With less than one week to go until the SAT there are still things that you can do to increase your score on test day.
If you do nothing else, learn the directions cold. Study the directions for each section of the SAT and be certain that you fully understand them and will not need to waste valuable time on test day referring back to them.
Mentally prepare for the test.
Your performance is affected by your mental state and attitude. Believe in the knowledge and skills that you have spent your whole live acquiring and sharpening. Feel confident in the 12 years of training you've received in school; countless hours of in class learning, the accumulation of huge amounts of knowledge, innumerable "practice" tests. YOU ARE PREPARED. The SAT is your opportunity to show colleges your ability to use your critical thinking and analytical skills.
Harness your energy for test day.
Test day is like a big game, concert or play. Embrace your energy and channel it, don't let it freak you out. Nervousness and anxiety produce adrenaline which is like supercharging your nervous system. Keep a positive attitude and channel your energy to answer the one question in front of you and then move on to the next one. Visualize yourself doing well.
Keep the test in perspective.
The SAT is only one part of the college admissions decision. Your grades, essays and teacher recommendations are more important. You have many chances to take the test again if you choose and most schools are only interested in your best scores.
The Night Before
The night before the test relax, watch a movie, play a game, hang out with friends, chill out. You want to be alert on test day. Get to bed early so you are well rested when the alarm goes off at 6:00 am Saturday morning. Pull together everything that you need for test day the night before and print out directions to the test center.
Test Day
On test day wake up early, eat a good breakfast, give yourself extra time to get to the test site early so you don't feel rushed. Take your admissions ticket, photo ID, multiple soft lead pencils and soft erasers, two approved calculators in case one stops working, a watch (there may not be a clock in the room), snacks, directions to the test center.
When you are waiting for the test to begin remember to breath, remain calm, think positive thoughts, focus on the task at hand.
Keep track of time during the test by writing down the start and stop times.
Pace yourself; know when you have used 1/4, 1/2 of the time and when you have five minutes to go in the section. Don't spend much more than one minute on any one question.Don't rush. Easy questions come first in all sections except the reading passages. Don't rush through the easy questions, they are worth as much as the hard questions.
Keep track of where you are on your answer sheet by checking the number of the question and the number of the answer every few questions.
Look beyond answer A. Don't be lazy, review all the possible answers before selecting one.Eliminate wrong answers by drawing a line through them.
Skip over difficult questions and mark them with a ? so that you can easily return to them.
Circle the answers in your test booklet and then fill in the corresponding bubble.
Use your test booklet as scratch paper to work out problems. Draw pictures to help figure out math problems. Circle and underline key phrases in the reading passages.
Play to your strength by working on the types of questions in a section that you are most comfortable with first.
Answer every question on the test.Try to eliminate at least one wrong answer before you guess randomly. If you guess randomly statistically you will not be hurt.
Stay focused on your test; if you start to day dream check yourself back into the test immediately. Don't worry where other people are on the test, it will only throw you off of your pace.
Congratulations, You did it. Next stop, the college of your choice.
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