By Julie Nakamura
Staff Writer
As I am sitting in a silent and uncomfortably warm room, surrounded by people I do not even know, who are hunched over the same exact SAT test, I wonder ‘Has that SAT preparation class even helped me?’
In 2011, 1.65 million students in the U.S. took the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), little under half of which who are enrolled in SAT classes. But the question remains, have these classes really helped? Are students and parents getting their money’s worth?
With our academic lives hanging on those few extra points that could be the defining factor between being accepted into an Ivy League dream school or a second or third choice college, it is very easy to see why many students lead themselves to the conclusion that this is indeed worth the price. However, that should not be the case.
I have attended an SAT prep course at an education center since I was in seventh grade, attending these courses every week, twice a week, for two hours each class, and when I leave, I leave with a homework packet that could very well last me another school day to complete. I know that my parents have spent thousands of dollars to put me through this, but even so, did my SAT score increase from seventh grade to freshman year?
No. In fact, it dropped over 200 points.
Though I may be an outlier in this, SAT classes have only been proven to raise a score by an average of 30 points according to the National Association of College Admission Counseling, a mere 30 points when compared to hundreds of dollars.
Furthermore, high school students are busy: with class and life. Time is the most costly item that we, students, must give up if we want to do anything. Four hours per week or more of SAT tutoring cuts out such time with which you could be doing homework, boosting your grades or having fun, all just for a chance you can get a leg up on everybody else in return, on a test that will not matter to high school students in another seven years.
Band students, for example, already have several hours cut out from their everyday lives, marching after school and well into the hours when the average student should be doing their homework. On top of that, there are some who take these SAT prep classes in hopes that they will be accepted into a college of their number one choice.
I cannot decide for students whether or not they should continue or start these courses. Who knows, maybe they will be one of the few in which it will boost their grade by 300 points; what I do know, however, is that these classes are not worth their costly price tags.
