Dos before Attempting Test

Before the test

Most of the students get anxious and confused just before the test. This problem is very much common with the students of all classes. To getrid of this problem the students should take the following steps:

• Make the body relaxed before the test by taking plenty of sleep at night before the test.
• Should have a fully nutrient diet prior to the test.
• Check your I.D., three of four pens & pencils, geometry box, your watch, (and if allowed) a calculator (with freshly installed batteries.)
• Arrive at the test site a little early.

          If you find yourself getting anxious, walk briskly for a few moments to get your heart rate up just a little (this takes the edge off any adrenaline jitters.)
 

For Paper & Pen Test

There is usually a percentage of incorrect answers that are deducted from you total score, so you must be very wise in guessing. Your strategy is to maximize your score in the time permitted, without incurring penalties.
On each section, you will be told how many minutes you have for that section.

• Note what time you start, and figure the time at which you have to complete that section. For example, if you start a section at 8:37 and you have 25 minutes, time will be called at 9:02.
• Now subtract 3 minutes from that time. Write that time down so you will know when you need to stop working problems and start filling in the answer sheet or grid. In our example, that would be 8:59.

As you go through the problems:

• Work in the test book. Use any available blank space for figuring, as needed.
• Circle your answer choice
• Also write the letter of the answer choice next to the problem number.

You will be filling in the answers on the blanks or grid during the last three minutes, so do not put anything on the answer sheet as you are working problems.
Do the problems in three waves:

First wave:

• Do the ones you know how to do and can do quickly.
• Star any problems that you think you know how to do, but will take more time.
• Circle any problems that you don’t know how to do. If it is not a multiple-choice problem, guess. There is no penalty for guessing on these short answer types.

Second wave:

• Return to the problems that you starred. These are the ones that you’re fairly sure you can figure out, but that need more time. Typical of this level of problem would be the ones in which you must try all possible answers to eliminate the incorrect ones.

Third wave:

• Spend what time you have remaining (not including your last three minutes) working on the problems. Up to now, you have maximized your points given the time constraint. On multiple-choice problems, if you can eliminate at least one answer as incorrect, guess. If you cannot eliminate at least one of the choices, it will be better not to guess. If there is no penalty for incorrect responses, then guess freely.

When you have used up all your time but the last three minutes, stop working. Use the last three minutes to fill in your answer sheet, and check it at least once to be sure you have marked the correct response for each problem. You may be able to check them all twice.
The PSAT and SAT usually have the questions roughly in order of difficulty. If you have 30 questions, you can be pretty sure that by number 18 or so, you will not find but a few problems that you can do very quickly and easily. Keep this in mind as you progress through the problems. If there are 30 questions and you find that number 27 is a "snap," you may be jumping to conclusions and/or not really understanding what the problem is asking. Be very wary of "obvious" answers more than half way through the section. It would be better to mark it with a star and come back to it.
Put down your pencil and relax until the next section. You have done your best.
Try these techniques on the following group of problems.