This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Five Things You Should Know About Standardized Tests

By Julie Tschirhart
Marketing Associate, Wow Writing Workshop

College acceptances are in, and for high school seniors the application process is winding down. Juniors, it’s time to get started!

As the final SAT and ACT test dates of the school year approach, we wanted to share highlights from our recent webinar on test prep featuring Miro Kazakoff, an MIT lecturer and CEO/Founder of Testive, a company that combines online and one-on-one test prep. To figure out what each student needs, Testive developed a cutting-edge algorithm that quickly isolates test-taking weaknesses.

Find out what's happening in Mill Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This guy knows his stuff; Kazakoff takes the SAT every year, and he finds it exciting. We aren’t expecting that you will be as excited as he is to take one of these four-hour standardized tests, but knowing how to prepare for them can at least help you feel more calm come test day.

Here are a 5 things Kazakoff thinks you should know about standardized tests:

Find out what's happening in Mill Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

1. Tests are important! Standardized tests like the SAT and ACT allow students from different high schools to be compared to one another. It is the one metric that is the same for all students, no matter where they went to school or what country or state they may be from.

2. Studying helps! According to Kazakoff’s research, 100 is the golden number of hours students should study to reach their full potential score. Not everyone is capable of scoring a 36 on the ACT or a perfect score on the SAT. But everyone can improve their score by studying in a smart way and for an adequate amount of time. Plan to allocate time for regular test prep two to four months before the exam you plan to take.

Study smart, and you won’t look like this kid on test day.

3. Study smart! There is a smart way to study that maximizes the time you spend preparing. Many students have a tendency to slog through multiple practice exams without stopping to reflect on why they got the questions they missed wrong. Understanding why you missed a question is key to improving your score. Spend time on the areas where you are weakest, and don’t waste it on the questions you are already skilled at solving.

4. Don’t break from routine on test day! If you aren’t a person who eats breakfast, then yes, you might want to have a little something on the morning of the test, but don’t overdo it. If you are a person who chugs a Red Bull every morning, you should do the same on test day, but if you don’t normally consume that much caffeine, don’t start on the morning of the big test.

5. The new SAT will not be easier! The redesigned SAT will be more closely aligned with high school curricula. That means that what you do inside your classroom should better help prepare you for the test. The test will still be challenging. You’ll still want to take time to prepare for the exam by becoming familiar with the format and the types of questions being asked.

Click here to listen to Wow’s full webinar featuring Miro Kazakoff: Get Ready! Get Set! Get In! Making the Most of Standardized Tests. And register for our next webinar, How to Pay for College Without Going Broke, scheduled for Thursday, June 3 at 9 p.m. EDT.  Stay tuned to Wow’s newsletter to find out how you can become a FREE member of WowWritingWorkshop.com, and learn how to write your way into college!


We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?