<p>Ok I know that the majority of you guys, particularly those taking the Nov. SAT, are looking to cram. Not just cram , but build up anxiety, stress, and insomnia from cramming. It’s natural to do something like this because… well we’ve been doing it all our lives, and despite what you read or hear, you’re likely to still do it. I just want to take a moment and try to once again dissuade you, because I have fallen victim to the same trap, but was lucky enough to escape. </p>
<p>Exceptions to this message are 1. you do not know the format of the test and 2. you have not practiced a full test in a month. If these are the cases, simply take 1 or 2 full tests, one sitting, no breaks, no cheating, no music, no anything but the paper and the pencil.</p>
<p>However, if you want to get in that last ten vocab words, or review that minute grammatical discrepancy between which and that, STOP. Take these last days to read, do school work, and get distracted! No, you do not even have to build up sleep, but distract yourself from the imminent SAT. Find something else in your life to focus on and simply look at the SAT as a bad way to spend a Sat. morning. Trust me, the result will surprise you.</p>
<p>i totally agree with TheF (i’m sitll wondering if it really means what i think it does). Cramming worked against me and distraction helped me in two cases.
I took ACT in April, in midst of AP cramming (see everyone needs to cram for APs, which are a different story). with all the school work, i out performed my expectations–with a 36 on reading, which i still cannot attribute to anything but luck. school was over in mid-may in louisiana and i started hardcore cramming for SAT. however, the june SAT score disappointed me badly–2190. “what are colleges gonna think when they see a 35 and a 2190? pure luck on ACT?” so i decided to take SAT again in october. i wanted it to be my last try, as i was sick and tired (like many of you) of standardized testing. this time i did not do any practice, never opened my word smart or word smart ii, and only went over some of my old writing mistakes on friday night. and i outperformed myself again–2340. i attribute successes on SAT/ACT more on getting a good sleep (9+ for me) than on cramming.
hope you guys sleep well on friday night. and if you are an impatient/nervous person like i am and you know you are not going to fall asleep for 2 hours, go to bed at 8. sleep>> cramming!</p>
<p>i did a full test on Saturday after not practicing in months and my score went up. confidence booster :D</p>
<p>All I’m doing for cramming is:</p>
<p>Go through all the books I’ve read the past few years for English so I have material to write about on the Essay. Just look at the titles, not actually read them.</p>
<p>Seeing what I’m doing wrong on certain math problems</p>