TEST WEEK: Last-Minute Preps for the Week of Your ACT/SAT
This is such a great question and something most of my students are thinking. They have spent weeks or months preparing. But, now it’s test week? And you and your child are probablywondering, what now?
You know there are lingering nerves heading into their test. You (and your student!) are concerned that, if they don’t do some last-minute cramming, they will miss out on some important information.But, how much is too much? And what is the test morning going to look like? What do they need to have with them?
Here are my recommendations…
The biggest thing I do not recommend doing in the days leading up to the test is cramming. It's really tempting to spend your last few days cramming and practicing. Actually, I don't recommend doing that. I find that most students either psych themselves out or get overconfident by doing too much practice ahead of time.
What I recommend is to spend your time:
Reviewing your math formulas
Reviewing your punctuation rules
Reviewing any recent exams or work that you did to remind yourself of the small mistakes that you might have made
Bringing these mistakes to our attention leading up to the exam is really important to make sure that we—as best as possible—not to do it this time.
Resting.
I highly recommend not waiting until the night before your exam to catch up on sleep. I recommend starting on Wednesday or Thursday night before a Saturday exam to catch up on sleep for your exam (or over the weekend for a mid-week exam at your school!)
Why no last-minute cramming?
Let me explain my rationale on this. I don’t think last-minute cramming is helpful. This can include taking a bunch of exams the last week before the exam or cramming in sections or tons of extra practice the last few days. In my experience, this only backfires.
For high-achieving students, if they have a poor performance, it gets in their heads. If they have a strong performance, it can make them overconfident. For students who are struggling a bit more, last-minute cramming, section-taking, or practice exams can leave them feeling disheartened.
Ultimately, the only last-minute cramming I’ve ever seen help is what I listed off above: equations, grammar and punctuation rules, recent exam mistakes, etc. Other than that, looking up stress management techniques is always a good idea!
On Test Day…
At this point, I hope your student has been “prepping” for test day by taking their practice exams as close to the text time as possible. This is really going to be the best way to prepare for test day. Once we hit the week of the exam, there’s nothing else that can be done.
I don’t recommend last minute cramming or waking up really early to take sections, cram rules, etc. Really, your student needs a good night’s sleep and the information included below.
What your student should bring with them to the exam:
Test Center Admission Ticket
ID
#2 Pencils (sharpened with a good eraser)
Calculator (make sure you charge it and double-check the ACT and SAT calculator policy to ensure your calculator is approved)
Bring layers so that you don't get too hot or too cold. Use the same techniques you preferred during your practice exams
So, that’s it. Those are my test week tips for how to prepare for your test.
