News & Blog

SAT prep and College tours
by Student, Jonathan O. , New Hampshire

So Tuesday was my (and the rest of the new kids’) first official SAT prep class of this session, where we met our prep teacher, SAT extraordinaire, Patrick Choi. Patrick has been working with the Princeton Review to tutor high schoolers for the last fifteen years, and genuinely loves his job, which made his class almost fun (considering it was an SAT prep class). But what the class lacked in entertainment value was made up for by the sheer volume of information that Patrick was able to cram into our heads. I walked out of the classroom with a whole new perspective on the SATs, and it was only the first day.

After a most nutritious lunch in the dining hall, we were met with an equally rigorous college prep class, much more serious than the almost easy-going class we had on Monday. In Tuesday’s class, we began drafting our first college essays. That class made me realize that nothing makes you doubt everything you’ve ever known about yourself like one of the devilish personal common app essays prompts. But thanks to our helpful teacher, Erica, I think I might just be able to get the hang of this.

After class, Adam, Cori, Kaitlin, Sebastian, Sophie, and I went down to the Boston Commons with a Frisbee that we acquired from Ellen, Boston program director. It didn’t take us long to realize that frisbee skills were some things that we just didn’t possess, but we managed to keep collateral damage to a minimum (although Sophie broke a nail), and had a lot of fun. After that, the whole program went to Fire + Ice (a most wonderful buffet/hibachiish restaurant) and gorged ourselves on good food, the portions of which can only be described as American. After we ate, the students went back to the Commons to play PIG and soccer.

 

After another tough—but fun, always fun at Abbey Road—SAT class today (Wednesday), the program had its first college visit of the third session. The program was split into two groups of eight, one of which would be visiting Brandeis, and the other would be visiting Northeastern University. The cool group (mine, of course), which consisted of Alex C, Alex S, Candice, Kaitlin, Holland, Sebastian, Sophie and I, visited Northeastern.

The Northeastern campus was beautiful, the tour was informational, I was very happy with the whole experience. I think I may have found a new college to apply to, which brings about a wonderful concoction of excitement and absolute dread, but I digress. After the tour, we had a night class for college prep, which was just as exciting as it sounds. But fun or not, we definitely made much progress in the development of our college essays. That’s all I have tonight, though tomorrow we have our second round of SAT/ACT practice tests, so wish us luck!

 Jon Osborne, Captain’s log, signing off (I’m a trekky, what can I say)

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