How to Do Well on the SAT

1. How to Do Well on the SAT

2. Doing well on the SAT is an important step toward getting into a good college. But if your test scores aren’t what you’d like them to be, that doesn’t mean you have to give up on your dreams. You can improve by focusing on the subject areas you struggle with during test preparations. Some Tips for Do well on the SAT • Prepping for the Test • Using Test-Taking Strategies • Preparing Physically

3. Prepping for the Test • Analyze your previous scores • Focus on the subjects you struggle with • Set small goals • Sign up for a test-prep class if you can afford it • Organize a study group if you're on a budget • Memorize the general test instructions • Take practice test

4. Analyze your previous scores If you’ve taken the test before, or you’ve taken practice tests, review the questions you got wrong. Figure out what types of questions these were. • Focus on the subjects you struggle with Once you know what types of questions bring your scores down, focus your time and energy on these specific subjects. Buy a test-prep book or check one out from the library, and do 20 questions a night that are just like the ones you got wrong • Set small goals If you’re doing 20 questions a night, aim to get 15 of them right. Once you’ve managed that, aim to get 17 of them right. • Sign up for a test-prep class if you can afford it If you have trouble studying on your own, sign up for a test-prep class. Ask your guidance counselor about any classes offered through your school or any online platform.

5. Organize a study group if you're on a budget Test-prep classes can be too expensive for many families. If you're on a budget, gather some friends or classmates to create a study group that meets after school once or twice a week. Ask one of your teachers if they'd be willing to lead some sessions, or use a test-prep book as a guide. • Memorize the general test instructions It’s important to follow the instructions printed at the beginning of the SAT, but they can take a long time to read. And they don’t change from test to test, so memorize them as part of your test prep. Know what’s expected of you for filling out your answer sheet. • Take practice test The SAT follows the same format every year, so you can do better by simply practicing taking the entire test. Mimic the test environment by closing yourself in a quiet room and asking your family not to bother you. Set a timer, silence your phone, and take the practice test at the back of your test-prep book.

6. Using Test-Taking Strategies • Answer the questions that are easiest for you first • Make educated guesses for answers you don’t know • Ration your time wisely • Write neatly on your answer sheet • Track your progress on the test booklet • Read the questions before reading long passages • Write a four-paragraph essay if you write slowly

7. Answer the questions that are easiest for you first The SAT tends to have easier questions at the beginning and harder questions toward the end. But that doesn’t mean that what’s easy for everyone else is easy for you. Skip through the test and answer the questions you know you’re good at, then return to the beginning and work your way through everything else. • Make educated guesses for answers you don’t know The SAT grading system used to deduct more points for a wrong answer than for an answer left blank, but that’s no longer the case. Blank answers and wrong answers are deducted equally now. So if you don’t know an answer on a multiple choice question, eliminate answers you know are wrong. Then guess between the choices you have left. • Ration your time wisely Typically, you shouldn’t spend more than one to two minutes on a question. If you’re working through a difficult question and notice that you’ve spent more than two minutes on it, circle it and move on. Then come back to it later if there’s time. • Write neatly on your answer sheet Take the time to mark your answers neatly on the answer sheet and fill in bubbles fully. When the machine is grading the test later, it won’t be able to interpret what a stray pencil mark means, so it may mark the question wrong.

8. Track your progress on the test booklet You can write on your test booklet, so make clear marks or notes for yourself to track your progress. Circle questions you skipped entirely, and make marks next to any you guessed on but want to come back to if there’s time. • Read the questions before reading long passages If you're not a fast reader, you won’t have time to read a passage, look at the questions, then read the passage again. For long passages that are more than just a few lines, skim the questions first. Then underline any information that may help you answer them as you read the passage. • Write a four-paragraph essay if you write slowly The typical SAT essay follows a five-paragraph format: the introduction, three body paragraphs, and the conclusion. While the intro and conclusion are crucial, there is no rule that you have to have three body paragraphs. What matters is having well-developed paragraphs, so if you’re a slow writer, consider dropping the third body paragraph and writing a four-paragraph essay.

9. Preparing Physically • Get plenty of sleep the night before the test • Eat a protein-packed breakfast on the morning of test day • Exercise on the day before or morning of test day

10. Get plenty of sleep the night before the test While you may be tempted to stay up late and cram in extra studying the night before the test, this could negatively impact your score. Aim to get at least eight hours of sleep the night before the test so that you’re well-rested and better able to focus in the morning. • Eat a protein-packed breakfast on the morning of test day Even if you don’t normally eat breakfast, it’s important to do so on test day. This will minimize your chances of being distracted by hunger. Eat foods with lots of protein, such as eggs, sausage or bacon, and Greek yogurt. Add some whole-grain toast to keep you full longer. • Exercise on the day before or morning of test day Exercise can help de-stress you, so find some time to fit it in on the day before the test. Go for a run or a swim, or do yoga. You could also start test day with a brisk walk just to get your blood flowing.

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