The Path to High Scores: Unlocking Your Potential in Standardized Test Prep
- celmirashaikh
- Aug 29, 2023
- 3 min read
There is no shortage of standardized exams that are required by universities, and students almost always sit for at least one standardized exam before graduating. But what are standardized tests? And how can we attain a high grade?
Standardized tests are batches of exams that focus on testing specific topics or skills with the
format of the exam and its contents being consistent for all its takers (hence the name). We, as students, can recognize many of them by name - such as the SAT, the AP exams, or the IGCSE.
I have done most of my standardized tests during my senior year and late junior year of high
school. For all the tests, I have prepared by following a simple schedule, which was to learn and review content from guidebooks, solve past papers, and use outside help (more on all of this in a bit!). I have managed to score at least 80th percentile scores on all my tests.
The process of attaining a high grade on standardized exams is very, well, standard. Students who take the SAT prepare for it the same way students taking the A levels would prepare for them, and that is because these exams test the students on specific skills that are provided by the exam organizers. So no matter what your upcoming exam is, you may benefit well from a few Tips & Tricks that many students have used to score a high grade:
Table of Contents:
Review all the skills covered in the exam a few weeks before the test.
Search the Internet for past papers.
Use all the help you can get
1. Review all the skills covered in the exam a few weeks before the test.
You should begin by reviewing all the contents of the exam using review books or courses that are made for it. When I had my AP Psychology exam in my senior year, I purchased a 300-page Princeton review book from Amazon months before the exam, which covered all the topics and contents that I needed. I finished reviewing the final topic around 2 weeks before the test date, and proudly scored an equivalent for an A*, at the 80th percentile for the exam.
Along with reviewing, it is okay to learn a topic from zero as well, but just always make sure you finish all the contents a while before the test date, you definitely do not want to sit for the exam with missing skills, and of course, make sure to remain consistent and committed to whichever book/course that you are using to review the contents of the exam.
2. Search the Internet for past papers.
Past papers are previous versions of exams that are now published on the Internet for all
students to benefit from. Solving even a few questions from the past papers - not all - can be
very beneficial because you need to know exactly what you are going for: the questions, the time, the overall style of the exam, et cetera. You can only know these well when you solve
past paper questions.
For most standardized tests, past papers come out every year (for example, there would be a past paper from a 2018 exam and a paper from a 2012 exam), make sure you choose the most recent papers to solve out of all the past papers you find. After reviewing all the contents of the exam, you may begin solving full-length timed past papers. You should begin doing this, as this will help you understand your level of mastery of the content.
Before sitting for my AP Psychology exam, I made sure that I understood the exact formatting of the test, as well as the time I would be given, and what kind of questions I would be asked. Before the exam, I had solved hundreds of multiple-choice questions from past papers and completed 3 full-length papers, and that was enough for me to understand exactly what I was going for.
3. Use all the help you can get.
The simplest tip anyone could give you, yet the most effective. If you find yourself struggling
With time, struggling with a question or struggling with a topic, USE EVERYTHING AT YOUR DISPOSAL
Ask a teacher, Google the solutions, and use your classmates' help. The entire idea behind it is to do everything possible for a higher grade!
As you navigate this landscape of exams, always remember that while the tests themselves may be uniform, your approach can be uniquely strategic. So, stand confident, armed with these proven tips and tricks, and embark on your journey to achieve those coveted high grades.
Till next time,
Malek
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