Test Tips for the ACT and SAT!

When it comes to standardized tests, I don’t necessarily agree with the weight that is put on scores by colleges, high schools, parents, and students.  I don’t think a standardized test score says much about you as a student. A test can’t tell how much effort you put in!  Some students are lucky and testing comes very easily to them.  Other students struggle with even the thought of taking a standardized test.  Here are test tips to help you increase your ACT score or your SAT score!

I truly believe that half of a standardized test is content. You have to know when to use a semicolon or how to solve an algebra problem.  The other half of taking a standardized test is knowing how to take a test!  There are things that you can do when you aren’t sure of how to start a math problem.  If you have a plan going into the test, it is going to help you focus and work your way through the test.

Now, let me teach you how to take a standardized test.  Make a difference in your score by practicing, learning from the questions you get wrong, and having a game plan for how to approach the test!  Like I mentioned above, I don’t agree with how much weight is put on these test scores.  However, even though I don’t like the “game,” I know how to play it!

Petite

With over 11 years of experience in tutoring for the ACT/SAT, I know many test tips and tricks for the ACT English and SAT Writing sections.  Even though they are called different things, they are essentially the exact same section! Grammar is incredibly important, but the test is testing both grammar and content.  Let’s talk about some tips to help with the questions that will appear!

Petite means short or small.  To save time and effort when going through the English/Writing section, start with the shortest answer choice.  I know that this sounds too easy to be true, but one of the things that they are testing is that you are using the most concise, grammatically correct answer.  If the shortest answer is grammatically correct, then go for it! If you don’t read the answer choices in and only pick the shortest answer, I can promise that you aren’t going to score very well.

Plug

There are 2 kinds of people in the world: those that like math and those that don’t. I fall into the “like math” category, which is good news for you! If you like math, these tips and tricks can help you out, but if you don’t like math – CONTINUE READING!

Math is definitely the most content based of all of the sections on either that ACT or the SAT. So yes, how well you do in math might have something to do with how you do in math in school. Now with that said, there are still a lot of ways that you can increase your score.

Predict

Most students are not fans of the reading test.  I find that 90% of my students really struggle with this portion of the test.  Students find the timing frustrating and the passages boring. Timing is tight, even for people that read all the time! The good news is that you can still score well on the test because the score is based off of how many questions you are getting correct.  There isn’t much I can recommend to make the passages more interesting. However, I can help you focus while you are reading! Here are some ACT Reading Tips and SAT Reading Tricks to make your score skyrocket!

There are many theories as to how to approach reading the passage. I’ve heard strategies such as skimming only, not reading at all, only reading the first and last paragraph, and only reading the first and last sentence of every paragraph.  The strategy that works with most students is to actually read the entire passage.