Every year, nearly 2 million students in America and across the globe take the SAT, the world’s most widely used test for college admissions. The students who strive for the highest level of success on the test are all in pursuit of the same goal; Getting that coveted perfect score, a 1600.
IHS Junior, Hans Manish, just became one of the 0.07 percent of students to achieve that feat.
“I’ve been getting close to that score [on practice tests] pretty consistently, but I was really proud of myself and my parents were really proud too,” said Manish.
Having not observed his prior efforts, his classmates were surprised by his result, but one person in particular was especially enthusiastic.
“My AP European History teacher, Ms. England, found out because there was this article published about all the students who got perfect scores,” said Manish. “She was like ‘I wish you’d told me sooner’ via email, and then the next class she hung up signs and got our class donuts to celebrate.”
The celebration went even further when Ms. England secretly hung up signs declaring “Hans Day” and “1600!” for all his classes that day, leading to wave after wave of classmates seeing the news and giving their congratulations, a whole day of celebration for his accomplishment.
“‘Hans Day’ was really fun, and I really appreciated everyone being glad for the score and the work that I did,” said Manish.
So the question still stands: How did he do it? The first step for Hans was having the right motivation.
“I wanted to go to an out-of-state private school with really good resources and new experiences… and those are hard to get into because you need to have really good stats, so I wanted to get a score for a higher goal than just getting it on its own,” said Manish.
From a more strategic perspective, figuring out how to prepare for the test opens the floodgates for different options and test prep resources, from online courses to in-person tutoring and everything in between.
The SAT stands at the pinnacle of the test preparation industry, which economic analysts evaluate as an approximately $500 million industry, projected to hit $732 million by 2032.
With so many options available, and a range of price points to choose from, it can be difficult to decide the most optimal route to reach your SAT goals. When faced with the question of how much money to spend, Hans chose ‘none of the above’.
“I think I’m a perfect example of not having to spend so much money to get a perfect score,” said Manish. “A lot of people say [it’s necessary for them] so they have the motivation to study, but for me, I feel like the trade off isn’t worth it. [I]can get the same results just using practice tests, and [avoiding expensive classes].”
Rather than simply learning the material, Hans’ focused on understanding how to solve the problems effectively.
“When it comes down to it, the SAT isn’t a ‘hard’ test,” said Manish. “It doesn’t ask for very high level logical thinking, it’s mostly just efficiency. [It tests] how [you can] dissect problems in a [faster way]. It’s like playing a sport, it’s all about muscle memory,” said Manish.
Out of all the options available, Hans had a secret weapon to prepare for the exam: Reddit.
Reddit is a social networking site where users (redditors) form dedicated communities (subreddits) to discuss specific topics. Particular subreddits such as r/SAT have helped students access resources they would otherwise not have found, and receive insights tailored to their situation.
“The SAT isn’t just about the content and a lot of people get books and courses to figure out strategies,” said Manish, “but I went to r/SAT to find more resources that people found or things that people came up with to help me study because it is a really good community of people genuinely wanting to help.”
With colleges adopting different positions on if applicants must take the SAT to apply following the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of the test in college admissions is more uncertain than ever.
“Don’t lose hope, don’t be demotivated,” said Manish. “Do your best, and no matter what, you will be okay.”
