I am taking the SAT tomorrow. Any last minute tips?
I am getting very nervous about taking the SAT tomorrow morning. Does anyone have any tips? Even some inspiration would help!
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Do you know about the “guessing penalty”? (You lose a fraction of a point for a wrong answer, but nothing if you leave it blank.)
As cliched as it sounds, eat a good breakfast. It really does make a diff. Good Luck!
Remember your calculator and #2 pencils.
Get there early.
@Rarebear beat me to it. A good night’s sleep is important.
Do not stay anxious. You are past that point. Just take your time and do your best.
If you have one, take a pencil sharpener with you.
Sleep.
If you don’t do well, take a course that helps you with the test, and take the test again. Good luck. :)
@MetroGnome217 Whatever it takes that you wake up refreshed. Teenagers usually need more sleep, so I would schedule 11 hours.
Sleep and relax. Mostly sleep.
Make sure that you thoroughly think out the writing part. It should be organized and try to present yourself as the “model citizen.” I made the mistake of being far too opinionated and controversial on mine and ended up getting a bad score. Hahahaha.
Also, don’t be too nervous. Alert good, focused good, but no need to be nervous. You can take it more than once. Also, at this point you know all you are going to know for the test tomorrow. Just go in there and do your best.
Periodically be sure to check the bubble sheet that you are on the right question, the right number. Better to skip a question you are struggling with and go back later. You can answer 4 questions that are easy for every one that you might be struggling with. Just, when you skip, you must make sure you skip the number on the answer sheet. Check it constantly. Question number 24….answer sheet question line 24. That type of mistake is a nightmare.
Guess aggressively. There is a guessing penalty; it works as follows: there are 5 choices. For each answer right, you get one point, for each answer wrong, you lose ¼ point, and for each answer left blank, you neither gain nor lose. It protects against random guessing because, if you guess on 5 questions, statistically you’ll average 1 right and four wrong, and they cancel each other out. But that’s random guessing. Statistically, if you can eliminate even one choice as definitely wrong, you up your chances and make a net gain. Especially if you can narrow it down to two choices. Heads you get a dollar, tails you lose a quarter – good deal, right?
I’m a pro at standardized tests, do what I do and guess aggressively, don’t let that penalty scare you!
Also, the SAT is sooooo frickin LONG and you’ll be tired by the end. Bring a small snack and something to drink. You’ll have breaks during which you can eat and go to the bathroom.
@nikipedia If I remember correctly, we were advised to still guess if we could narrow it down to four answers, giving us a one in four chance of getting it right, and thus countering the deduction risk. Not that I understand how that works – people who understand math say things, and I listen to them.
@MyNewtBoobs, @Mariah gave a great explanation right there. When I was an SAT tutor, helping the kids figure out when to guess and when to omit made the single largest difference in their scores.
get a good nights sleep, and eat a good meal in the morning before you go. my twin daughters took it last year and did this.
try not to be so nervous about it because you might begin to over think the most simple questions which could really mess you up and waste time. just take it easy and try your best, and if you don’t do well, but you probably will do well, but if you don’t i think you can always retake them. they recommend taking them at least twice anyways to see if you get a better score the second time.
Convince yourself that the upcoming 4 hours you’re going to spend is going to be incredibly fascinating and interesting. Those reading passages are going to teach you something you never knew about before. Lose yourself in the test!
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