Three Tips for Saving Time on Standardized Tests

Finding ways to reduce the time spent on answering questions is an important tool for students as they take SATS, AP exams and other standardized tests.

Standardized tests are an important part of the admissions process for high school students looking to go to a prestigious college. While outside activities, personality and the ability to write a compelling admissions essay are all important factors, the truth is that a score on an SAT diagnostic test or additional credits earned by passing an AP test can be a major factor in determining which students get into the best colleges (or earn the top scholarships).

These types of standardized tests are designed to showcase the overall knowledge and learning abilities that each student has as a way to compare a disparate group of students against each other. However, performing well on standardized tests is a skill which can be learned and honed over time. Most students who ace their SATs and other tests don’t just do so by accident. They have gone to SAT tutors and learned the skills necessary to excel in standardized tests. This includes saving time in answering easy questions so they can devote more time to more complex problems.

Here are a few tips that you can learn from teachers and educators at top tutoring franchises to help you get the highest scores possible in standardized tests and put yourself in the best position possible for advancing to the next stage of your academic career:

Read the Questions First: In subjects like English, social studies and history where reading comprehension is evaluated, this type of SAT and AP test help can be valuable in saving you time during the test. Skipping ahead to read what is being asked can help you to be more selective in your reading of long sections of text. Instead of trying to process useless information, you can simply read what’s relevant to the final question.

Understand Text Structures: In many cases, the types of questions being asked about a section of text will give you clues about which section of text to refer to in order to find the answer. For example, questions which ask about how a problem in the story was resolved are most commonly at the end of the text, so students can look there first for information. Similarly, information about the context of a story (where and when) is often at the start of a story.

Use Estimates: Most standardized tests are multiple choice, meaning that accuracy isn’t as important as being able to know which number from a series of four possible answers is the most likely choice. Being able to quickly “guesstimate” the answer to simple math problems and find the answer that makes sense saves you from having to do the work by hand for every math problem.