Your Summer Prep Game Plan: SMART Goals for Bigger Score Gains
Summer break is short, but a well-structured test-prep plan can turn those weeks into significant score gains.
Let me help you create a solid game plan that pinpoints key skill gaps, sets SMART goals, and maximizes every session of your summer break.
Goal-Setting Creates Summer Momentum
Kick off your summer prep by having each client decide what they want to achieve during the break and when they want to hit it by. These goals should be super specific, a vague “get better at reading” won’t cut it—summer’s too short for that! Instead, consider setting a:
Score target. This is an important goal, and one that can absolutely be hit over the summer with a strong prep plan in place. Make sure the goal is attainable: “I want to boost my Reading score from the 60th to the 75th percentile by Labor Day.”
Related Posts:
Timeline. If your client already has a target score in mind, they need to set a realistic time frame to achieve that goal: “I’ll reach that goal by [our last summer session, the August 23rd SAT®, etc.].” Having a clear mental deadline to work toward is the key to igniting their dedication to achieving their set goal.
SMART Goals for Summer Sessions
Transform broad aspirations into SMART summer prep targets:
Specific: Focus on a single skill (e.g., passage inference, reasoning, command of textual evidence, data analysis).
Measurable: Track student progress with weekly timed sets.
Achievable: Fit goals to how much summer prep time they have.
Relevant: Zero in on the test sections your student struggles with most (e.g., algebra, craft and structure [reading], standard English conventions [writing]).
Time-bound: Tie their goals to a summer date (e.g., “by July 15,” “before the end of August”).
Here’s an example of a reasonable SMART goal: “By August 10, Mia will answer 10 vocabulary-in-context questions in 8 minutes with 85% accuracy.”
Get Registered; Then Dive Into Summer
Before you settle into summer mode, make sure your students are signed up for their official test date—ideally late summer or early fall. Having that date set:
Strengthens student motivation, giving them a tangible goal to work toward for the entire summer break.
Shapes your summer tutoring schedule—you know exactly how many sessions you have to work with that student to help them attain their goal by that test date.
Pinpoint Gaps with Summer Diagnostics
Don’t waste precious summer days with aimless test prep. Use practice tests, score reports, and analytics to focus on:
Subskill reports (like algebra vs. geometry).
Error clusters (careless vs. conceptual errors).
Timing outliers (which question types drag on the clock?).
The results you get from those assessments will enable you to create a tailored test-prep game plan specific to your client’s summer prep goals.
Build a Virtual Summer Prep Program
Don’t let summer camps, vacations, and work schedules derail your clients’ progress. Switch from in-person to online sessions, and they won’t have to pause their momentum or fall short of their goals. See my previous post: Build a Virtual SAT® & ACT® Summer Program with Online Test Prep & Boot Camps to learn how.
Ready to Make This Your Best Summer Yet?
Set SMART summer goals, lock in that test date, leverage those diagnostics, utilize online prep—and you’ve got a summer test-prep plan that truly delivers!