Managing Test Anxiety

It’s normal to feel a little bit nervous before and during a test. What is important is to learn how to deal with those anxieties so that they do not become overwhelming. Below are a few key strategies for managing test anxiety. If this is something that you struggle with, please feel free to stop in and see me so that we can discuss additional ways to help manage your test anxieties.

- Study. Being prepared is the single most effective way to help manage test anxiety. If you are confident that you know the material and have put forth your best effort to be prepared for the test, then you can relax and do the best you can.

o Learn from past quizzes and tests

o Ask the teacher for suggestions on how to best prepare for the upcoming test

o Don’t cram – that only adds to the stress and pressure of trying to “squeeze” everything in

o There are lots of study strategies available that can help students and I have a variety of ideas, so if you are interested, stop by and see me and we can talk about different techniques you can try to implement for various classes.

- Stay Positive. Being confident and entering the test with a positive attitude will help you to achieve success. There are lots of strategies people use to help maintain a positive outlook –visualization (imaging yourself doing well on the test) and positive self-talk (we all talk to ourselves so instead of thinking that you are going to fail the test replace that self-talk with positive comments such as “I am prepared” or “this test will allow me to show how much I have learned”). Sometimes it is important to stay away from other people who tend to express their negative outlooks and opinions going into a test… those people who will just stress you out more with their panic about the test.

- Take care of yourself. I *know* that you hate hearing things like this (and yes, I acknowledge that at times this can be a hypocritical statement for me to make), but it is important to take care of yourself. Get plenty of sleep so that you are well rested and mentally alert for the test. Eat a healthy meal (breakfast/ lunch) because you don’t want to be sitting in class focusing on food or listening to your stomach growl and you also don’t want to be coming down off a sugar or caffeine high and be dragging the rest of the testing period. Allowing yourself time to exercise is also important as it is a physical release of stress and can reinvigorate you for studying as you prepare for the test.

- Be a “smart” test taker. Don’t panic! Read the directions carefully. Take a deep breath to relax. Answer the questions to the best of your ability and if you don’t know an answer, skip the question to return to it later and continue on to other questions that you are more confident in answering. Budget your time, but don’t rush to be the first finished – this is not a race. Stay focused. (Focus on answering the question – don’t allow yourself to get off track and worry about your grade or how others are doing – just continue to refocus on answering the next question.) If you start to become overwhelmed with anxiety during the test, take a few slow deep breaths, relax your muscles and remember that you are in control of dealing with these feelings so just take it one step at a time.

- After you are finished, give yourself a short break from thinking about the test, but also don’t forget to consider what worked well and what could have gone better and then make changes accordingly for the future. If you were able to manage your anxiety effectively then you can continue practicing these skills for future tests. If some of the strategies were not effective, then you can try to adjust and adopt new strategies to help manage the anxiety.

Remember, it is also important to keep the test in perspective. It is actually quite rare that a single test will make or break you. (And yes, this even includes the OGT/ SAT/ ACT tests because you can always repeat these tests again in the future.) Good luck on your next test!

April Students of the Month

Last Friday 18 students were recognized as April Students of the Month. As you are probably aware, students can only be nominated for this recognition once throughout their entire high school career.

A special congratulations to "my" four students who were among those recognized as students of the month! I am proud of you! Pictured left to right: Shefa Alnajjar, Elizabeth Borchers, Maggie Barrie and Jessica Carroll.

The Scheduling Process

It has occurred to me (through many of your questions) that most students don't really know or understand how the schedule is created. I thought it might be helpful if I give you a quick overview of the scheduling process. (I am saying quick because it is actually boring and is known to cause massive headaches for those trying to put it all together and make it work for every student.)

After all of you entered your registration requests in the computer system, I started the process of meeting with you and reviewing your course selections. I would like to thank all of the students who came to the meetings prepared with your completed forms. I also want to thank all of the juniors and junior parents who made the time to come in and meet with me. I really enjoyed it and have been thrilled with all the "repeat" visits from the junior students since our meetings. All of the course requests are now finalized and were officially given to the administration today as the "final" registration requests.

The administrators will also begin working to determine the total number of sections of each class (for example English 1's) needed to meet the demand. They will then work with computer services to create a schedule that will create the smallest number of conflicts possible. This is a MUCH bigger challenge than most people would imagine. For example, if a class like AP Computer Science is only offered 1 time in the day, then they have to figure out what students want to take that class and try to make sure that the time of day selected to offer the course will not conflict with any other classes - especially any other classes that are only offered once in a day (like Band, Choir, or AP Foreign Languages).

The administration (principal and assistant principals) will look at the numbers for all of the courses selected to determine what, if any, courses do not have enough students signed up to be able to offer the class. After they figure this out they will provide that information back to the counselors with a list of students impacted and we will work with those students and their alternates list to find a suitable replacement course.

Eventually they will create a schedule and "lock" it in place. When that happens they will then come back to the counselors with a list of all of the kids with conflicts in their schedules. In some cases, we are able to make minor adjustments - move a few classes around and make the schedule work. In other instances, we will have to work with the student to make tough decisions about what classes they do or do not want to take and use the alternates to find other courses that would work and still meet requirements toward graduation.

And that's it - we will ultimately get the schedule set just how we want it and hopefully all of you will pass all of your classes 2nd semester so that we don't have to go back and add anything into your schedule or change classes that you no longer meet the pre-requisites for, but all of those types of changes will happen after the final grades are submitted in June.

I hope that helps you to understand what is going on with the scheduling and registration process. It is a long and tedious process and I appreciate your patience.

Scholarship Searches

There are scholarships available at the community, state, and national levels. There are many scholarship search engines that you can use as a resource to help you identify scholarships that might be a good fit. With so many different scholarships, it can feel a bit daunting, but remember, if you are able to earn one of the scholarships, your time would certainly be worth the effort.

Here are a few of the scholarship search sites that might help you:

http://www.fastweb.com/
http://www.collegeboard.com/
http://www.collegenet.com/
http://www.scholarships.com/
http://www.scholarshipmonkey.com/


Yesterday I mentioned that you should never pay for a scholarship and that is advice worth repeating again. Remember, scholarships should be giving YOU money, not the other way around.

Don't forget - most of the local scholarships are due this Friday!

Financial Aid

Paying for College is expensive! There is no question that higher education costs add up quickly and it can be confusing to try to figure out what all of the different terms related to financial aid really mean - especially when the economy is struggling. Because many of you are receiving your formal financial aid offers from colleges I thought a brief overview might help give you an idea of what you might see/ hear when you are looking at your options.

There are two broad categories of financial aid – Merit Based aid and Need Based aid.

Merit Based aid is what you think of when you think “Scholarships.” These are usually awarded to students based on academic achievements, leadership, athletics, special talents such as art or music, volunteerism, or other personal qualities that set you apart. These scholarships do not consider financial need. A significant portion of all merit-based aid comes directly from the college/ university. Some schools may require additional scholarship applications, essays, interviews, and many colleges will have earlier deadlines to be considered for their scholarships. It can be helpful to know that a lot of times the smaller, private colleges will have more money available for scholarships in order to help make attending their school competitive with the lower costs of the public colleges. Please also remember that we have some scholarship offerings available on the WKHS Counselors website. It is important to keep an eye out for unique scholarships that might apply to your personal situation. In the past I had a student who was able to qualify for an Italian heritage scholarship. Perhaps one of your grandparents won a purple heart or maybe you have time to write an essay for one of the other scholarship competitions… no matter what the situation, if you find a scholarship that you meet the criteria for go ahead and apply – you might be pleasantly surprised at the result and if you don’t, the answer is definitely a “no.”

Need Based aid is what you will sometimes hear people refer to as “Financial Aid” even though both Merit Based and Need Based aid technically fall under that one category. There are a variety of different Need Based aid programs. Grants are considered gift assistance – they give you money and you do not have to pay it back. Loans which can come from a wide variety of sources – the federal government, the college, and private banks is money that you are required to pay back. Work Study programs are on campus job opportunities that the government helps find that allows you to earn money for college through working on campus. The big difference between Merit Based and Need Based aid is that Need Based aid is that the type and amount of Need Based aid you will receive depends upon the amount of financial need you have.

And, yes, just to add to the confusion – there are some scholarships that will consider financial need as a criterion. They are still awarding the scholarship based upon some specific aspect of who you are it is just allowing them to narrow down the potential applicant pool.

One last important reminder - NEVER pay to be considered for a scholarship! That is a scam. Don't waste your money!

If you have any questions you can always call the financial aid offices of the schools where you are applying as they are true experts in the field. I am also happy to try to help in any way that I can.

Spring College Admissions Tests

Today (April 5th) is the (regular) deadline to register for the May SAT. If you plan on waiting to take the June ACT (register by May 3rd) or June SAT (register by May 2nd) the deadlines are still a month away, but remember, with the spring tests being the primary testing time for current juniors, the testing sites can fill up quickly so it is beneficial to sign up in advance.

You will sign up directly on the ACT and SAT websites – links to the testing websites are on the WKHS Counselor website in the college/ career testing area and on the right side of my blog in the “links” area.

If you are on the free or reduced lunch program, you can qualify for fee waivers for testing, please stop in and see me and I will get the forms for you.

Life Goes On

Finding out if you have or haven't been accepted to the college(s) of your dreams can be extremely stressful. It is rewarding and a weight off when the news is good and you find that the school you were hoping to be able to attend also wants you as a student at their college. But when the news isn't what you had hoped and you find out that you were rejected, it can be disappointing and frustrating. Unfortunately, the reality is that everyone will not be accepted to every single school. You may have been a great candidate and have so much to offer to the college, but it is all a part of the process.

I acknowledge that it is sad when you are rejected and find out that your "dream school" is no longer an option and I am here to listen. I would also like to remind you that life does go on and there are plenty of other great schools that will be thrilled to have you as a member of their incoming class. A few years ago the Wall Street Journal featured an article that highlights some famous people who all have in common the fact that they were rejected by their "dream" school. After allowing themselves time to process through their disappointment, they refocused on making the most of the opportunities available to them at their other college choices and, as a result, today they are all successful. 

I don't have any magical answers for why one student gets accepted and another seemingly comparable student does not, but I do know that you can and will be successful in the future. Believe in yourself and know that the college where you complete your undergraduate degree will be lucky to have you as a member of the class of 2017!