Junior year can be a notoriously hard time for many students. Finding time for sports, schoolwork, and standardized test prep is difficult for many. It is normal for students to express feeling stressed and being overwhelmed when they are spread so thin. Nevertheless, there are some students at PDS who claim to manage their time well and even study during the summer.  

Junior Ark Rana was able to make great use of his summer by starting to study for the SAT in June. He explained, “It’s super hard to balance SAT prep and school, that’s why I’m glad I started early.” Rana recently took the November SAT. He felt prepared, but does not know how well he did because he had never taken this test before. He reflected, “I felt really confident going in, because I knew my consistent work over the summer would pay off.” He hopes that he did well, and patiently awaits his score. 

Junior Aiden Wu started preparing in late summer, so he, too, was able to space out his studying. “I started in August, and I probably studied for around three hours per week.” Wu took both the October and November SAT and is awaiting his score for the latter. Wu said, “I felt pretty good on the November test, and if I do well, I won’t have to keep studying or have to worry about it anymore.” Wu claims that he does not find it challenging to balance standardized test prep with school, and studies just a little bit every day. 

Junior Zain Hamdia started studying very early, and it helped him tremendously in minimizing stress and feeling prepared for the test. “I started last year doing practice tests and stuff, focusing on my weaknesses.” Hamdia studied pretty consistently for the past few months, and felt ready for the November SAT. He reflected, “It was easier than I thought it would be, and definitely easier than the October SAT.”