4 Strategies to Overcome Test Anxiety

Nearly all students experience text anxiety at least once in their lives. It is natural to do so when facing the GRE, SAT, or perhaps even a weekly quiz. However, test anxiety can interfere with students' logical reasoning abilities and their memories. It can even result in a serious mental block.

Remaining calm on your exam day can help you manage such anxiety and ultimately lead to improvements in your grades. Here are four strategies to do so:

Study early and get enough sleepEach person requires a different amount of sleep. Some students function beautifully on just five hours, while others need nine or more. Determine your ideal amount, then plan ahead for important exams by studying early. That way, you can avoid cramming the evening before and get the adequate amount of rest you need.

Take practice testsThis is not only a beneficial studying technique, but also a strong strategy to manage stress. Completing practice exams allows your mind to acclimate to the test format as well as the process of recalling specific information from memory. This can be especially helpful for standardized tests like the ACT and SAT, which require great mental endurance and critical thinking.

Practice exams can also help you build your confidence as you continuously increase your score. Simply feeling prepared and confident on test day can help mitigate stress.

Exercise in the morningExercising can enable you to dispel anxious feelings, thus allowing you to feel more relaxed during your test. It can also wake your brain, leading to a potential increase in cognitive functioning. This tactic makes particular sense for the ACT, GRE, SAT, and so on, when you can simply run around your neighborhood before your exam session. If you are fortunate enough to have the liberty to set your own class schedule, try to place gym time directly before your most difficult course (i.e. the one that is most stressful).

Relax and trust your preparationBefore you begin a test, devote several minutes to thinking about your prep plan. Do not worry about how you could have studied more--just remind yourself that you prepared effectively and efficiently. If you are still feeling stressed, try a simple relaxation technique like taking several deep, slow breaths; closing your eyes for a few moments; visualizing success, etc.

Happy testing!

Advice for the B Student

by Lynn O'Shaughnessy on June 3, 2014 in Admission practices,Admissions, Applying, Money, Scholarships

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Lynn O’Shaughnessy

Advice for the B Student

If your child is a “B” student, he or she may have more options than you might assume.

Don’t believe me?

Here is a story of a young woman – I’ll call her Katie – whose mom is a friend of mine.

Katie attended a private high school in California where she earned a 3.0 GPA.

She applied to these four private schools three years ago and was accepted into all of them:

• California Lutheran University
• Dominican University (CA)
• Linfield College (OR)
• Pacific Lutheran University (WA)

When she received her acceptances, she received these annual merit scholarships:

• California Lutheran $9,100
• Dominican University $11,150
• Linfield College $13,770
• Pacific Lutheran U. $10,678

Katie’s first choice was Cal Lutheran, but it offered her the lowest award.  Katie’s mom contacted Cal Lutheran and mentioned that the school was her No. 1 choice, but money was an issue and other schools offered better awards.

Cal Lutheran asked the mom to fax the other award letters and the school added an additional $3,500 to the yearly award. That brought the first-year award to $12,600 and the total award to $50,400.

Schools: Desperately Seeking Students

You might assume that a student with a 3.0 GPA would have trouble getting into many colleges and universities. That is actually wrong.

Every year, UCLA does an exhaustive survey of the newest crop of freshmen attending public and private colleges and universities that includes this question: Did you get into your No. 1 school. Every year roughly 75% of freshman say they were admitted into their No. 1 pick.

College is actually a buyer’s market at the vast majority of the nation’s colleges and universities. It’s not hard to get into most four-year institutions, but many families don’t understand this because of the media’s craven preoccupation with the schools that are impregnable including the Ivies and other college-rankings alpha dogs.

You might also assume that a B student wouldn’t capture any merit scholarships, much less enjoy success in receiving a higher award. But that too is wrong.

Beyond the elite institutions, admission directors at most schools are petrified that they won’t meet their annual admission goals. Admission offices are finding it harder to attract enough freshmen.

Colleges Not Filling Their Freshmen Slots

Every year, Inside Higher Ed, a respected online newspaper, sponsors a Gallup Poll of senior admission officers on a variety of issues and the biggest revelation of the most recent survey was the number of schools that didn’t meet their enrollment targets during the 2013-2014 admission season. By May 1, 2013, which is the traditional day when applicants are supposed to make their freshman deposits, 59% of the public and private schools that were polled still had vacancies.

In fact, in the survey some schools acknowledged a practice that has always been considered taboo. Some administrators admitted that they were contacting students after the May 1 deposit day in hopes of enticing students who had committed to other schools to change their minds.

I had a off-the-record conversation with an administrator at a Midwestern college recently and he mentioned that the number of admission offices trying to lure students to their schools after the traditional deposit date has jumped considerably in the past two years.  Schools are trying to poach committed freshmen by luring them with promises of better scholarship deals. This, by the way, is hardly a practice aimed just at “A” students.

Being Strategic When Looking for Schools

If your child is a “B” student – and most teenagers are -  you should look for colleges strategically when you are seeking to cut costs. In a future blog post, I’ll share some more ideas for students with average grades.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear your suggestions for “B” students. Please share your thoughts in the comment box below!

College application lessons learned the hard way

My first question to Jacob was: “What do you wish you knew then that you know now?”

Jacob, after all, is officially a veteran of the college admissions process. While he is busily preparing for high school graduation, he is actually thinking much more about what his life will be like in three months when he moves into his college dorm.

For Jacob it was a lengthy and sometimes stressful process. He started visiting colleges in his sophomore year. He took the most rigorous curriculum his high school offered, had stellar test scores, participated in a variety of clubs, held leadership roles, got involved in community service, played an instrument, won awards, immersed himself in a foreign culture during his summers; in short – he did everything right.

Here are some snippets of my conversation with Jacob:

Q. What did you do right?

A. I visited many colleges and applied to a good variety of schools: 3 safety, 1-2 target and 3-4 reach.

Q. What did you wrong?

A. I didn’t start essays or ask for letters of recommendation early enough. It was hard to write essays in the fall and still keep up with all the work during first semester. Some teachers had fulfilled their quota of letters of recommendation before the end of junior year, so waiting to ask as a senior was too late and I had to scramble.

Q. Did you find any shortcuts or do you have any ideas to make the process run more smoothly for rising seniors?

A. I was able to re-use several essays for schools a few times, although I did have to make significant adaptations.

Q. Was it challenging at school with everyone asking where you’re applying?

A. Yes, especially with juniors. They think they understand everything about the application process and believe that holding many leadership positions and getting straight As in AP classes guarantees students a spot in the most prestigious schools. They don’t understand that even for the most qualified students, the admissions process is still incredibly random. Some students don’t understand when seniors don’t get into top schools. I regret sharing my list of schools with all of my friends and I eventually decided to put my acceptance/rejection decisions on “lockdown” in April.

Q. If you had high school to do all over again, what would you do differently?

A. I don’t have many major regrets about high school, but I wish I had been more involved in clubs freshman year and selected activities that I knew I could continue for four years. I would also focus more on a few select clubs and not join every honor society just to be able to put it on an application. I always agreed with the “depth not breadth” argument but my position was confirmed when I actually started applying.

As I began filling out applications, especially the Common Application, I realized how few spots there actually were to put extra-curricular activities, so being superficially involved in a ton of activities truly doesn’t help at all.

Q. “What was the biggest waste of time?”

A. “Visiting some schools over the summer, some schools were completely empty, so I didn’t get a good sense of the atmosphere; others still had students. Families should check with admissions to see what kind of campus life is going on during the summer.”

Bierer is an independent college adviser based in Charlotte. lee@collegeadmissionsstrategies.com; www.collegeadmissionsstrategies.com

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Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/06/02/4949830/college-application-lessons-learned.html#.U44N_HJdWSo#storylink=cpy

A Parent’s Role in the College Admissions Process

Two years ago, a student at the University of Cincinnati won a restraining order against her parents for “stalking” her in college. They had installed spyware on their daughter’s phone and computer, snuck into her dorm room on multiple occasions, and regularly met with the dean of her college demanding academic updates. In an age where the media has as many terms for overly-involved parents as the Eskimos have for snow (Tiger moms, Helicopter parents, wolf dads, etc.), this anecdote, sadly, hardly comes as a surprise.

Parents are unquestionably a critical component to a student’s college transition, but it’s important to delineate what parental action is helpful and what may be detrimental in the admissions process.

What Hurts

1. Sometimes parents, swept up in the college admissions frenzy, push their children to take an excessive number of honors and AP classes.

Rigor is great, but excessive rigor only leads to sleepless nights, anxiety, and a shortage of time to enjoy one’s high school days. Let your child ultimately make the call on what type of schedule they can handle while still maintaining sanity.

2. Don’t sweat the summers.

Your child does not need to spend his/her vacation doing something absurdly original and high brow. Running with wild boars in Paraguay or hang gliding over the Zambezi River will not win you any more points with admissions officers than volunteering at the SPCA down the street or slopping together $5 Footlongs at Subway.

3. Pushing a particular college on your child because you think it will be their golden ticket to the good life is not a helpful or realistic message in the college selection process.

It’s vital to look at an undergraduate education as part of a bigger picture. Championing a “University X or bust” mindset will only add undue stress to a student’s life.

What Helps

1. Think of yourself less as the manager of your child’s application process and more as the quality control inspector.

Students are often self-motivated about their top-choice schools but sometimes get a bit lax formulating a backup plan. Parents should emphasize the importance of an academic safety school and also a financial safety school.

2. Speak candidly with your son or daughter about the financial realities of their college search.

Don’t go into this process with an Enron-style business plan and assume that tuition money will fall out of the sky. Most teenagers have about as much financial sense as…well…Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. Students absolutely need mom and dad’s help and guidance in this area. If loans are going to be part of the picture, parents should have a lengthy and number-driven conversation about how debt will impact young adulthood.

3. Actively encourage your student to take ownership of the admissions process.

Here’s a brutally honest fact: Admissions offices cringe when they see emails from parents asking about the status of “our” application. Next year, your child will be doing their own laundry, procuring their own meals, and hopefully learning to navigate the world successfully as a young adult. Let them start now.

Final Thoughts

Parents should periodically take time to self-assess: Am I appropriately involved or overly involved? It’s natural to cross boundaries with our children because we love them and want to give them every advantage in life that we possibly can. However, the first time we catch ourselves going overboard shouldn’t be when the police arrive at our door to deliver a restraining order.

Written by Andrew Belasco

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Andrew Belasco is CEO of College Transitions LLC, a team of college planning experts committed to guiding families through the college admissions process. In addition to his role as CEO, Andrew is a published higher education researcher and consultant to U.S. Congress, reporting on issues related to college admission and financial aid policy. For more information about Andrew and his team, please visit www.collegetransitions.com