To solidify these topics, homework was given out after every class, due the following day.

“The homework took about one to two hours depending on which section,” Sneha Rajendran ’19 said. “I definitely enjoyed the math portion a lot more than the reading portion of the homework.”

At the more well known classes such as Berkeley2 and Princeton Academy, the class size ranged around 20 to 25 people. Smaller classes such as with More Than a Teacher and Revolution Prep held around 6 to 15 people.

“When the class consists of 20 people, I feel like the teacher cannot focus just on me,” Satsangi said. “My class just has four kids in one session so I felt like I was benefitting more.”

SAT preparation classes aren’t the only way that studying for the SAT can be done. Many students also use Khan Academy to further their understanding about certain topics that are shown on the PSAT and SAT.

“When I studied alone, it really helped me set the pattern for studying daily, but going to classes also really helped me strengthen upon my techniques,” Maram said. “In the beginning, it was hard to get up and push myself to really study for the SAT, ‘cause who wants to study during the summer? But then I realized that I just needed to put my mind to it because I knew that I wanted to do the best I could possibly do.”

Hopefully after all this hard work and dedication, students will feel prepared and ready to conquer the SAT this March.