The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT by Debbie Stier

Just a brief review today!

I LOVED The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT by Debbie Stier! My local library classified it as test prep material, but that's only part of what this book is about. It's actually much more of a memoir about parenting teens as a single mom and dealing with some of the struggles of trying to motivate and connect with a teenager.

The premise of the memoir is that Stier's son wasn't living up to his academic potential at school and Stier was looking for ways to motivate him to study for the SAT in an effort to improve his likelihood of college admissions.  As a parent, and a single mom, there were so many times when I laughed and cried as I read Stier's book. I could relate on so many levels!

Stier decided that a great way to motivate her son to study for the SAT and to help him score as highly as possible, SHE would take the SAT herself! Not just once, but every single time it would be offered over the course of the year. And, on top of this already ambitious goal, she decided to test out a different test prep method for each exam--7 exams in total.

At times, Stier is really onto exceptional methods, but other attempts are utter failures. Along the way, her relationship with both of her children (a daughter as well as her son) is tested, even to a degree that at one point her children move out and go to live with their father for a brief period of time.

Most of the challenges Stier experiences with her kids are typical of many parents, but through the lens of SAT prep, she gives the reader a unique point of view. The Perfect Score Project is part memoir, part parenting guide, and part study guide. I had a hard time putting it down, and I gleaned insights into my own relationship with my teenage son.

Even if you aren't interested in the parenting and single mom aspects of this memoir, I highly recommend it if you or your child needs to take a standardized test. While the methods Stier tries are specifically for the SAT, they can easily be applied to many other exams as well. I picked up several tips and ideas that I plan to apply to some tests and courses I have coming up.  

As an aside, did you even know adults could take the SAT??? I didn't! And, I'd been wondering about adults taking the SAT already--as a private tutor, I'm often asked to tutor the SAT, but it's been so long since I took it myself and the test has changed so much that I usually turn down such requests. Now I'm considering studying for the test just to see how well I can do--maybe I'll do well enough to feel confident tutoring it! Time will tell...

I highly recommend this one! FIVE stars!

Pick it up at your local library or buy it HERE.

Check out all of my memoir reviews HERE.