The 5 Pros And Cons of Study Groups
Forming a study group for the SAT has some big pros, but it also has a few cons as well. SAT preparation can be complicated and it’s a major step in your life. Pretending that it isn’t a big deal might be tempting, but it really isn’t in your best interest. If you take a “whatever” attitude towards studying for the SAT, you are doing harm to your friends as well, as you may influence their study habits and behavior.
It is vitally important that you realize with total clarity that despite what anyone ever told you, you are not competing against your classmates and friends on the SAT exam. This kind of thinking is primitive, foolish and highly misguided. Millions of students take the SAT exam every single year! The thought that you are competing against your friends is silly and you shouldn’t fall for it. If someone tells you that it’s a “dog eat dog” world and that this applies to the SAT, well, they just don’t know what they are talking about. Remember that so many students take this test that any actual competition between you and your classmates is beyond trivial.
Once you realize that there is no real, actual competition between you and your friends and classmates, the option of cooperation opens up. Why study alone if you have friends that are better at given subjects than you are? By cooperating with one another, it is possible to not just break down the SAT exam, but to also pull on one another’s strengths and help with one another’s weaknesses as well.
Study Group Pros
1) Learn more as you can break down the test and study materials and split them up.
2) Pull on one another’s strengths
3) Get help with your weaknesses
4) Learn to see the test and test questions in different ways
5) Pull on collective resources, such as study guides and so on.
Study Group Cons
Unfortunately there are some cons to forming a study group for the SAT. Let’s take a look a few of these cons.
1) There will be differing levels of seriousness among your friends.
2) There is a risk that your study sessions could deviate into socializing instead of working.
3) Not everyone will pull his or her weight equally.
4) Egos may get in the way and interfere with overall progress.
5) People may not stick with the study group long enough to get the desired results and to justify the time it took to start the group in the first place.
Whether or not you should form a SAT study group depends greatly on the quality of people that you can pull into the group. Even if you get great people in your group, you may still find that the group dynamic doesn’t work. In the end, you have to play this one by ear and see how it develops. However, if your SAT study group is successful, you could really benefit a great deal.