How to Do Well on Standardized Tests

When I was in high school, I knew early on that I was going to need scholarship money to pay for college to be able to attend. One of the factors many colleges consider for merit-based academic scholarships is your standardized test scores, primarily the SAT and ACT. In this article, I'll share tips on how you can naturally improve your score.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• The desire to get good standardized test scores.

1. First of all, it's really a good idea to prepare early--and it all doesn't have to be torture. For the English/Grammar/Writing portions of these tests, reading will help you more than anything. Read things you personally enjoy. Your brain has a tendency to pick up on information often without you realizing your learning, especially with vocabulary.

2. The math portions of these test range from basic math to a few questions in the pre-calculus/calculus range, so keep in mind that if you take the test early you may not even have had all the classes you need to learn the material. This is not as big of an issue on the English side, but I definitely noticed it with math. Prepare long before you take it, but if you just have one shot take the test your senior year.

3. To save money, find as many practice books as you can (many are available for free in public libraries) as opposed to shelling out money for the tests just to practice over and over. Treat these practice tests like the real thing, and you can narrow down where you need to learn and focus. This will save you a lot of time and get you comfortable with the overall format.

4. You may be wondering which of the two is "easier." I did end up taking both the SAT and ACT, paying for the ACT. My scores were basically in the same range. If you have the choice, take the ACT is you want a little less math and a little more science. If you like math and do well at it, you'll like the SAT better. Many colleges accept both, but if you know where you want to attend it helps to know the college's preference.

5. The night before the test, just relax and don't try to cram--these aren't the type of tests where you can really do that. I just watched a movie and went to bed a little earlier than normal (given the test required getting up early on a Saturday--that wasn't so fun.)

6. Prior to the test, make sure you calculator is approved (some of the Texas Instrument ones are so large in memory storage that people were storing entire English dictionaries in them, basically ruining it for everyone else who owned those types). A general scientific calculator is allowed and will come in handy for a few questions, especially on the ACT for scientific conversions.

7. Remember to eat breakfast, and take a drink and snack with you for break time. Make sure you have all the supplies you need--pencils (2-3 are usually enough if you don't want to have to worry about sharpening them--or just use #2 mechanical pencils).

8. Always go through and answer the questions you know first, and just skip any questions that seem confusing or require more thought. After you answer everything in the section that is easy, you can go through the more difficult questions without feeling as stressed or rushed. If you get done with everything, do a quick look over your answers to check for silly mistakes. Generally your first impression on answers you're divided on is the right one, so don't dwell on these too long or you may change it to the wrong answer.

Tips & Warnings

• Educated guessing (even when there is a penalty) is generally a good thing to do if you can eliminate at least 1 option as being wrong. If you have no clue, it's up to your own preference whether to risk it or not. I guessed on several questions, and I always gained more points than what I lost from it.

Resources

• More How-to Articles by Cougar1002

[thompson1958]

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