1.7 SAT Math - Day of Test Tips

Most students, once they reach test day, have studied, have prepped, have done everything they can do, and then shoot themselves in the foot anyway by stressing out over it.  It happens time and time again.  Stress is a KILLER on the SAT.  There is a literal fight-or-flight response our bodies have.  If we start to panic, various glands in the body start firing off hormones that cloud the brain with panic messages.  When we were living in the wild and had to run from a saber-tooth tiger, a panic message that said, "Drop the basket-weaving!  Run!" was a good thing.  When you're taking a timed test to try to get into college, it's not helpful.  There are no saber-toothed tigers in the SAT testing room.

SAT Test Checklist

Stay calm.  If you don't know the answer to a question, you don't know it.  There is nothing you can do when tied to a chair for four hours that will magically make the answer appear.  Calmly skip any difficult questions and calmly return to them later if you have time.  Calmly evaluate any answers you get that aren't options to see what careless mistake you may have made and calmly fix it.  Don't let your adrenal glands start telling you that there are tigers in the room.

Don't cram the night before.  What do marathon runners do the day before a marathon?  They carb up.  They sit around eating spaghetti and go to bed early.  You need to do the same thing.  Well, not all those carbs, but mental carbing.  Vegging, more specifically.  The night before the test, do not do ANY work after about 4 p.m. (no homework, no projects, no SATs allowed, please.)  Watch Twilight or Tranformers or play Sims or flip through a magazine - and make it Glamour, not Newsweek.  Veg out.  Then go to bed early.  The thing is, our brains like to work.  As much fun as a little vegging seems, your brain will wake up early the next day clapping its hands together, going "Okay!  When do we get to go back to doing stuff?"  And that's what you want.  A nice, happy, well-rested active brain that's ready to work.

Get a good night's sleep.  Not just the night before, but two or three days before.  It takes our bodies a few days for sleep to catch up with us, so as hard as it is as a junior or senior in high school to get a full 8 hours a night during the school week, try.  A bad night on Wednesday can hit you on Saturday morning, especially since the test is so early in the day.

Get up at least an hour before you have to be at the test site.  As much as the brain wants to work, it takes a while to kick it into gear, often as long as two hours.  Don't roll out of bed and into the car.  Get up early and get the brain working.  Now is the time to maybe do a couple of math problems or skim over your vocab cards again.  Kick the brain into action so that it's ready to work by the time the test starts, not waking up on Section 3.

Eat breakfast, and bring a snack.  Even if you don't normally eat breakfast, a calorie is energy, and it takes calories to give your brain the energy it needs for such a long test.  Have something healthy that has both protein and fiber - oatmeal with milk, or eggs and whole wheat toast.  You don't want to be stuffed, but you want to stay full enough that you're not distracted by your grumbling stomach by the end.  Bring a healthy snack just in case, an apple or a granola bar.  The breaks aren't long, but they're long enough to shove some food in your face if you're getting weak.  Don't drink coffee or caffeinated soda the day of the test or have anything with tons of sugar - you don't want to peak and crash halfway through.  If you normally have caffeine and are afraid you'll get a headache, have a tiny bit, and that mean's tiny - three or four swallows, not gulps.  Don't drink a lot of water beforehand either - there's nothing more uncomfortable than desperately having to pee while you're trying to take a test.

Use your breaks.  They're short, but use them.  Go to the bathroom if you have to, eat your snack, stretch.  Get off your feet and get some blood into your body.  Don't talk about the test with your friends; it will only psych you out.  Just shake off whatever you've just done and get yourself ready to go on.

Be prepared.  The night before the test, put your calculator, your pencils, your ID, your admission ticket, maybe even your snack in a bag, in the car.  There are lots of stories of kids forgetting one or more of these important items at home, and then having to race back to get it…drama you don't need.  Make sure you've got everything before you go.