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Get a good night’s sleep on the night before the test.
Nobody is at their best after going to the midnight showing of the latest
psycho-thriller.
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Arrive a bit ahead of the starting time for the test. When
I took my SAT it seemed like the rest of the state was there as well. Arriving a
bit early will help you find your testing room and will really speed up the sign
in process.
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Have photo
identification with you and your admission ticket if you received one. Bring two sharpened #2 pencils with you and possibly a snack.
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Dress in layers so you won't freeze if the room is cold and
you can shed layers so you won't fry in a hot room.
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I
know you've heard standardized testing instructions a million times before but
you still need to listen carefully to all preliminary instructions.
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Set your own pace throughout the test. Use your time wisely
so that you can finish within the time given for the test and still have a
little bit of time to go back over your answers you were uncertain about.
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Read each question carefully. Its amazing how they can make
the questions sound like its asking you something completely different than the
answer.
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The
test is organized by difficulty. The easiest questions are in the first third of
the test, answer them first. If you skip a question on the test, be sure
to skip the same number on your answer sheet.
Otherwise all your answers will be “off.”
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You
paid to take the test, feel free to write in the book, its yours, no one else
will be using it after you. If you were uncertain of your answer write a
"?," if you skipped a question, write an "x." Develop your
own system of symbols.
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Mark out incorrect answers as you eliminate them, this will
keep you from accidentally guessing a wrong answer when you come back to the
question.
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Guess! On the ACT there is no penalty for guessing, so
answer every one. On the SAT, your
score is based on the number of questions you answered correctly minus a
fraction of the number you answer incorrectly. If you can eliminate two wrong
answers be sure you guess an answer. Yes, if you miss it you'll lose a fraction
of a point, but if you don't answer it at all you lose the potential for an
entire point!
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Mark your answer sheet carefully, filling in the answer
spaces fully. If you erase, do so
completely. Don't leave smudges or
stray marks on your answer sheet.
Take our ACT/SAT preparation course for more tips, tricks and hints of the
standardized test.
