#testblr

4/100 day of productivity 🐣

Today i studied 9.5 hours.as my test exam is going on and i have ICT exam today i pulled an all nighter💪. I have completed ;-chapter 5( programming),-chapter 3 -chapter 4✨

it’s finally happened, you’ve hit rock bottom. your worst fear has come true

the decision is out: “we regret to inform you” and everything else is a blur. your world: shattered. ever know what it feels like to have your world shattered?

breathing? gone. sense of awareness? gone. one full, fledged, panic state. evething you have ever thought of, every single ounce of hope pent up in the last 6 months are useless. it ends here. what you thought were your dreams, ended here. your cheeks turn red, your feet turn cold, you can’t hear anything around you. the people there for you are trying to say things, are trying to hug you, all you see is gray pain. just... pain.

you question if you’re good enough for anything you want in this life. leaving your fate in the hands of the more powerful while you sit there for months drowning in what seems to be your optimism. i’m sorry, it’s the only thing that gets me to sleep at night, the only thing that keeps me grounded. cover your face and duck down because the uncertainty of getting accepted is too great.

there aren’t enough stories about anxiety and persevering, there aren’t enough “my family has been in poverties”, there aren’t enough “i couldn’t afford an SAT tutors” “here’s why i got this grade please reconsiders” there aren’t enough sad stories to tack onto your back for everyone to see to at least get deferred? God forbid accepted? at the end of the day you wonder if anyone knows or wonders you’re good enough? how is the institution you’ve been pouring your heart into for the past 4 years telling you you’re not good enough for them and you’re still supposed to think you’re good enough for yourself?

i’m not sure if you’ve ever felt this kind of pain before but i just know one day it’s all going to subside. pain doesn’t go away: it numbs overtime but the question is how long do i have to wait until it does?

one day we’re gonna be okay. one day we’ll go to college in the fall and realize “maybe i belong here instead” you’re not going to have the biggest name brand of the century, you’re not going to have internships pouring at your door, your school will not be on the news, people will not be asking you for future connections from all kinds of countries, maybe your school doesn’t have as many resources, maybe the president’s kid didn’t go to your school, maybe your teacher doesn’t have a ph.d, maybe your school isn’t ranked top 5!! MAYBE it doesn’t matter? life is only miserable when you ignore every other factor besides the unrealistic expectations you’ve set for yourself.

maybe you have to work harder for what you want in life: and i’m talking big picture. maybe life turned out that way because life knew you could handle it.

you’re gonna be okay. i can’t promise you’ll be great, i can’t promise it’ll be easy. but you’ve made it this far and that means you can keep going, one step at a time ✨

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ABOUT SAT SUBJECT TESTS

The SAT Subject Tests are one-hour exams that test students’ knowledge of a specific area. The College Board currently offers 20 different SAT Subject Tests.

Most colleges and universities will consider students’ SAT Subject Test scores when making admission decisions or when placing students in college courses. Many selective colleges and specific degree programs may also recommend or even require certain SAT Subject Tests for admission. If you have a specific college or program you’re interested in, be sure to determine its specific requirements regarding SAT Subject Tests.

Students may take up to three SAT Subject Tests on any given test date, but are not allowed to take SAT Subject Tests on the same date as the regular SAT.

ABOUT ELITE SAT SUBJECT TEST PREP

Submitting a great score on one or more SAT Subject Tests is a terrific way to showcase your abilities in a particular subject and add to the quality of your college applications. SAT Subject Tests can also demonstrate your specialized interest in a specific program or major, making you a more attractive candidate for admission.

Our expert teachers know the material covered by SAT Subject Tests inside and out. Get the knowledge and test-taking strategies you need to achieve stellar SAT Subject scores and impress even the most selective colleges and universities.

READY TO RAISE YOUR SAT SUBJECT TEST SCORES?

We offer a variety of SAT Subject Test prep classes to fit your timeline, budget, and goals.

“How can I improve my speed on the SAT/ACT?” is one of the most frequently asked questions I hear from students. It’s a tricky question to answer without knowing specifically how a student approaches test-taking because we all read and calculate at different rates. However, there are general strategies anyone can use to improve performance speed on test day.

Tips for Pacing Yourself on Standardized Tests

1. Take multiple timed practice tests

When preparing for any standardized test, you must familiarize yourself with the directions and the timing. Knowing the ins and outs ahead of time will allow you to get a feel for how you perform under the time limit on each section. Once you are familiar with the timing, you can map out your individualized strategy for tackling the questions.

2. Know when to move on to the next question

Since the clock is always ticking during a standardized test, maintaining a steady pace is one of your best bets to finish on time. Try not to get hung up on any single question for too long. Circle any questions you get stuck on and return to them after attempting all the others. Remember, each question is worth the same amount of points, so your goal is to get as many of them correct as possible.

3. Bubble answers on your scantron after each page

Bubbling your scantron after every single question is time-inefficient. Instead, transfer your answers to your scantron after each page or in groups of five. This requires practice; you want to avoid trying out a technique for the first time on the real test.

4. Use the process of elimination to make educated guesses

Since there are no penalties for incorrect answers on the SAT or ACT, you should never leave any question blank. Use the process of elimination to narrow your answer choices down to two or three and then select among the remaining choices.

5. Modify your pace per section

Each section of the SAT and ACT has a specific number of questions and a distinct time limit, so you can’t expect to utilize the same pacing from section to section. Depending on the allotted time and your particular academic strengths, tailor your pacing accordingly.

Section-Specific Pacing Strategies

Reading/Science

If you have taken practice tests, you should know which passages are easier for you to tackle. Flip through the passages before beginning and start off on the right note, by beginning with one that feels accessible to you. Also, take brief margin notes as you read to reduce the amount of time you may need to reread portions of the passage.

Writing

Unlike the reading section, you don’t need to read the entire passage first. Answering each question as you encounter it in the passage is often the most efficient approach. Brevity is often preferred on the correct answers to grammar questions, so be on the lookout for wordy and/or awkwardly phrased answers.

Math

Math questions occur in order of difficulty, so spend less time on the questions at the beginning of the section. Certain concepts may come to you more naturally than others, so use your level of mastery to strategize effectively throughout this section. Save any difficult or time-consuming questions until the end.

Essay

Outline your thesis and main points before you begin writing. Doing so will help you stick to a coherent structure and give you a sense of direction as you write. Try not to get hung up on the introduction and conclusion. Instead, invest in your body paragraphs with supporting evidence and original insight.  

Pacing on standardized tests is critical to your individual success and overall score. I often stress the importance of both speed and accuracy when preparing for a standardized test. Developing a feel for how long each section takes you is one of the first hurdles you need to clear on the journey to reaching your ideal score. Practice with a stopwatch or lap timer to truly hone in on how long certain questions and sections take you to finish, and make a conscious effort to improve your speed by recognizing patterns on the test. Streamlining your test-taking process will contribute to your overall pace, so use the tips and strategies mentioned here to find your method of completing the test in an efficient manner.

Hi! Thank you so much!! 

After I took my first ACT the April of my junior year I knew that I needed help, mostly in the math department, but also in just finding out tricks, so I got a tutor to help me, typically once a week. It was nice because where I live tutoring is soo expensive but he lived in a different state so he just charged me what it was there and we did our sessions over Skype. I know this is not possible for many people, so I’ll try to share as much as I can remember that he taught me! I also got the Princeton’s ACT book, but found that I couldn’t concentrate and didn’t even end up getting past the English section. If self study works for you, that’s a great option! Make a study plan and just really stick to it. In conjunction to this, you can do practice tests. I didn’t take tons of practice tests, but I did take a few were nice place markers as to how I was doing. My tutor usually gave me single tests for each section, but if you are looking to take practice tests, I highly recommend the ACT’s real test prep something or rather. It’s the only practice test material given by the ACT, so it’s most accurate as to what the ACT will be like. I didn’t do this, but you can take practice tests every/every other Saturday morning to get used to it, but make sure you use these practice tests wisely!! Simply taking practice tests and making the same mistakes over and over won’t help you at all. Go over these problems either in the book or a math/english teacher, etc. It is really important to practice the timing of the test. It’s a super duper fast test in terms of time to question ratio. The more you practice the timing, the better you will do and the more confident you will feel when you sit down to take it. Do the ACT question a day on your computer, talk to your college counselors if you really need extra help, and even study with friends! That’s about it for the resources I used. 

As for advice, I have some for each subject and then in general.

-English: the correct answer is almost always the shortest answer. This is so important!!!! You have 45 minutes to answer 75 questions, so you need to go fast. So, look through the answer to find the shortest, and if it is grammatically correct (this is obviously the most important), then I can assure it is is probably correct. It is important to read the things in between questions as it can give you context, especially if they’re asking for placement of sentences or paragraphs. It helps to put the answers into the sentence, as your ear can almost always hear mistakes. Also, again with the shortest answers, learn comma and punctuation rules. I didn’t really memorize these, but I always thought you needed a lot of commas; this isn’t the case as commas count as extras when you’re thinking about the shortest answer. Practice with the timing and you’ll be golden!

-Math: This was my toughest section simply because of how I had been taught math, so I can’t give you a ton of advice here. Try your best to get to the first 45 with most of them correct, that will leave you with at least a 25-27, depending on the curve that year. Practice a lot, especially with timing and the skills you need in the test. 

-Reading: Timing is critical on this, as you have 40 minutes to read all of the passages and answer 35 questions. My biggest tip, and something my tutor repeated over and over, is 1 4 3 2. This is the order in which you should do the sections. The first is always the easiest, and the second is always the hardest. Make sure that you don’t misbuble when you do this! It really comes down to practicing with the timing. I also found it helpful to underline the first and last sentences of a paragraph, write something about what might be in that paragraph, and then skim the inside of the paragraph. If you spend your time carefully reading every sentence, you’ll be lucky to get to the third section. If you find yourself with 5 minutes left and you have one section left, try to answer questions anyway!! I did this and I know it got me at least a few points. Look for questions that talk about words, meanings, etc. instead of the general meaning or goal of the passage- these are much easier to locate and guess than trying to speed read and trying to answer questions in a minute. It could be helpful to read over the questions before you read the section, but I didn’t do this as I thought it just wasted time for me. Also, everything is usually in order in terms of where things are in the passage and the order of the questions. Practice timing!!!

-Science: Everything is on the page. I repeat, all of the answers are ON THE PAGE (mostly. Last time there was a question about nucleotides/proteins/amino acids… that wasn’t on the page and it was weird). But! This is so true, I can’t even tell you how much. PLEASE don’t bother reading over the descriptions of the experiments, the graphs, and then going to the questions. Start right on question #1 and look to where they’re talking about. There might be a few questions about things they mention in the writing, especially the one section without any graphs, but I can guarantee you a majority of the answers are right in front of you, it’s all about analyzing and looking for what they are asking. I think the science section can either be really good or trip people up, so get yourself accustomed to answering the questions by practicing! Also, things are typically in order in this section as well (with the information vs. the questions). 

-Essay: I didn’t prepare for this at all really, I kind of just went in there and did it. If I have any tips (my highest score was a 9/12 on the old essay) is to give examples of “real life” (you can totally lie and make things up, they don’t know you!) stories and relate them back to your answer. Always have a thesis and even if you have to make your essay shorter because of time, OUTLINE what you are going to say. You can stick things in after because you thought of another point, so know what you’re going to say before you start writing. You can always practice this as well, there are tons of prompts online. Also with the new essay, they give you 3 points of view, so make sure you use them all in your essay (as seen in X, we can assume from Y, etc.)

General tips: Every time I took the test, I brought a plastic bag with me for my stuff instead of a purse. This way you can see clearly everything that is in your bag and so can your proctor. I only took my phone that last two times I took it because I needed it, but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you do not bring your phone. I have heard horror stories of people’s alarms going off, them hitting snooze, and then it going off again in another 8 minutes- disaster. I can’t even imagine. So if you do, make sure it is turned off all the way. But once you turn it off (allll the way), don’t turn it back on and turn it off again. Turn it off once, check, and that’s that. As for what to bring: YOUR TICKET is the most important thing in the whole world, and then next to that is your ID. If those are the only two things you have, you’re ok. But obviously you’re prepared so I’d say to bring: a graphing calculator, pencils, eraser, pencil sharpener, water and healthy snack, and a little sack with some money and whatever else you’d need just in case. Make sure you fill in every single bubble, even if you’re guessing. The ACT does not take points away for incorrect answers like the SAT, so pick a letter (A/E, B/F, etc.) and use that to fill in your guesses, that way statistically you will have a chance of getting some right. If you can, narrow it down to 2 answers and guess. ALWAYS GUESS! Don’t psyche yourself out the day before the test, and take a break the night or few days before. Studying will not help you then. What you know is what you know, and you might as well be well rested (make sure you get lots of sleep the week before the test). Don’t be terrified!! You’re going to do great, and if you don’t, you can take it again. 

In March 2016, the College Board will switch to a new, redesigned version of the SAT in an effort to more closely align the test with the knowledge and skills that are essential for college and career readiness. Here's what you can expect to see on the updated exam:

Scoring & Other Major Changes

The SAT is now divided into four tests: Reading, Writing and Language, Math, and the optional Essay.

Composite scores are derived from results on the Reading, Writing and Language, and Math Tests.

The maximum composite score is 1600 instead of 2400.

The total length of the SAT is 3 hours and 50 minutes – or 3 hours without the optional essay.

There is no deduction for incorrect answers.

Multiple-choice questions now have 4 answer choices each instead of 5.

Essay

The Essay is now optional, though some colleges and universities will require it.

You will not be asked to write about your personal experience or share your opinions about a specific issue.

Instead of making a persuasive argument yourself, you will be asked to analyze a source document and the techniques its author uses to persuade readers.

You will receive essay scores in three different categories: Reading, Analysis, and Writing.

The time allotted for the Essay is now 50 minutes instead of 25 minutes.

Essay scores will be reported separately from the composite score.

Reading

All questions on the Reading Test are multiple-choice and based on passages including U.S. founding documents, important speeches and writings from around the world, and texts from science and literature.

All "fill-in-the-blank" sentence-completion questions have been eliminated.

Some reading passages will be accompanied by informational graphics and charts.

Vocabulary-in-context questions focus on common words and phrases.

Writing and Language

All questions on the Writing and Language Test are multiple-choice and based on passages.

Stand-alone sentences testing grammar have been eliminated.

You will be asked to correct grammatical errors, create smooth transitions, order passages logically, and create consistent tone.

Math

Higher-level math including trigonometry and pre-calculus will be included.

Some questions will test your ability to solve math problems in real-world contexts, such as science and social studies.