Testing and tutoring is another open question in the changing landscape of college admissions. How much time should students spend this summer tutoring and studying for standardized tests that will likely not happen for many months, or longer?

Most of Journey Ahead’s students are in California, which announced that high school classes will begin online in the fall. This does not bode well for standardized test sittings, which require a room, proctors, and students shoulder to shoulder for several hours.

Does it make sense for a student to spend time this summer studying for ACT/SAT on their own or with a tutor? On the one hand, they have time while stuck at home. On the other hand, adding another online task to their plate has furthered some students’ frustration and increased their anxiety.

I’ve recently changed my view of exam self-study and tutoring for students this summer. I’m advising rising juniors to wait on their prep until they have a test date in the Spring, then spend a few weeks before that date studying. Test prep is most effective when it is 4-8 weeks before the actual exam.

Rising seniors should concentrate more of their effort this summer honing the other aspects of their applications, in case they are not able to test at all. A bit of prep a few weeks before their scheduled exams is fine, with the understanding that their exam will very likely be canceled.

Colleges are expecting a slew of applications from Class of 2021 students who were never able to sit for a test, and are therefore planning their evaluations of students without scores.

So let’s all relax and take a deep breath, and do our studying and tutoring just before our scheduled exam.