SAT Test Tips for Anxiety
Preparation and practice are the keys to overcoming SAT
anxiety. (Are we beginning to sound like a broken record yet?)
Preparation will familiarize you with
what you'll face on test day, and build your confidence in
your ability to use test-taking strategies. Practice tests
that use actual questions from previous SAT exams and that
mimic test room conditions will train you to do your best on
the actual test. Do both these things, and you'll find
there's nothing left to be anxious about on test day.
Knowledge is power
Many students suffer SAT
anxiety because they do not understand what the test is or what it is used for.
Quite simply, the SAT was developed as
a way for colleges to compare all of their applicants
against a common standard. In theory, it allows them to
assess the academic promise of a graduate from a large urban
high school and one from a small country school on an
equitable basis.
The test would not be very meaningful if it were so easy
that most students got a high score on it. It was
deliberately designed to be difficult enough and complex enough that results
could be spread out over a scale. The important thing about your SAT score is
not whether it's better than anyone else's, but that it's high enough to qualify
you for admission to your preferred colleges and universities.
The college
admissions equation
A common misconception
about the SAT is that admissions committees look at your SAT score and ignore
everything else in your college application. In reality, the SAT is only one of
a number of important factors that affect your college candidacy. We do not want to discourage you
from taking the SAT seriously, because it is important to your future. But the fact remains that
a disappointing SAT score does not necessarily mean end of your admission hopes.
Let's say you score below
the lowest quartile for your first-choice college or university. You still may
be
accepted - if you charm the admissions committees with your extracurricular
activities, letters of reference, transcripts, etc.
The bottom line is, take SAT
preparation seriously, and do the best you can on the exam.
But don't let SAT prep distract you from other things (class
performance, extracurricular activities) that can also make
you a strong college candidate.
SAT
grading
Most of
you have become accustomed to a grading scale where getting 90% of the questions
on a test right barely earns you an
"A." SAT scores are completely different. If you get 90% of the SAT questions
right, you will be
staring at a score in the neighborhood of 2160 - which would suggest to most
admissions committees that A plus grades are run of the mill for you.
By contrast, getting just 60%
of the SAT questions correct gives you a score in the vicinity of 1440, which is
still respectable.
Don't start sweating when you
realize that this exam is a bit more difficult than the ones you have seen
before in your classes. And realize that you can still get a very good
score even if you are guessing at far more questions than you ever did on any of
your teacher's tests.
The
testing environment and your proctor
Many
students have told use that they dislike the regimented nature of the SAT. They
were uncomfortable enough with the idea of being told when they could take the
SAT,
where they had to take it, what time they had to show up, etc. Worse, once they
got to the test center they were told where to sit, when to begin, when to end,
when they could visit the restroom (and for how long), and what they could and
could
not do during the test - all by a proctor who could seem pretty snitty.
Unfortunately, there is nothing anyone can do to change
this. We must
accept the fact that the SAT has a quasi-monopoly on college admissions
testing. As for the
proctor, keep in mind that he or she must appear to be authoritative to maintain
control over the testing. They're not unfriendly, they're just doing their job.
Everyone
taking the SAT feels the same discomfort we just described here. Controlling your anxiety
over that discomfort can help improve your test score.
Visualization
and simulation
If, after all your preparation and practice, you still
find yourself concerned about your ability to control your nerves on test
day, you may want to try a powerful technique often used by athletes facing
high-stakes competition -- visualization.
Visualize
yourself taking the test. Develop a picture of how you will work through the problems,
calmly and competently. Picture yourself applying your test taking strategies
and drawing on your knowledge and skills to progress through each section of the
test, confident that you're doing well. As simple as this technique sounds, it has worked
for many SAT students in the past.
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