How can parents help with SAT prep without adding pressure?

Question

Accepted Answer

The most helpful thing a parent can do is support the routine, not chase the outcome — handle logistics, ask about consistency instead of scores, and skip the score-pressure talk entirely. Teens studying for a stressful exam respond far better to calm structure than to anxiety about results. Concretely, that means things like: protecting a consistent time each day for a short practice session, handling test registration and test-day logistics well ahead of time, and keeping the household calm around test-related deadlines instead of turning every mention of the SAT into a tense conversation. Checking in on effort and consistency ("did you get your practice in this week?") lands very differently than checking in on results ("what's your score so far?"). The first supports the habit; the second adds pressure that tends to backfire, especially for teenagers already managing school, activities, and social stress. It also helps to be honest that this is one input among many in college admissions, not the whole picture — and that plenty of good outcomes happen without a perfect score. Removing the sense that the SAT is a referendum on a teen's worth takes real weight off, and, ironically, tends to help performance rather than hurt it.