Photo by Kaydence Wilkinson

With the SAT, ACT, and PSAT around the corner, students like senior Frances Tran purchase workbooks to help them study. When she was studying for the SAT, Tran practiced reading on Monday, writing on Tuesday, math on Wednesday, and when she felt she had studied a topic enough, she moved on.“[In order to study] during the summer, I bought these Panda Books,” Tran said. “You can buy them on Amazon, and you can get them in specified subjects. I thought those were really good for helping you study because they teach you specific types of problems that the SAT is going to have. I also use Khan Academy to do the full practice tests.”

The room is quiet except for the sound of tapping feet and clacking keyboards. Rows of white desks line the area, and everyone has identical expressions of fear. As the students scramble to remember everything they learned, they can’t help but feel unprepared when their minds come up empty. Right as the tension becomes practically unbearable, a woman’s voice pierces the air, “You may now begin,” and the students rush to finish the SAT before their time runs out.

Arriving unprepared for a test such as the ACT, the SAT, or the PSAT will lower a student’s chances of getting their goal score. However, there are several things that can help a student feel and be more prepared for their tests. According to Pre-calculus On Ramps and PSAT Team teacher Pam Martin, one way to be more prepared is to understand how the different tests are evolving in the future. The SAT will be going digital starting in January, and the PSAT is digital now. One of the most important changes this brings is that the math section will be allowing Desmos.

“Learning to do SAT and PSAT Desmos tricks to make you faster is going to be incredibly important,” Martin said. “[Throughout] the whole country [and] the whole world, the kids who figure [out the Desmos tricks] are going to be the kids who have the new high scores.” 

AP Capstone and PSAT Team teacher Lauren Brannan suggests that students do practice problems before they take the test to assess what they know or do not know.

“My advice is to know what your weaker areas are so you can go and really practice those areas,” Brannan said. “I also think that having a mindset that you can do hard things and make it through a hard test or a hard class with the help of your classmates and your teachers [is important]. Try and have a calm attitude or find a calm place within yourself when you’re taking [tests] that can be stressful.”

According to Brannan, it is important not just to prepare mentally, but to prepare physically as well. To avoid unnecessary stress on the morning of a test, students should place their calculator, ID, and charged computer in their bag the night before, Brannan said. She also recommends a healthy diet leading up to the test to have the best chance of doing well. 

“In the morning [before a test], you need to eat breakfast that includes protein,” Brannan said. “Carbs will get you going, [but] protein keeps you going. I also recommend having a snack that you can eat during snack time of the test that [also] includes some sort of protein.”

According to junior Parker Huang, one of the benefits of the digital test is that it lessens students’ concerns when getting multiple letters in a row because there are no scantrons so patterns are less noticeable. If multiple of the same letter is chosen in a row and a student is concerned about it, Huang advises students to not worry. 

“The correct answer is the correct answer; it doesn’t matter which choice it is,” Huang said. “Just don’t worry. Maybe worry if you’re not confident in your answer, but if you are confident in your answer, you shouldn’t worry.”

According to senior Frances Tran, one of the biggest mistakes that students can make when taking tests, especially timed tests, is continuing to work on a question that they can’t figure out. Tran advises students to skip those questions because it causes them to waste their time. 

“If you don’t know, move on,” Tran said. “If you spend thirty minutes on one question, it ruins your chances of getting a good score in the end because you are not going to have time on questions that you already know. So answer [the questions or] skip them.”

A student’s schedule can be hectic and it may be difficult to find time to study for tests. In order to manage her time wisely, Tran has a schedule for when to study. When she was studying for the SAT, She practiced reading on Monday, writing on Tuesday, math on Wednesday, and when she felt she had studied a topic enough, she moved on. Resources that she uses to explore these topics are Panda Books and Khan Academy.

“[In order to study] during the summer, I bought these Panda Books,” Tran said. “You can buy them on Amazon, and you can get them in specified subjects. I thought those were really good for helping you study because they teach you specific types of problems that the SAT is going to have. I also use Khan Academy to do the full practice tests.”

Sophomores and juniors will be taking the PSAT on October 24. All students can register for the SAT through College Board, and students can register for the ACT online at ACT.org.