Photo: buzzle.com

As a high school junior, you’re probably starting to think about studying for the SAT or ACT. Check out these eight steps you can take to get yourself pumped and prepared for your big exam!

Give Yourself Six Weeks

When it comes to standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, many find that six weeks is a good amount of time to really buckle down and start preparing. It’s enough time to really get the hang of what you’re doing, but not such a long time that you begin forgetting things. This doesn’t mean you can’t familiarize yourself with words or problems in the meantime.

Familiarize Yourself with the Test

You don’t want to study all vocabulary and algebra for the SAT, only to find out later there’s geometry as well. Similarly, you don’t want to spend too much time studying trigonometry for the ACT and completely forget there’s a reading portion. Know exactly what’s on the test, how long it takes, and what format it’s in.

Consider a Class

Taking an SAT or ACT prep course can be one of the best things you can do for your score. Even if it’s just a three hour review class offered on a Saturday, you might want to think about grabbing some of your buddies and attending!

Find Your Best Study Method

There are dozens of materials you can use to prep for these kinds of tests on your own, and it all depends on what works best for you. Review books can be bought at book stores, flash cards can be made, and online sites can offer practice problems, explanations, and advice for the big day. Try learning from multiple sources.

Baby Steps

While you may find it helpful to take a practice test at the very beginning, just to give yourself an idea of where you are without any studying at all, you probably don’t want to start with a bunch of these the first week. Instead, spend an hour each night reviewing the material and completing problems related to that material.

Review As You Go

As you begin your second and third weeks studying for the SAT or ACT, you may want to begin adding things back in that you brushed up on your first week. Keep familiarizing yourself with what you have studied, weeks after you studied it, so you can retain everything that you’re learning!

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Unfortunately, just reading a list of vocabulary words and their definitions, or material on how to do an algebra problem will not be very helpful when it comes to test day. You will have to actually do practice problems. Get as much practice as you can and take practice tests from start to finish.

Know What You Need Test Day

Before going to take your exam, make sure you know when the exam starts, what to bring, and what rules to follow, as forgetting something simple like your school ID could prevent you from taking the test.

Image: www.actstudent.org

The ACT (American College Testing), is a test you can take in addition to, or sometimes in place of, the SAT depending on the college to which you are applying. In some ways, it is like the SAT, but in other ways, it’s completely different, so students who struggle with one might perform better on the other.

The Difference Between the SAT and the ACT

The SAT is made up of English, math, and writing sections, while the ACT contains English, math, reading, science, and an optional writing section. These additional categories provide an opportunity for students who aren’t as strong with vocabulary and algebra to still score well!

SAT questions are designed to be a little tricky and confusing, while ACT questions tend to be more straightforward. For this reason, the SAT allows more time for each question than the ACT. This means that students who tend to get bogged down and behind with wording might have an easier time with the ACT.

On the SAT, wrong answers convert to points scored against you. On the ACT, wrong answers don’t count as anything, which means you can guess all you want on the ACT without taking any penalty for it. Many ACT test takers like the comfort of knowing they will not be penalized for guesses. That alone can really take the stress level down a notch!

The SAT tends to focus more on algebra and geometry whereas the ACT has some of that, as well as trigonometry. Students who sometimes do poor on the SAT because of the algebra tend to be better at the geometry and trig offered on the ACT.

The SAT costs $50 while the ACT (minus the writing portion) costs $35. If you want to include the writing portion, the cost ends up being about the same as the SAT, so you’re not spending anything more to take the ACT.

The ACT is offered six times a year (September, October, December, February, April, and June) in the US. Like the SAT, there are web sites, practice tests, and review books, all designed to help you do your best. You can also retake the test more than once to work to attain the highest score possible. Registration can be done online.

If you’re unhappy with the results of your SAT score, or if you just want to try your hand at a different kind of exam, taking the ACT might just be worth a shot! With standardized testing, particularly the SAT, being under criticism for not being a true reflection of student knowledge, the ACT is believed to be better at creating a snapshot of what it is you’ve really learned in school and how prepared you are for college-level learning.

Source: http://www.actstudent.org/

Today’s question:

A new study shows that 28% of students didn’t score high enough to meet any of the ACT standards for expected college success.

How well can a standardized test predict college success? Do schools need to improve or do the tests need to change?

Leave your answer in the comments below or tweet at  @Cappex to chime in (we’ll post your answer below)!