Tutor Yourself #4: The Basic Strategies (or What You Might Get in a Test Prep Class)
Many test prep classes are the same: students sit in a room that smells a little bit like sweaty socks, a 22-year old recent Ivy League graduate stands at the front of a classroom, and not a whole lot of information is exchanged.
I’m not going to claim that these classes are a waste of your time; they’re not. You can learn basic strategies and practice taking proctored tests. However, most of the information taught in these classes can be found in much less expensive books and even for free on websites (like this one).
I’m not going to claim that all test prep classes are like this; they’re not. There are test prep experts out there who have developed strategies over years and decades of practice, that will help you perform their best. If you can find a class like that, take it.
I am going to share the basic strategies you will find in most of the basic test prep classes. These are the strategies that can get most kids a score boost of a couple hundred points. These are not strategies tailored to an individual student. This is not content for students who are missing a couple of high school math courses. These are also not strategies that will get a 1450 to a 1550. If you want those, talk to an expert one-on-one or spend a few years studying the ins and outs of one or both tests.
While I don’t claim to be the expert, I am an expert, and my expertise is based on 15 years of studying the tests, teaching classes for several different companies, tutoring many students, studying education at the masters and doctoral level, and collaborating with dozens of other test prep professionals.
General Test-taking Strategies
Stay focused. Do whatever it takes to maintain focus the entire time, whether it’s popping in a new piece of gum every 8.5 minutes or spending breaks running up and down the hallway screaming (always follow test center rules). Learn what it looks like or feels like when focus is slipping away and practice snapping back.
Be confident. When they run out of math, English, reading, or science tricks, they try to trip you up by intimidation. They’ll throw out some big words, incredibly boring passages, and weird math symbols. Take a deep breath. Break it down. Outsmart the test. If it helps, take a few seconds to look around the room and enjoy how nervous everyone else is.
Guess. Never leave an answer blank. Always guess. If possible, eliminate some answer choices that are obviously wrong (such as the negative number answer choices, or the answer choices referring to the wrong paragraph) and guess from what’s left. The big ol’ test grading machine doesn’t care whether it was a guess or a carefully thought out choice. (I could explain which guesses are more likely to be correct on different sections of each test, but that’s a discussion for another day.)
Learn patterns. The ACT and SAT tend to use the same types of wrong answers. In math, the wrong answers might assume you have made an obvious error or fallen for an obvious trap. In English, the wrong answers assume you didn’t notice the subject was hidden all the way at the beginning of the sentence. In Reading, there is often an answer that is absolutely perfect except for one wrong word. Wrong answers are often wrong by being too narrow or too broad in scope. Once you learn to recognize the common types of wrong answer choices, it’s easier to narrow down the correct ones.
Time management. Take the total time and divide by the number of questions or passages. That will tell you about how much time to spend on each question or passage. It won’t be exact, and it won’t be the same for every question, but you should have a rough idea of where you should be at the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 time points.
Reading Strategies
Read then answer. Some classes recommend reading then answering. Some recommend looking at the questions then reading. Some recommend reading a bit, answering a bit, and repeat. I say read then answer. Neither the SAT nor the ACT is especially creative. Questions generally follow the same pattern passage after passage, test after test. Take a bit of time to learn about the common question types (What is this passage/paragraph about? What does this word mean in context? What was the author’s purpose of using this paragraph/line/word? Etc.) and there won’t be any surprises. There’s no need to check the questions first.
Actively read. Whether it’s taking notes in the margins or just having a silent running monologue during the test, keep that brain working. Save time, maintain focus, and predict questions by thinking about: What is this passage/paragraph about? What is the author’s purpose? This word looks strange here; what does it mean in this context?
Learn to settle. The right answer is often less than perfect. After eliminating the answer choices that are definitely wrong, the one remaining answer is correct. It will often be awkward, use a strange word, or just be mediocre. Learn to deal with it.
English/Writing and Language Strategies
Learn common error types. They’re not creative, yet again. Know which error types are most likely to appear: subject-verb agreement, verb tense agreement, pronoun errors, etc. Learn the tricks that are most likely to appear, such as throwing a modifier in between the subject and verb.
Trust your gut. You have been studying the English language for years. Every book, every TV show, every Tik Tok video. If something sounds wrong, it probably is.
Don’t be afraid of NO CHANGE. Although it is hard to commit to “NO CHANGE”, it is the correct answer about 25% of the time.
Math Strategies
Learn common question types (and how to solve them). There are so many ways to ask questions about triangles, so look for triangles. Figure out what key words tell you to set up a ratio or a percent problem. Don’t worry about the odd question type that only appears occasionally unless you’re going for that 36.
Read carefully. They like to trick you. Is the question asking you to solve for x or y? Even if you solved for x, you may need to solve for y, or 2x, or x + 2, to get the final answer.
Plug and chug. Sometimes, it’s faster to plug each answer choice into the equation than it is to solve with algebra. There are no style points here.
Learn your limit. If you’re getting the last 5 questions wrong every single time, spend a little more time on the first 55. The questions get harder as the section goes on, so spend more time on the ones that you’re more likely to get correct. Figure out where your sweet spot is.
ACT Science Strategies
Practice reading. Many questions are testing reading comprehension, but it’s reading with particularly long and cumbersome words. Get comfortable defining and then using those big words without getting intimidated.
Practice graphing. Many questions are testing your ability to read tables, graphs, and figures. Make sure you know how to find a point, how to read column headings, and how to extrapolate the next point on a graph.
Review the basics. Almost all science content that can help you on this section is stuff you learned in middle school. Review the basics: Scientific Method, organelles, free body diagrams. etc.
Optional Essay Strategies
Write an essay. Write one essay and learn how to apply it to almost every single essay prompt that shows up.
Is that everything I know about the SAT and ACT? Not even close. However, it is a large portion of what you would learn from many test prep classes. Hopefully, this can give you a good start on your test prep journey.