One of the biggest reasons students do poorly on the SAT/ACT is due to poor study strategy: there is a big misconception that studying for the SAT/ACT is similar to studying for any other high school test. On the contrary, it couldn’t be more different.
When preparing for a high school exam, you’re studying days ahead of time (perhaps a week tops). In high school, we memorize information over a short time span, take the test, forget the information we memorized and then repeat the process all over again for the next test. Since this type of short-term studying is all most high school students know, it’s logical that they would use it on the SAT/ACT. However, high school style studying will get you absolutely nowhere when it comes to these standardized tests. There is so much content/strategy on the SAT/ACT that studying a couple days (or even a couple weeks) beforehand won’t help.
It's impossible to cram for the SAT/ACT: You can’t think days ahead. You can’t think weeks ahead. You have to think months ahead… 1-2 months at the very least. Instead of short-term studying, SAT/ACT requires a longer-term approach based primarily on repetition. For instance, studying for the SAT/ACT every single day for 30 minutes per day (3.5 total hours per week) is infinitely more productive than spreading that same 3.5 hours into only 3 days. You need to hit the SAT/ACT every single day. This doesn’t mean skipping two days and then studying for an hour and a half the next day. It doesn’t work like that.
Keep in mind that you can even break up those 30 minutes into smaller sessions (aka-15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon). Bottom line: the more you hit the SAT/ACT the better. Try to keep a consistent schedule for your daily routine:
It’s also important to establish a set time of day and make this daily SAT/ACT prep into a mindless routine. For example, when I first started wearing contacts back in high school, it was hard for me to put them on and take them out for the first week or so. However, each day it became easier and easier and soon it became a routine. I don’t have to think very hard about my contacts anymore: I just take them in and out without even thinking. We do countless mindless routines like this throughout the day: brushing our teeth, taking a shower, etc.. In the same way, make your SAT/ACT prep into a routine as well.
When preparing for a high school exam, you’re studying days ahead of time (perhaps a week tops). In high school, we memorize information over a short time span, take the test, forget the information we memorized and then repeat the process all over again for the next test. Since this type of short-term studying is all most high school students know, it’s logical that they would use it on the SAT/ACT. However, high school style studying will get you absolutely nowhere when it comes to these standardized tests. There is so much content/strategy on the SAT/ACT that studying a couple days (or even a couple weeks) beforehand won’t help.
It's impossible to cram for the SAT/ACT: You can’t think days ahead. You can’t think weeks ahead. You have to think months ahead… 1-2 months at the very least. Instead of short-term studying, SAT/ACT requires a longer-term approach based primarily on repetition. For instance, studying for the SAT/ACT every single day for 30 minutes per day (3.5 total hours per week) is infinitely more productive than spreading that same 3.5 hours into only 3 days. You need to hit the SAT/ACT every single day. This doesn’t mean skipping two days and then studying for an hour and a half the next day. It doesn’t work like that.
Keep in mind that you can even break up those 30 minutes into smaller sessions (aka-15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon). Bottom line: the more you hit the SAT/ACT the better. Try to keep a consistent schedule for your daily routine:
- In the morning before you go to school
- Before classes start if you arrive to school early
- During a free period, lunch or other break
- Right after school before practice/extracurricular activity
It’s also important to establish a set time of day and make this daily SAT/ACT prep into a mindless routine. For example, when I first started wearing contacts back in high school, it was hard for me to put them on and take them out for the first week or so. However, each day it became easier and easier and soon it became a routine. I don’t have to think very hard about my contacts anymore: I just take them in and out without even thinking. We do countless mindless routines like this throughout the day: brushing our teeth, taking a shower, etc.. In the same way, make your SAT/ACT prep into a routine as well.