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5 Easy Tips To Master Standardized Tests

Writer's picture: Ivy EducationIvy Education

Updated: Jun 14, 2023

It’s finally time for you to take the SAT. You’ve prepared for this moment for a year’s worth of studying. You feel confident understanding and answering every question, but before you’re able to finish, the timer’s up! What happened?

You likely ran into an issue with efficiency. This situation is very common when taking all types of standardized tests, like the SAT, ACT, TOEFL, and AP Exams. Fortunately, there are ways to answer questions more quickly with less brain power! Here are a couple of tips on how to better prepare yourself for success on these exams!

Tip #1: Answer Multiple Choice Questions Without Reading the Answers First The answer choices are deliberately designed to be tricky so that all the answers seem possibly correct. Because of that, reading the wrong answers might make you reconsider which answer is actually correct. By not reading the answer choices (you can use your hands or a sheet of paper to cover them up), you will have to answer the question without any answer choices confusing to you. After you have your answer, you can look at the answer choices and select the choice that most closely matches your answer. Answering the question before reading the answer choices can lessen confusion, which can save you several seconds on each question. Remember that standardized tests usually have dozens of questions that you have to answer, so these seconds can accumulate into valuable minutes!

Tip #2: Use Process of Elimination on Multiple Choice Questions In a situation where the right answer isn’t completely apparent, the process of elimination is a great strategy to help narrow down your options. The process of elimination is crossing out the wrong choices one-by-one so that you have a better chance of selecting the right answer. This makes it easier for your brain to choose correct answers! This is especially useful on standardized tests because the answer choices are usually so similar. By using the process of elimination, you ease the confusion by removing one answer choice at a time so that your brain power isn’t wasted on the choices that are least likely to be correct.

Tip #3: Make Each Point in a Short Answer Question Its Own Sentence Short answer questions are probably the least common question on standardized exams, but there are many in certain AP Exams. Short answer prompts usually are made up of multiple short questions that are related to each other in some way. It is important to answer each one of these questions to provide the most comprehensive answer.

What many people do not realize is that if the wrong answer to question #1 and right answer to another question #2 happen to be in the same sentence, there is a higher chance that both answers will receive no points. Because of this, we recommend making each answer to each question its own sentence. If the wrong answer to question #1 was in its own sentence and the right answer to question #2 were in its own sentence, then at least the right answer to question #2 will still receive credit. Use as many periods as possible!

Tip #4: Use a Formula to Brainstorm Essay Questions Essay questions are usually the most difficult to answer because many people take a very long time to brainstorm. Brainstorming is important, but many students waste too much time outlining too much of their essay. Using a formula can help you speed up the process. Let’s use a persuasive essay as an example. A common formula to write persuasive essays is:

  1. Introduction

    1. Hook

    2. Thesis


  1. Argument #1

    1. Topic Sentence

    2. Example #1

    3. Explanation


  1. Argument #2

    1. Topic Sentence

    2. Example #2

    3. Explanation


  1. Conclusion

    1. Restate thesis

    2. Summary


See how the structure of the essay is pretty much laid out for you? Formulas help you organize so you don’t have to think as hard about how to execute your argument, which reduces time and gives more focus to exactly what to write. If you do research on what type of prompt will be on your upcoming standardized test (persuasive, literary analysis, etc.), you can memorize the formula to prepare for your standardized test.

Practice! It is difficult to brainstorm effectively when you are using a new formula. The more familiar you are with writing according to a formula, the faster the brainstorming process will take. It is also important that you are strict in sticking to your brainstorming time so that you do not get carried away at the risk of not finishing your essay on time. Generally speaking, we recommend spending 20% of the time you have writing the essay to brainstorm. In the case of the SAT where the essay section is 50 minutes, we recommend taking no more than 10 minutes to brainstorm.

Tip #5: Quantity Over Quality in Essay Questions Often in school, teachers prefer quality over quantity when giving a good grade. However, studies have shown that the opposite might be true when writing essays for standardized tests. The study found that SAT graders usually judge a score of an essay by its length because they only have two to three minutes to give it a score. This is another reason why Tip #4 is so important: the less time it takes for you to brainstorm, the more time you have to write more words. Of course, this does not mean you should just fill up words with gibberish, but it is important for you to become comfortable enough with the writing process to elaborate your points as extensively as possible within your given time in order to improve your chances of receiving a higher score!

About the Author:

Allan Han, MA is a writer and educator with over six years of teaching experience in teaching K-12 students fundamental English, fundamental Math, SAT writing, and high school literature. He received his Master's Degree in English Instruction at NYU and formerly taught in LaGuardia High School in the city of New York.

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