The Myth of the “Naturally Brilliant” Student

“I was the valedictorian of my high school and I scored a 1760 the first time I took the SAT.”

That is how Prep Expert founder Dr. Shaan Patel answered the question of whether he was always a strong test-taker. For context, while today’s SAT uses a 1600-point scale, that score was earned on the test’s previous 2400-point scale. In other words, it wasn’t a bad score, but it was hardly the kind of result people might expect from the student at the very top of his class.

Shaan eventually earned a perfect 2400 on that earlier version of the exam. And the preparation that brought him from one score to the other is the inspiration for this article.

Shaan already had the grades. What he needed was a better approach to the test.

That experience guides how he thinks about preparation today. He is less interested in whether a student has been called brilliant than in what that student does after getting a question wrong. For families wondering why strong grades have not translated into strong test scores, that is a useful place to start.

Why Can Good Students Struggle on the SAT?

The SAT assesses reading, writing, and math skills under time limits. Understanding the material matters, but students also need to apply that understanding within the test’s particular format.

In our Q&A, Shaan described a pattern he has seen among bright students: they often rely on reasoning alone because, for much of their academic lives, reasoning has been enough.

“A bright kid reasons his way to the answer,” he said. “It works beautifully for two-thirds of a section and then the clock shows up.”

Strong reasoning remains valuable. The problem is relying on it without also practicing a repeatable method. A familiar process gives a student a starting point instead of having to devise a solution from scratch every time.

When Shaan explained what separates students who consistently perform at the highest level, he returned to three priorities: understanding how the test is built, reviewing mistakes, and creating an environment that makes consistent preparation easier.

None requires a student to be “naturally brilliant.”

Learn How the Test Is Built

Shaan said strong test-takers learn to look beyond which answer is correct.

“They know why a wrong answer was written to look right,” he explained.

The goal is not to memorize a bag of tricks or assume certain words automatically make an answer wrong. It is to become familiar enough with the test to identify what makes a tempting choice fail.

Suppose a reading passage describes a program that helped some participants. An answer claiming that the program helped every participant goes beyond what the passage supports. A student who notices only familiar language might miss the difference.

During practice, ask what specifically makes each rejected choice wrong. Does it exaggerate the evidence? Answer a slightly different question? Include a detail that sounds reasonable but is not supported by the text?

Questions like these turn “test-taking ability” into something more concrete: a skill that can be practiced.

Review the Work, Not Just the Score

In the interview, Shaan described his formula as “perfect strategies plus perfect practice.” He also argued that the second half is where many students shortchange themselves.

Practice does not have to be mistake-free to be valuable. What matters is what happens after the mistake.

“Twenty questions reviewed beats a hundred questions ignored. Every single time.”

— Dr. Shaan Patel

Imagine two students who each miss a question about percentages. One reads the explanation and moves on. The other identifies that they used the wrong starting value, works through the solution, and later tries a similar problem without help.

The second student now has something specific to check next time.

For your own review, write down what went wrong and what you will do differently. “Careless mistake” is too vague. “I solved for x, but the question asked for 2x” gives you a correction you can actually use.

Prep Expert®’s guide to the Mistake Audit Method shows students how to categorize errors instead of simply counting them, while our article on the review habit top scorers use after practice tests digs further into productive review.

Taking another practice test is not automatically progress. Learning from the last one is.

The Library Lesson Isn’t About Studying All Day

The third part of Shaan’s answer may be the one parents have the most direct opportunity to influence.

He recalled spending an entire summer studying at a public library, from nine in the morning until eight at night, every day.

That is an unusually intense schedule, not a prescription for every high school student. The useful part of the story is why Shaan thought it worked: he had a designated building and fixed study hours. He did not have to keep deciding whether he felt like preparing.

“I didn’t out-willpower anybody. I built a room where studying was the easiest available option. That’s not a character trait. That’s a floor plan.”

— Dr. Shaan Patel

That idea scales down. A student balancing homework, activities, and a part-time job might need 45 minutes at the kitchen table on three agreed-upon afternoons, with the phone elsewhere. Another may work better at the library on Saturday mornings.

Make the plan specific enough that beginning does not require another decision. Decide where the student will work, what they will study, and when they will stop.

Parents can help by protecting that time or helping a student build a realistic calendar. Prep Expert®’s SAT study plan template provides a starting framework for turning a general goal like “study more” into a concrete routine.

What Parents Can Say Instead

One line from the interview stood out because of how ordinary it sounds.

“The most expensive sentence a parent can say is ‘she’s just not a test taker,’” Shaan said.

A parent may mean that a disappointing score does not diminish their child’s abilities. That reassurance is worth giving. The problem arises when the phrase starts to function like a diagnosis. If a student is simply “not a test taker,” what is there to work on?

Shaan suggested replacing the label with questions about behaviors. Does the student review missed questions or only check the score? Have they practiced full sections under realistic timing? Do they understand why an answer that looked right was actually wrong?

Each question points toward something that can change.

He made a similar argument about the opposite label: “gifted.” A student who sees strong performance as proof of a fixed trait may be less inclined to build systems, while a student who does not receive that label may decide those systems will never be enough.

There is broader research behind that concern. Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck has discussed how praising children for intelligence or talent can make them less willing to take on challenges, while praise focused on strategies, focus, persistence, and the learning process can support a more resilient approach.

That does not mean parents need to turn every score into a motivational speech. Often, specificity is better. Instead of “You’re so smart,” try, “You caught the same error you missed last week.” Instead of “You’re just not a test taker,” ask, “Where did the test start getting away from you?”

And not every testing difficulty is simply a study-habit issue. Students with documented disabilities may qualify for testing accommodations, and families should seek appropriate support when needed.

The goal is to keep the conversation open long enough to understand what the student actually needs.

When Does a Prep Course Make Sense?

Shaan also addressed the obvious objection to his argument: “It’s all method” is a convenient message for someone who runs a test prep company.

His answer was straightforward.

“The method is in a book that costs twelve dollars on Amazon and is free at most public libraries. I wrote it. If you buy nothing from me and your kid actually works through it, the method is yours.”

His broader point was not that every family needs to buy a course. It was that knowing what to do and consistently doing it are different problems.

For a student who can follow a plan, work through unfamiliar material, and review mistakes independently, self-study may be enough. Prep Expert®’s Digital SAT Playbook is one place to start.

Other students benefit from a teacher who can explain why an approach failed, identify patterns the student has not noticed, or simply ensure the work gets done on schedule.

As Shaan put it: “What you’re buying from a course isn’t the method. It’s someone making your kid do it on a schedule when nobody at home has the time or the leverage to make that happen.”

That is a useful way to think about choosing prep. Start with the obstacle. Does your child need help understanding concepts? Feedback on their approach? A defined schedule? Accountability? Individual attention?

Prep Expert®’s SAT prep courses include live online and self-paced options, while students who need more individualized help can explore one-on-one private tutoring.

“For some families that’s worth every dollar,” Shaan said. “For others it’s a waste, and I’d rather you figure out which one you are before you pay me.”

A First Score Is a Place to Start

Shaan’s story does not promise that every student can or will earn a perfect score. That is not the point.

The point is that his first score did not tell the whole story.

He was already the valedictorian when he scored a 1760. The eventual 2400 came after he changed the way he prepared: studying the test itself, reviewing mistakes, and creating an environment where the work happened consistently.

Those are the ideas he built Prep Expert® around, and they remain central to the way he talks about test preparation today.

So if a student’s first SAT score is disappointing, resist the temptation to make it an identity statement. Do not decide that the student is naturally gifted, naturally average, or naturally bad at tests.

Start with one missed question. Figure out what went wrong. Decide what to do differently next time.

That is a much more useful place to begin.