It’s been a great spring for Bespoke students.  From January to March, Bespoke students have scored in the 95^th+ percentiles on the SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests, and GMAT.  Our students cover a vast variety of interests and passions, but one characteristic that our successful students share is a willingness to work hard.

What does this behavior look like?  One of our tutors reported that her SAT student, without prompting, memorized lists and lists of vocabulary words for each week’s tutoring session.  Another tutor told us about his GMAT student who did all of the problems in the GMAT Official Guide – twice! – to make sure she was ready for anything on test day.  It’s not glamorous work, but it paid off with great scores for both of these students.

How do you instill that kind of drive?  A mix of internal and external motivation is important.  Students who take pride in their work and who have confidence in themselves are more likely to do not only the required work but also enrichment activities that build on their existing skills.  Students who find themselves in the beneficial cycle of study – improve – study more – improve more will want to put in the hours necessary to continue their upward rise.  External motivation helps too: sometimes students don’t have a clear concept of what these tests are for, so bringing them on school visits and demonstrating what the destination is will add a positive incentive.

Time is an important ally in this effort.  The more time your student is able to commit to improvement, the better.  Thirty minutes a day at a relaxed and focused pace for three months is better than cramming two hours a day for two or three weeks.  When students have time to self-correct and learn at their own pace, studying will be a reward, not a punishment.

We’re looking forward to another season of success!