I'll never forget being in the seventh or eighth grade and being sent to a Saturday class to prepare to apply to Catholic high schools. It felt like a straight jacket of the mind but you could feel it make you stronger at test taking skills AND actual academic knowledge.
I went on to get in to a good prep school, Chaminade High School, in Mineola, Long Island and a good college, Holy Cross, in Worcester, Mass. I liked Latin and Greek and psychology.
Who knew those interests would one day help me prepare others to take college and graduate school admissions tests?
After majoring in ancient Greek in college and teaching Latin in some high schools, I went into psychology. I took the undergraduate core courses and started grad school in school psychology. I taught psychology at a few institutions as well.
As I say, I had no intention of preparing myself to prepare others to take the SAT, GRE, MEDCAT, LSAT, ACT, GED, and MAT tests, but that's what happened.
It turns out that classics majors, year in and year out, get the highest verbal scores on those standardized tests. Greek and Latin make up approximately 60% of the English language words we use. Knowing the Greek and Latin stems, prefixes, and suffixes is quite handy in deciphering new words in English and other popular languages. Who knew? But it's true!
Studying psychology I learned the science of academic testing and item construction and test taking strategies.
Besides the above tools, I've also found out that there are some paths that seem certain and short and don't work out-- like bribing your way in to the college of your choice-- and other tried and true ways that really work, educate you, and can bring a lot of fun, happiness, and wealth.
Some fruitful paths: (1) finding a book you like to read and carrying it with you and reading it all the time. (2) Learning the Latin and Greek words that unlock the puzzles in so many other words. (3) Studying the dictionary, (4) Writing a journal of your efforts and results everyday. (5) Setting up a serious schedule on which to accomplish 1, 2, 3, and 4.
For more information, write me at chuckjagoda1@gmail.com
