The Student Who Thought She Was a “Bad Tester”

SAT Success Case Study

The Student Who Thought She Was a “Bad Tester”

Katie O. finished studying for the SAT her sophomore year, improving by over 400 points, breaking a 2000, and surpassing the score thresholds of all her dream schools. But two years beforehand, Katie and her mother believed in the myth of the “bad tester,” and never thought any solution would get her the scores she needed to succeed.

Like many “bad testers,” Katie excelled in most areas of her life. She went to a rigorous private school, she was a varsity athlete, and she maintained a 4.0 GPA. But standardized tests were a different story. Her mother noticed that Katie’s standardized testing scores from 4th grade on were not nearly as impressive as her academic transcript.

Her mother explained the situation: “Katie always loved school and has always been a straight A student at the top of her class. It never made any sense to me that she wasn’t performing well on basic standardized tests. Her reading and writing were a little above the national average ….but her math scores were always below the national average, despite her earning As in every math class she ever took at her rigorous private school. Her teachers offered no advice on how Katie could improve other than to just wait it out and see how things went after the PSAT in 10th grade. That seemed foolish to me. So I started to see if I could help her some way myself. I knew that Katie wanted to eventually attend a top university and would need good test scores to be looked at for admission. If her scores never improved, her chances of attending a top college would be diminished radically. So I set out to discover some way to help her bump up her scores before her junior year, when all of the added pressure would certainly not help her performance. “

And it wasn’t just her college prospects that were suffering as a result of her standardized testing woes:

“Not having good scores also was deflating Katie’s confidence. She knew she was capable of achieving in the classroom at school…but consistently got anxious and nervous every time a standardized test was scheduled. She labeled herself as a “bad test taker” and thought she would never overcome that label. This one area of deficiency was impacting her overall self confidence.”

Striving to find a solution to the problem, her mother approached her middle school and upper school administrators to address this issue year after year and they told her not to worry: Katie’s scores would certainly get better with time and after taking more rigorous classes as she advanced in high school. This is the same thing told to millions of students around the country, and it’s a key reason why so many students fail to achieve the high scores of which they’re capable.

Fortunately, her mother felt uncomfortable with this passive attitude and advice and began investigating solutions. After exhaustive research, she finally decided to enroll Katie in Green Test Prep and see what happened.

“I thought that I had nothing to lose by enrolling Katie in Green Test Prep. At worst, it would be time spent brushing up on study skills. At best, it just might work and make a huge difference to Katie’s future educational choices. If she could do well, she would get this test off of her plate way before her junior year and eliminate stress.”

Starting in the spring of her freshman year, Katie began working within Green Test Prep for 30 minutes a day.

“It was hard to get Katie into the swing of things at first… she was so busy with other school work and her commitment to her athletic team… but after a week or so, it just became part of her every day routine.”

Soon, Katie was off to the races. However, because of her past difficulties with the test, Katie had the same initial “horror show” that many students experience when they first start tackling the SAT – the same difficulties that prevent many students from studying in the first place. Fortunately, because Green Test Prep encourages students to embrace their challenges, to dissect them, and to fix them up piece by piece, she was able to stick with the program long enough for it to make a real difference:

“Her first diagnostic test was a disaster in her mind. She scored in the 1700’s. That score felt to her like it confirmed that she was going to be unable to ever do well on this test. But she stuck with Anthony’s program religiously, and her second test 2 weeks later showed a 100 point improvement. She couldn’t believe it! The work was paying off. 8 weeks later she was getting 1900’s, and eventually ended up with a score above 2000! 400 points and she was done!”

Katie shares her experience with the thousands of students who’ve used Green Test Prep to realize that your SAT and ACT scores aren’t a reflection of who you are – they’re simply a reflection of where you are, today. But with consistent, focused effort and energy, you can always change what you know and what you can do, and Katie took this to heart.

Katie had a chance to describe her experience with Green Test Prep:

“When it comes to describing my experience with Anthony and Green Test Prep, there are few words with which I am able to express my gratitude and praise. They have aided in opening the doors to so many opportunities for me, and without them, I know for a fact that I would not be able to even consider some of the colleges I aspire to today.”

“I first became familiar with Anthony and his teaching methods upon my parents’ insistence that I begin the college process as a ninth grader by facing the infamous SAT standardized test. It was then that I became enrolled in his online tutoring system. To be honest, I was extremely apprehensive beforehand and very unsure of my abilities, wondering if I would ever be able to crack such a momentous evaluation. In my mind, I envisioned myself completely overwhelmed by the task I had to accomplish.”

“When I began Anthony’s guided system of the SAT, however, I found that my outlook of self-doubt eased significantly. The information was organized and easy to follow, with clear steps and instructions regarding the work that was to be done each day. While the program is rigorous and demands devotion and focus, the results are unparalleled. I found my scores constantly improving with Anthony’s tips and detailed explanations of the three Math, Critical Reading, and Writing sections. Furthermore, the style in which Anthony presents the material is far from lackluster; I discovered that some of his suggestions about how to approach a problem could even translate to my schoolwork, and actually I continue to implement many of his tactics. For example, his essay writing tips and mathematical analyses are second to none, and they’ve remained as a huge asset to me.”

“Yet most of all, Anthony and Green Test Prep were able to transform my SAT experience into something positive – something my worrisome prejudgments would never have thought possible. Because of Anthony and Green Test Prep, I changed from someone who was completely stressed out and timid in the beginning to one who became confident in what she knew and could achieve. I could walk into the test knowing I was as prepared as I could ever be.”

“Having taken the test and received my results, I can tell anyone interested in the program that I have gained the score I sought to attain through my own work and the support of the dedicated GTP customer service staff. I am now able to walk onto college campuses with the confidence that I am a worthy applicant without the stress that previously surrounded my unknown placement in the world of SAT competitors. It is my sincerest hope that you can also reap the rewards I found in embarking on my journey with Anthony and Green Test Prep. Though the college process is full of apprehension and even I can still find it to be an intimidating prospect, it is the best to have someone knowledgeable and educated like Anthony cheering for you all the way. “

We receive testimonials like Katie’s every day, and our mission is to share a similar experience with the millions of students forced to tackle these tests every year. SAT and ACT prep aren’t easy, but with the right program and guidance, a belief in your own abilities, and 20-40 minutes a day of focused, consistent work, you can accomplish incredible things and put these tests behind you!

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