A free period for students to study, Junior advisory is an absolute necessity for Juniors to keep up with the rigors of Loyola High School. Loyola should not completely replace Junior Advisory, catch up, and work at their discretion, with SAT/ACT/College prep classes, because advisory provides an important balance that standardized test preparation alone cannot replace.
Trading Junior Advisory for a college prep class or SAT/ACT test prep might sound like a good idea at first, especially when we think about leveling the playing field for students with limited resources. Private tutoring and test prep are often not accessible to many hard-working students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Offering those resources and time on campus could mean that more students receive help or additional preparation time to do better on critical tests, especially when we know how overwhelmed and busy juniors already are with homework, sports, and clubs.
However, if Loyola completely gets rid of advisory, they are taking away a valuable outlet at a time when juniors are juggling with more stress and competing priorities than ever. Advisory is a good opportunity for students to pause, reflect, and tackle what is needed. For some, that means catching up on today’s homework. For others, it could mean meeting with their counselor about dropping grades. In fact, 72.1% of cubs polled responded that junior advisory should not be replaced with an SAT / ACT college prep class.
Replacing that entirely with test prep could easily lead to burnout, anxiety, and misinformed decisions. A student of the Class of 2027 added, “Advisory helps me stay organized or catch up when I’m overwhelmed.”
Additionally, advisory plays a major role in helping students develop a skill that colleges actually want: finding self-direction with unstructured time. Instead of just focusing on scores, advisory gives students the opportunity and space to reflect on what could be important for them and then work on areas of improvement. By learning how to weigh their choices carefully and set goals strategically, students can become much better at making smart, informed decisions when the time comes to apply to a college.
We also have to look at how policies and admissions considerations have changed in recent years. With many colleges going test-optional or even test blind, the SAT and ACT simply do not carry the weight they used to. Plus, forcing a student who wants to join the military or go straight into the job market to sit through a year of test prep is a waste of their time. An advisory period, on the other hand, allows students to work on things that are truly relevant to them rather than forcing everyone into one generic goal: to do well on tests.
Instead of making it an all-or-nothing choice, the best move could be to meet in the middle. Loyola could use one semester for advisory sessions, and then switch to test prep when the pressure builds up, or even have a mix of the aspects during advisories throughout the year. That way, Loyola can give students the flexibility to select the things they truly need and can benefit the most from.
