14 SAT General Test-taking Strategies

Here is a list of 14 SAT Test-taking Strategies:

1. Take control. Not every student will ace the SAT, but any student can take charge of it. Go into the test with confidence and the game plan that you've determined from using this book.

2. Lay everything out the night before. Sleep easy the night before the SAT knowing that you're ready to go. Lay out three #2 pencils with good erasers, your calculator with fresh batteries your admission ticket, your photo ID, and a snack.

3. Have a good breakfast. Your brain can't work well without fuel.

4. Know where you're going. If you're taking the SAT at an unfamiliar school, acquaint yourself with it before test day. Take a trip there in the days before the test.

5. Dress properly. Dress in light layers so you'll be comfortable whether the testing room is swelter ing or frigid. An uncomfortable body makes for a distracted brain.

6. Get a good two nights' sleep. A rested brain is a smarter brain. The nights before the SAT are for sleeping, not for all-nighters. Get a good eight hours each of the two nights before your SAT.

7. Get some exercise. Most teenagers are pretty foggy in the morning, so get a leg up on the competition by waking your brain with exercise. Twenty minutes of cardio will keep you alert.

8. Bring a snack. Your brain burns calories when it's thinking hard. Bring a granola bar, banana, or energy bar to the SAT to refuel during the break.

9. Know what to attack. As you begin each section of your SAT, know how many questions to attack. For instance, if you've got a realistic shot at breaking 700, you should be attacking every question. But if your goal is 600, you can skip about 15% of the questions, and if it's 500, you can skip the toughest 25%. The "College Hill SAT Study Plan" at the end of each practice test in this book provides you with a solid guide for building your game plan.

10. Take a "two-pass" approach. If you've built a smart game plan and practiced with it, you should have enough time to tackle all of your "must answer" questions, then take one more pass through them, checking for common mistakes. Once all of your "must answer" questions have been double-checked, you can approach the hardest questions carefully.