Heading back to school? Then it might be high time for a check-in.
How are you feeling? Did you have a nice summer? What’s your plan for SAT/ACT prep looking like?
You might be experiencing a lot of pressure to jump headfirst into your studies, and it’s okay if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Take a moment and take a few deep breaths before reading on.
While it’s important to stay on top of your test prep studies, it’s equally important to make sure you’re taking extra care of your mental health – this goes especially for rising seniors who are getting their college applications ready. Are you working yourself a little too hard? Do you feel like you’re barely keeping your head above water with the mounting deadlines and decisions? If so, you might be in need of a helping hand.
Here are three reasons why you should always ask for help from a test prep professional:
1. Test anxiety is more common than you think.
Sometimes, prepping for the SAT/ACT can be an isolating experience – especially if you’re studying alone or if you’re enrolled in a 1-on-1 tutoring program. When you’re spending most of your test prep alone with nothing but your thoughts of registration deadlines and college acceptance rates, it’s easy to feel the full weight of the SAT/ACT pressing down on your chest.
Does any of the above sound like you? Then you’ve most likely been experiencing test anxiety – and that’s okay! Test anxiety is a perfectly normal and surprisingly common response to the challenges and pressure that come with college test prep. The important thing is to always reach out and ask for help when you feel the pressures of test anxiety holding you back.
Test prep experts, guidance counselors, and high school teachers have been counseling teenagers suffering from test anxiety for many years. We understand your frustrations and we want to offer you a space to feel your feelings. There’s no need to give yourself added pressure because you’re pushing yourself too hard – reach out to an expert, who can help take that unneeded test anxiety off your plate once and for all.
2. College applications can be confusing and overwhelming.
As soon as you’ve finally received your SAT results, you can move onto the next step at long last: the college application process. At this stage, you may find your test anxiety will give way to college applications anxiety. Again, this is totally normal and nothing to feel ashamed of! But the worst thing you can do is bottle up your emotions because you’re too afraid to ask for help.
There isn’t a single person on the planet who can instantly make sense of a college application – including the admissions officers themselves! Being a teenager may demand more responsibility of you, but this doesn’t mean you should be expected to understand every little challenge that comes your way. If you don’t know where to begin with your college applications, then reach out to a trusted adult who does know how they work. After all staring at the applications all day until they miraculously make sense to you won’t actually work – believe us, we’ve tried!
3. It’s okay to feel scared about the future.
If you’ve gotten to this point in the article, then stop reading for a moment and take another deep breath.
This isn’t just any new school year: you’re a rising senior in your last year in high school. You’re about to embark on a big new chapter in your life. While there are plenty of reasons to be brimming with excitement, your college journey is going to bring about a tidal wave of changes. Maybe you’re going to travel across the country to attend the college of your dreams, or maybe you’re facing an uncertain future as you struggle to pinpoint an area of interest to make your major.
Fear of change is more than a little bit understandable — and just like everything else on this list, it is 100% normal to be feeling this way! All the more reason to reach out to a test prep expert ASAP to ease some of these fears. Do you have any burning questions or concerns? Are you looking for some basic advice for how to manage your anxiety day by day? Or do you simply need someone to lend an ear so you can vent your frustrations for 5 minutes?
Either way, your mental health and your emotions are too important to keep everything bottled up. Get in touch with a trusted college prep advisor who can help you navigate the stormy waters of the college application/test prep process!
Click here to speak to somebody right away – we’re here to help, we’re here for you, and everything is going to be alright.