Mar 3, 2009 6:30 pm US/Eastern
How Students Can Prepare For This Weekend's SATs
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
High school students across our area are cramming for this weekend's SAT exams. The test lasts nearly four hours. It's a stressful time for teenagers, but there are a few strategies that can help them through it.
Junior Jae Won had this to say about the SATs: "Nightmare, it's crazy." Senior Olesya Malkiyeva recounted, "I was so scared."
That's how most students feel about the test. Then you have Ed Carroll who takes the test several times a year, to teach kids test prep strategies for the Princeton Review.
"One of the biggest mistakes people make is that they will rush to finish," Carroll said.
Carroll noted the questions normally go from easiest to hardest, but students rush through the first part making costly mistakes.
Getting an answer wrong will hurt your score more than skipping the question all together.
Carroll also teaches his students to write all over the test, instead of working things out in their head.
"I circle things, I underline things that make sense on the test, I highlight," Carroll said.
When it comes to the essay, longer is better and clearly answering the question is more important than beautiful creative writing.
On the morning of the test, have a good breakfast and don't do anything strange as far as food or drink.
"I've had too many students tell me that they decided for the first time in their lives to drink a bucket of ice coffee before they go in for the SAT and they wind up getting a caffeine sugar rush, and then they fall asleep half way through the test," Carroll said.
He said chewing gum may actually help your score. "There is some correlation between students who are chewing gum. It allows them to focus gives them for whatever reason a little bit of brain activity, gets some of the nervousness out or allows them to focus and concentrate better on the test."
A common SAT myth is that if you're going to guess, answer "C" is your best bet. That is not true. All answers show up equally.
The test is given seven times a year, and while some students have heard they'll likely score higher on certain days or times of the year, Carroll says when you take the test, makes no difference.
Carroll says the best strategy is a lot of practice, but it does not help to cram the night before.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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