Some Last-Minute SAT Tips

If you're taking the SAT on Saturday, here are some last minute tips:

1. Go to bed early, say by 10pm, and do your best to fall asleep. You do not want to take the take test when you're not really awake.

Last year, one of my students was half-asleep until the third section, and from looking at her score sheet, I could actually pinpoint the exact moment she'd woken up. (As a matter of fact, when I saw her score sheet, the first thing I said was, "You were asleep, weren't you?"). She did very well regardless, but had she been awake from the beginning, she would have had a fighting chance at a 2400.

2. Don't study -- or at least don't study a lot -- the night before the test. It'll just stress you out, and you probably won't learn anything you don't already know. Hang out, watch a stupid movie, whatever. Just relax.

3. Eat beforehand, bring snacks, and avoid anything that'll give you a quick sugar rush and then make you crash halfway through (no soda or candy bars!). Try peanut butter toast, bananas, or protein bars.

If you normally drink coffee, have some, but otherwise I wouldn't recommend it. It might make you excessively jittery.

4. Remember your watch and your calculator. Put them somewhere where you absolutely cannot fail to miss them.

5. Don't forget to set your alarm.

6. On Saturday morning, do a couple of practice problems from each section before you go to the test. You need to be in testing mode before you start the test.

7. Allow yourself a second of panic if you see a question you don't know how to do, but then get over it and try to figure out what it's really asking. The SAT rewards those who approach things logically, and you might actually get the question right if you think it through.

 On the other hand, if you truly have no idea, just skip the question and move on.

8. When you write the essay: make sure your intro, body paragraphs, and conclusion are clearly defined; don't use words whose meanings you're not 100% sure of; and leave yourself enough time to actually finish.

9. On the Error-Identification section: if you really don't see an error pick "No error." It actually is the answer sometimes.

10. On Critical Reading: do your best to sum up the main point and the tone (at least in terms of negative/positive) of each passage before you look at the questions. Just knowing those two pieces of information can get you right to the answer on many questions.

But if you have any doubts whatsoever, take the extra thirty seconds, go back to the passage and read from the sentence before to the sentence after the lines you're given. You'll be glad you did.

Oh, and remember to keep breathing. If you have to stop and close your eyes halfway for a ten-second mental break halfway through, go for it. And if you feel yourself flagging, go into the bathroom during a break and do some jumping jacks. That should wake you right back up!