On October 24th, Northwood students in grades 11 and 12 took the SAT and the PSAT in preparation for upcoming college application deadlines and practice in English and math skills. Instead of taking the SAT on October 5th with the rest of the nation, the school scheduled a testing day on the 24th when all test takers could prepare for a bit longer and take the test in the morning.
Northwood also offers an SAT prep class led by Brian Marohnic that some students could take. In contrast, others decided to use their study tactics such as the internet, YouTube videos, and practice Bluebook tests provided by the College Board and the Princeton Review. During the class, students took many practice problems for both sections followed by answers and the reasoning behind the correct or incorrect answers to help them learn the material and the structure and progression of the questions. The SAT, recently updated to a digital version, is now an adaptive test that changes, going on an either easier or more advanced path based on the success of the previous module.
Northwood’s SAT prep class met every Tuesday for 2 hours in the evening for weeks before the SAT date. Many juniors and seniors took part in the class. Reviews from this class were mostly positive. “The teacher was always there to help explain any questions and give tips on how the test would work,” Elleanore Pelletier ’25 said. “I personally think it was a really helpful class because I knew what was going to be on the test and what to expect,” she added.
“Before and during the beginning of the class I was super overwhelmed and stressed because of all the questions,” Uma Laguna-Curtis ‘26 said. “But Brian was treating the class like it was a super relaxed meeting. He made the questions so much simpler, and he made it seem like they were not a big deal. He helped uncomplicate both the questions and the stress overall,” she added.
This class has been very helpful in building students’ confidence and skills in English and math. Whether or not the students yield the results that they want, it can still be highly beneficial in terms of advancing their skills overall in analytical classes and higher-level math classes as students progress. This extra and fairly large commitment is also a testimony to the dedication and independence that Northwood students possess as they consistently attended the class in the academic building even as the weather got colder and nighttime came much earlier. Students away from school for sports commitments also attended the class over the computer. In Chile, skiers sat in the hallway in a time zone one hour later than New York’s, showing Northwood students’ dedication to academic improvement.
