5 Tips To Beat a Standardized Test

I go along thinking that I'm completely done with standardized tests. I took the SAT and ACT in high school and thought how great information technology would be to not accept anymore tests. But I wasn't counting on placement tests and the other opportunities my professors plant to pull out the Scantron sheets in college, and I certainly wasn't thinking nigh the placement exams necessary for graduate school and many jobs.

As we go ready to head dorsum to school, or go looking for jobs, or recall about accreditation for our career of selection, it's worth thinking almost the tests that are coming upwardly. Not then that we tin worry nearly what score we're going to get but so that when the big twenty-four hour period comes, we can beat each of those tests.

1. Sympathise examination formats

The thing about giving the same test to a whole bunch of people is that you lot accept to make the questions understandable fifty-fifty for someone who will be taking the test cold. If a teacher is giving you a mid-term, she knows exactly what was covered during her lectures. But if a prospective employer is testing y'all on your computer skills, he has to make sure that the questions are written in such a way that anybody can walk in and sympathise them. That means that nigh standardized tests avert jargon as much every bit possible. They also adhere to easy-to-use (and easy-to-class) formats, like multiple-selection and true-or-false. Being comfy with these formats gives you a head start.

2. Take sample tests

If y'all can get a sample of the test you're planning to take — or even a few sample questions — take advantage of the opportunity. Merely taking a dry run in one case through earlier the existent examination can enhance your score significantly — knowing that the questions aren't horribly scary and recognizing the question format merely makes y'all more comfortable with taking a high-stakes test. Luckily, getting sample tests is usually only a matter of asking. College Board, the makers of the SAT, for instance, offering free sample tests on their website. It's more than a thing of comfort. Familiarizing yourself with the test tin help yous understand questions better and answer them faster, of import abilities on lengthy tests.

3. Read up on the scoring

The thing that tripped me up about the Human action and the SAT is the different way in which the 2 tests are graded. On the SAT, you lose a quarter of a signal for every question you get wrong. On the Human action, in that location's no penalty for incorrect guesses. That means that on the Human action, if yous don't know an answer, you should always guess. The worse that tin can happen is that you aren't penalized. On the Sat, though, guessing a lot can go you into problem. If you lot have no thought on the answer, you've got a 75 percent hazard of losing a quarter of a betoken, and those can add upwards fast. If y'all can't eliminate ane or two of the answers, information technology's probably non going to do good you to guess.

Test scoring varies greatly. Information technology's up to you lot to know how the test you'll be taking is scored — and to figure out if guessing is really a good strategy if you don't know the reply. If you will be taking a examination that doesn't penalize for wrong answers, though, there shouldn't be an unanswered question on your test sheet. Maybe you'll become lucky.

4. Don't go overboard on the studying

I would never advocate walking into a test without having studied at all, but that doesn't mean you lot demand to spend every waking hr studying. Fifty-fifty on bar exams, there are definite limits to the questions that volition be on the exam. In that location should be limits on how much you lot study, every bit well. In theory, yous should take learned most of what you need to know for whatsoever given exam in the class or grade of study (similar police force school) proceeding it. Preparing for a test shouldn't exist a case of actually learning material — it should be more of a matter of reviewing it. That is an ideal scenario, of course. You may need to report quite a bit — but y'all should still spread it out. Cramming all of your studying into the few nights earlier the test is a sure way to let the exam beat out you.

five. Remember about taking the examination subsequently

There is not a single standardized test that there is admittedly no chance of retaking. Sure, in that location is typically a high cost associated with retaking it, merely information technology's important to remember that taking the test once more is an option. I taught SAT examination prep in college and I had i student who kept getting entirely freaked out by even the thought of sitting downwardly to take the test. What finally got her to the table was the idea that she actually could take the test as many times as she had to. Her parents didn't particularly similar the idea of paying for multiple tests, but they told her that if she struggled the first fourth dimension, they'd pay for a 2d try without question. Eliminating the high-stakes can practice wonders for the stress that normally distracts test-takers. Recall most it: even if you had to expect a yr or ii to put the coin together for a second shot, yous'd yet have the selection to exercise so.

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Source: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/5-tips-to-beat-a-standardized-test.html

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