Don’t Listen to Other Parents

I tell students not to listen to their friends, because their friends lie. My advice to parents is similar. You can listen to other parents, but be careful of who you trust and how much you let them affect your mood. Parents don’t lie as much as students do, but they definitely relay a lot of misinformation.

Most parents are nervous and uninformed when it comes to testing and college admissions, because so much has changed since we went through it, and that makes them susceptible to believing insane things and then telling them to everyone they know.  Also, there’s social currency in being the one who knows things, especially about important processes such as standardized tests or college admissions, even if they’re incorrect and insane.

“Oh, your daughter only has a B+ average? She’s not going to get in anywhere.”

“If you take the ACT more than three times, colleges won’t accept you.”

“The [pick adate] is always the easiest SAT with the best curve!”

These are actual falsities told to some of my clients that sent them spiraling into doubt and self-recrimination because they believed they’d doomed their children to a lifetime of digging ditches.(For the record, the daughter with the B+ got into her first-choice college and loved it.)

If you hear something that upsets you, do some research before you panic. You can call the test-makers themselves or a tutoring company, or send me an email at [email protected]. Below is a list of the test makers and some tutoring companies I trust.

In the meantime, just because other parents are nuts doesn’t mean you have to be.

Test Makers

SAT – (866) 630-9305
ACT – (319) 337-1270
ISEE – (800) 446-0320
SSAT – (609) 683-4440

Tutoring companies and blog writers

Test Prep Sanity: https://www.testprepsanity.com/ or [email protected]
Inspirica – https://inspirica.com/(212) 245-3888
Advantage – https://www.advantagetesting.com/(212) 744-8800
Pinnacle Prep – https://pinnacleprep.com/(718) 622-6266

To your child’s success and your sanity!