The Night Before The SATs

Don’t cram

While you can do some general reviewing the day before the SAT, cramming the night before the test will not help you. In fact, it may make things worse by tiring you out and overloading your brain before you even begin the exam. If you want to review, plan on studying in the afternoon and then leave your evening free to relax and get some rest.

Pack your stuff

You don’t want to be running around in the morning trying to find your pencils. So the night before, pack up all your gear for the test. For a full checklist of what to bring – and what to leave at home – check out The SATs: What to Bring the Day of the Test

Know where your testing facility is

Avoid the unnecessary stress of getting lost on the way to the SAT. If you haven’t been to your SAT testing facility yet, spend some time the night before the test figuring out where you are going. Either by yourself or with your parents, print out directions, look at a map, and/or take a test drive to the location.

Get some sleep

While you don’t have to be extreme about this and go to sleep right after dinner, you should plan on getting a full night’s rest before the exam.

The Morning Of The SATs

Get up early

Plan a little extra time in your schedule so you aren’t rushing around and you can have a relaxed morning. If you are not a “morning person,” you might want to give your brain some time to wake up, so you are fully awake by the time you get to the testing site.

Dress comfortably

This is a long test so comfort is important. Wear layers in case the room is hot or cold. Also, if you have a “lucky” article of clothing, you might want to wear it to the exam to give yourself a boost of confidence.

Eat something healthy

Again, this is a long test and, while you’re going to bring a healthy snack, you still need to eat some breakfast. A healthy breakfast is recommended over something sugary because you will stay fuller longer and a healthy breakfast will aid your concentration rather than making you spacey.

Grab your bag

You packed your stuff the night before – don’t forget to grab your bag on the way out the door!

Leave extra time for dropping off / parking

Whether you’re driving yourself or getting dropped off, leave extra time for the traffic jam that can occur outside the testing facility. That way you’ll have plenty of time to get signed in and find your testing room instead of rushing around and arriving in a panic.

Electronic devices

The College Board highly recommends you leave these at home. However, if you have a cell phone or other electronic device with you, turn it off now.

Now you’re ready to go. Good luck on the test!

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Checklist of What to Bring

SAT Admissions Ticket: You can print your SAT ticket out at home. Just visit the collegeboard online.

• Photo ID: You must bring a photo ID with you to the test. If you have any questions about what kind of IDs are accepted, go to http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/testday/id.htmlto see the list of acceptable IDs.
• Acceptable Calculator, Batteries: Basically “acceptable” calculators include graphing calculators and scientific calculators. You can also bring four-function calculators, although College Board doesn’t recommend these. If you are worried that your calculator might be unacceptable, check out the list of unacceptable calculators here: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/testday/calc.html. You may also want to bring back up batteries for your calculator.
• Pencils and Erasers: Bring plenty of #2 pencils and erasers that you know will work. By the way, pens or mechanical pencils are permitted. Many people think they have to write the essay in pen, but this is a myth. All of your SAT test must be completed with a #2 pencil or it won’t scan.
• Watch: You may not be able to see a clock from where you’re sitting in the testing room. Also, you can’t use your cell phone. So, your best bet is to bring a watch.
• Healthy Snack and Drink: It’s a long test. Fortunately, you’ll get several breaks that you can utilize to refuel. Healthy snacks are recommended over sugary snacks because too much sugar can leave you feeling spacey. The last thing you want is to have trouble concentrating.
• A Bag for Your Stuff: While College Board recommends bringing snacks, they also suggest that you have a bag to stow your stuff when you don’t need it. Anything you aren’t actively using for the test should be neatly stored out of sight.

Checklist of What Not to Bring

• Cell Phone, iPod, Electronic Devices: The College Board website states specifically that if your cell phone, iPod, etc. goes off, you will be dismissed from the test. Also, if you use any of these devices at any time, even on breaks, you will be dismissed. Your best bet is to leave these devices at home, but if you must bring them, turn them off.
• Alarms: Don’t annoy your neighbors with audible alarms. Bringing a watch if fine, but turn any sounds off.
• Scratch paper: Any figuring you do will be done on the test.
• Highlighters: If you want to highlight features, you’ll need to circle or underline them using your #2 pencil.
• Reference Materials: Leave your notes, dictionaries, etc. at home. There’s no need to lug all that stuff around since you won’t be allowed to use it anyway.

For more information, check out the College Board website.

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The LSAT is a five-part exam. Four of these sections count toward the final exam grade. One section is used to test new questions and does not count towards the final score. Test takers are allowed 35 minutes to complete each of the four sections, which all consist of multiple-choice questions. Additionally, there is a writing sample required at the end of the exam that is not scored, but sent to the law schools you have applied to. There are four exam sections and three different types of questions on the LSAT exam.

The ‘Reading Comprehension’ section tests the ability to read and comprehend lengthy passages of text, mimicking the complicated documentation law students and practicing attorneys are required to effectively analyze.

The ‘Analytical Reasoning’ portion tests deductive reasoning abilities in reference to logical conclusions that can be drawn based on statements made about relationships among people, places, things, or events.

The final section,  ‘Logical Reasoning’, tests the ability to draw logical conclusions based on information given in a short passage. The test taker is required to read short passages and answer one question about each passage.

If you are able to begin studying at least three or four months out from the exam, you can devote one month to each of the three types of test questions. Choose a time of day when you know you will have at least a couple of hours to review sample test questions. Also, make sure this time can consistently study sample questions at roughly the same time each day. This will reinforce a disciplined study schedule. Use flash cards to maximize the efficiency of your study routine. Record a sample passage and/or problem and question on one side of the flash card and write the answer or solution on the reverse side.

Sample LSAT questions can be accessed online, or in exam preparation books available for purchase online or in bookstores. If you have access to online study resources, there are free sample study questions and exams. For those who have no time to sit down and study, there are also audio resources that can be used on-the-go.

Lastly, one important aspect of studying that is often overlooked is physical preparation. Mentally, a student can be wholly prepared, but unless the body is well rested, the mind will not perform adequately the day of the exam. The day before the LSAT exam should be spent doing something enjoyable and/or recreational and completely unrelated to the exam. This ‘buffer day’ allows the mind to rest and process all the information it absorbed during the previous days and months. Follow this day of rest with a good night’s sleep and don’t forget to bring extra pencils!

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Along with a transcript of your high school grades and your college application, most colleges require either scores from the SAT or the ACT tests. These two tests are called college entrance exams. Nearly every college in America accepts scores from one or both tests.

Before you sign up to take either test, here’s the low down on college entrance exams.

ACT and SAT: College Entrance Exams

The SAT is a standardized test administered by a non-profit organization called The College Board. There are three sections on the test: Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing. The test takes about four and a half hours. There are breaks in between the sections to give you a little rest and a section on the test that doesn’t count towards your score (but provides information back to the test makers). The SAT costs $45.

Another group of tests also given by The College Board has a similar name – the SAT II, or now called the SAT Subject Tests. Unlike the SAT reasoning test, the SAT Subject Tests are based on what you have learned in the classroom. So instead of testing your general ability to think and reason, the SAT II tests are tests of what you have learned about specific subjects, including the sciences, mathematics, history, and languages. Some colleges ask for your SAT test scores and many now require two SAT Subject Test scores in addition to the SAT.

The ACT is also a college entrance exam, administered by the ACT Organization, also a non-profit group. The ACT covers English, Math, Reading and Science. According to the organization’s website, the test takes a little over two hours. The Writing test, which is optional on the ACT, adds 30 minutes to the testing time. The basic testing fee is $31. The test with Writing section is $46.

For both tests, registering late, adding different scoring and sending options, and other factors may increase the test’s costs.

What’s The Difference Between the SAT and ACT?

If at first glance both tests seem remarkably similar – they are. Both exams give college admissions staff a way to compare a large number of students from different walks of life. Because every high school is different, and kids have different opportunities available to them, college entrance exams “level the playing field” and provide one way to evaluate all the different applicants. Both exams have a long history of use, and lots of research into how effective they are at predicting college success. Both exams ask reading and mathematics questions and are multiple-choice.

The key differences are:

• On the SAT, writing is required
• On the ACT, science is required and writing is optional

Most colleges do want the writing section, since the ability to write well can show that a student is prepared for college and more likely to do well.

Which Test Should You Take?

So back to our original question: If the schools you are applying to accept either test, which should you take?

To answer this question, think about your own specific strengths and weaknesses. Are you better at writing? Then you might consider taking the SAT. With its required writing section, you can shine on the essay portion. Are you stronger in science? Then the ACT, with its required science section, may be a better choice.

Is one test easier than another? Although the numerical score is different because the exams use different grading systems, educational researchers can figure out if the SAT and ACT scores are similar – and in most cases, they are similar for students who take both exams. Although students may perceive the ACT as “easier”, it’s probably more myth than fact.

The Bottom Line: Take Both

The bottom line is that most college admissions officers and guidance counselors suggest taking both tests. If you change your mind and decide to apply to a different college than your original list, you’ll have both scores ready and waiting.

Some colleges offer a choice of submitting scores from either a SAT exam and two SAT Subject Tests OR the ACT. Because the ACT tests the basics of reading and math, as well as science and writing, some colleges consider it the same as taking the general SAT and two SAT Subject Tests.

Although all of these tests may seem like a big time effort, they add to the complete picture you’re giving to colleges about who you are academically. Be sure to start preparing and practicing for both exams well in advance. You can’t “cram” for either the SAT or the ACT. Both The College Board and the ACT Organization have lots of information on their websites, as well as practice tests and tips. Investing some time now can set you up for a successful test later.

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Many companies offer resources to undergraduates preparing to take the GRE. Kaplan offers classes that meet for months leading up to the date of the test. These classes typically cost around $1,000-1,500. This may sound like a lot of money; however, if you are competing for a graduate teaching position with a stipend, the pay off could well be in excess of $30,000 – a 3000% return on investment. These courses will instruct the student in test taking skills as well as offer refresher lessons on mathematics, language and analytical writing.

Don’t have $1,000? There are still many resources available on a tighter budget. Several companies offer books, vocabulary lists and CDs to assist in test preparation with very reasonable price tags. Some books offer definitions to the extremely obscure vocabulary that appears on the GRE test, reviews of the higher mathematics on the Graduate Records Exam and up to four practice tests. Some CDs offer the option to practice both the paper-based test and the computer-based GRE. This will allow you to decide if you work better with paper and pencil or with screen and mouse click.

In addition, you can also find boxed editions of the 500 most frequently occurring vocabulary words. This is particularly helpful if you are crunched for time and unable to make note cards for the vocabulary words listed within the book. This is also helpful if you plan to study as you go about your day or if you are preparing to enter a graduate program emphasizing the language section above the others. This is often the case with linguistics and literature programs.

One company, Princeton Review, has a series called Cracking the GRE. It comes with a DVD to walk you through the aspects and divisions of the test. The accompanying book offers practice tests, test preparation sections and an access code to take tests online for quick scoring. This will allow you to locate the areas for which you need to spend a little more time studying.

Barron’s has been producing test preparation for years and years. It has been a leader in ACT and SAT prep on the high school and has not lessened its quality in graduate preparation. Barron’s offers a CD for computer-based practice, printed practice tests and vocabulary lists for memorization.

Even ETS, the maker of the GRE, offers a free test preparation CD and materials upon request at their website. The only cautionary note is that ETS profits each time a student takes its test, so it may be hesitant to disclose some of the “secrets” or “tricks” to scoring well on the exam. In the end, ETS is still selling a product, the GRE. The test preparation companies base their success on the students’ satisfaction with their own test scores.

Another less expensive option is buying used test preparation resources. These can generally be found for under $40 on websites such as Amazon.com.

Regardless of which test prep route you choose to go, you can feel assured that your score on the GRE will be better for having taken the time and money to plan ahead and study. The Graduate Records Exam is difficult but not impossible.

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1. Sentence Correction
2. Reading Comprehension
3. Critical Reasoning.

While you may have encountered Sentence Correction questions and Reading Comprehension questions on past standardized tests (like the SAT) you have probably never encountered a Critical Reasoning question before.
That means that before you can even think about tips and tricks for success on Critical Reasoning Questions, you need to understand exactly what they are and what they are testing.

At first glance, Critical Reasoning questions look a lot like miniature Reading Comprehension questions. You are given a few lines of text – about 3 or 4 sentences – and below that is a question about what you read.

That is where the difference arises. Unlike Reading Comprehension, which test your ability to understand what you read, Critical Reasoning Questions test your ability to understand the logic behind what you read.

There are 6 different types of Critical Reasoning questions and each tests your ability to understand:

• How the arguments in the sentences fit together, and/or
• How the author’s evidence supports the conclusion of the argument.

The 6 types of Critical Reading questions are:

1. Conclusion Questions:

This is the simplest type of Critical Reasoning Question. You are being asked to read the sentences and choose the most logical conclusion.

• The correct answer will be the answer choice best supported by the facts contained in the passage.

2. Strengthening Questions:

This type of question asks you to identify an answer choice that strengthens the argument the passage is making.

• You must first identify the argument: what is it you are trying to strengthen?
• Once you have identified the argument, you need to select an answer choice that strengthens that argument.
• The correct answer will either:

1. Add an additional fact that supports the author’s conclusion OR
2. Provide additional support for one of the facts that the author has already mentioned.

3. Weakening Questions:

This type of question is the opposite of a Strengthening Question. Instead of supporting the argument, you want to poke holes in it or find errors in the author’s reasoning.

• Just like in Strengthening Questions, your first step is identifying the argument.
• Once you have identified the argument, you should try to predict an answer.
  • Look for obvious flaws in the reasoning: did the author make an assumption? Do the author’s facts really support the conclusion? Is there something wrong with one of those facts?
• After you have predicted an answer, evaluate the answer choices. The correct answer will either:

1. Demonstrate why the author’s facts do not provide sufficient support for the author’s conclusion OR
2. Provide an alternate explanation for the facts that call the conclusion into question OR
3. Point out a flaw in one or both of the author’s facts OR
4. Point out that the author made an assumption that might not be true

4. Assumption Questions:

This type of question is one of the more difficult Critical Reasoning Questions. You are being asked to identify what the author didn’t say.
When making his argument, the author relied on a 3rd fact that they never mentioned- a fact that they assumed to be true without even saying it. The author’s whole argument is based on the truth of that unstated fact, and these questions ask you to identify what that fact is.

• Just like with the other Critical Reasoning Questions we’ve discussed, you should identify the argument first.
• Your next step is to try to predict the answer choice.
  • Ask yourself what else must be true in order for the author’s facts to provide enough support for the conclusion? What did the author not say?
  • To predict the assumption, imagine that you and a friend are having a discussion and your friend has just made the statement in the passage. You would retort by saying “But, you are assuming __________.” If you can fill in that blank, that is your prediction.
• Work through the answer choices to find the assumption. To test each answer choice, negate the statement in the choice (take the opposite of the statement) and then ask yourself with the author’s original argument still holds up.
  • Ex: If answer choice A said “Sunshine is good,” to negate the statement, you would say “Sunshine is not good.”
  • Then, considering the new “fact” that “Sunshine is not good,” ask yourself whether the author’s original argument still makes sense or whether it falls apart. If it falls apart when you include your new “fact”, then you have found the correct answer.
  • This method of testing the answer choices works because, in making an argument, the author assumed that the statement contained in the correct answer was a true fact. The argument depended on the statement in that answer choice being true. Therefore, if that statement is not true (when our negated opposite is true), the author’s argument no longer makes sense.

5. Inference Questions:

These questions ask you to use your reasoning skills to determine something else that must be true, based on the information contained in the passage.

• The inference is an additional conclusion you can draw based on any of the information contained in the passage
  • The correct answer may be supported by any of the individual sentences contained in the passage, or by the passage as a whole.
• The correct answer to inference questions will usually be one-step away from the passage.
  • In other words, it should not be difficult to explain why you are able to infer the information contained in the correct answer.
  • You should be able to explain why the correct answer must be true, based on the information in the passage, with one simple sentence.
• The correct answer will be something that is always true based on this information- otherwise, it would not be an inference that you could make from the passage.

6. Parallel Reasoning Questions:

These are the most difficult Critical Reasoning questions. Parallel Reasoning questions test your ability to identify how the author makes his argument, and identify the answer choice that uses this same method of thinking.

• First, you want to identify the author’s pattern of reasoning. Why does he think his conclusion is true and how does he prove it?
  • Some people like to diagram out the reasoning with letters.
  • For example, lets consider the following argument:

• • This could be diagrammed to read “Its true L is bad. But, if we don’t L, people get sad. Therefore, sometimes its OK to L.”

“It is true that lying is unethical. But, if we don’t lie, people may get their feelings hurt. Therefore, sometimes it is OK to lie.”

• Then, you need to find the answer choice that follows that same pattern.
  • It is the relationship of the ideas in the argument that matters, not the subject matter of the argument. You need to find an answer choice that matches the diagram you made.
  • For example, the following would be an argument that uses the same reasoning as the sentence demonstrated above:
  • As you can see, the pattern of reasoning is the same (Its true P is bad. But, if we don’t P, people get sad. Therefore, sometimes its OK to P.) Even though the subject matter is different, the structure of the argument is the same.

“It is true that playing pranks is wrong. But, if we don’t play pranks, people feel left out. Therefore, sometimes it is OK to play pranks.”

Success on the critical reasoning section depends on first identifying the correct question type from these 6 types of questions, and then applying the correct approach. Since the questions stress logic, your reasoning skills and a systematic approach are both essential tools for mastering the GMAT.

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