When signing up for SAT Prep last year as a sophomore, I thought I was doing myself such a big favor by forcing myself to have proper preparation. However, if I had known that I would have SAT Prep in the second semester, I definitely would not have signed up.

Many students take health their junior year and pair it with SAT Prep and cross their fingers that they have SAT Prep first semester so that the class will give them sufficient preparation in time for the SAT’s.

The SAT’s are held in early October, November, December, late January, early March, May, and June for the 2016-2017 school year. The students that have SAT Prep first semester would have already had at least a month’s worth of preparation if they chose to take the October SAT’s. If a student, like myself, has SAT Prep and would want to take the October SAT’s, they would have had no in school preparation.

When the first SAT Prep course is completed by January 13, when the first semester ends, those students have the option of taking the March, May, and June SAT’s if they are adamant on having the full preparation course before their SAT’s. However, one who has SAT Prep second semester will not have the option of taking SAT’s this year with a full course of SAT Prep.

Taylor Hackett (’18) sees this scheduling unfair and questions whether she would have taken the class if she had known it would be during her second semester. “They should have all SAT Prep classes before we actually take the SAT. The class isn’t going to help me since I take it after the SAT.”

For more information on the SAT’s, visit https://www.collegeboard.org/, and for more information on the dates of the end of the semesters, visit https://www.bcps.org/calendars/.