The College Board does not reveal the secrets of doing well on the PSAT or SAT with your test registration materials. To do well on these standardized exams, you need to be a good test-taker and study the 10 tips below. The PSAT and SAT are different from the tests you take throughout high school. In the world of standardized tests, you get no extra credit for spending time on a difficult question, and there is no partial credit for getting an answer right. To get a high score, you need to do more than just hone your math and verbal skills. You need to make good strategic choices as you work through the test. Here are 10 tips proven to help you maximize your score: 1. Know the test format. Test-makers go to great lengths to make sure that every PSAT and SAT contain similar question types and math and verbal skills. Take advantage of this by practicing the questions that appear on several tests. 2. Learn the directions. You need every second during the test to answer questions and get points. Don’t waste time reading the directions on test day. Instead, pick up a student guide and familiarize yourself with the rules before the big day. 3. Predict the answer. The surest way to avoid falling for traps on test day is to predict an answer before you look at the choices. For example, if you’re doing a sentence-completion question on the SAT, don’t just start plugging in the answer choices. Instead, read the sentence, predict the missing word and scan the answer choices to see what fits. 4. Use the order of difficulty. On the PSAT and SAT, all math, analogy and sentence-completion questions are arranged in order of difficulty. The questions get harder as you progress through the test. Plot your strategy for each section. For example, consider spending extra time on early questions to make sure you get the easier points. 5. Skip around. On the SAT and PSAT, you are allowed to skip questions, answering them in any order that appeals to you. If you find you’re getting stuck on a particular question, skip it. You can always return to it later if you have time. Answer the easiest questions first, then tackle the tougher ones. 6. Pace yourself. The SAT and PSAT ask a lot of questions in a short period of time. To get through a whole section, you must not spend too much time on any one question. Get used to the pressure by practicing under timed conditions. Keep a brisk pace throughout the test. Also, remember to wear a watch on test day. If you find yourself running out of time, look for questions you can answer quickly, in order to get the most points. 7. Guess. Test-takers often talk about a “guessing penalty” on the SAT. This is a misnomer; it’s really a “wrong-answer penalty.” Guess wrong on a question and you lose only a quarter of a point. Guess right and you gain a whole point. Whenever you can definitely eliminate one or more answers, you’ll turn your odds of success to your favor, and come out ahead by guessing. 8. Be careful with the answer grid. Be careful when you’re filling in your answers. Even if you know the answer to every question on the PSAT and SAT, your score will be low if you fill out the answer grid incorrectly. One time-proven strategy is to first circle the answer in the booklet. Then, transfer those answers to the answer sheet in groups of five or more. 9. Use the process of elimination. Use the process of elimination if you get stuck. Rule out any obviously wrong answers and guess from the remaining choices. On the math section, you can often eliminate answer choices that are too large or too small. On the sentence-completion section, you can rule out words that don’t fit the blank. Even on the critical reading part, you can often cross off answers that sound too extreme or too broad to be correct. 10. Stress does no good. Try to relax. Don’t cram the night before the exam. Get a good night of sleep, and eat a good breakfast before the test.
