Preparing For Test Day

More than 24 hours prior to the exam

• Review tests and study guides for strategies only.

• Try to set aside some time for test review. If you put it in your calendar, you can plan accordingly leading up to the test and make it a priority.

• Cramming will not help. Take a look at your practice tests, look at the questions you got incorrect, and then try to remember the strategies we used to get the right answer. Learn from careless mistakes (if you had any).

Less than 24 hours prior to the exam

• This time is all about mental preparation and making sure your mind is right for the test.

• Hide all of your practice exams and don't review anything. The likelihood of you learning something new is very small, but the likelihood of you stressing yourself out is very high. You already know everything you need to know to do the best you can do.

• Don't do any homework, and eat a good dinner.

• Stay away from social media. Try to avoid anything that will become a distraction in preparing your mind for test day.

• Use your preferred streaming service and watch a funny, feel-good movie. Studies show that if you go to bed in a good mood, you are more likely to wake up in a good mood.

• Here's a no brainer – get a good night's sleep. Go to bed when your body tells syou to go to bed.

The morning of the exam

• Eat a good, healthy breakfast. Yes, we know – you've heard this one before, too, but the reasearch is too true to pass up.

• Foods to eat: Fruits (especially blueberries), leafy green vegetables, whole grain toast, skim milk, greek yogurt and granola, egg whites, almonds.

• Foods to avoid: Anything you can order through a window, sugary cereals, white breads, bagels, energy drinks.

• Dress for success. If you look good, you'll feel good. If you wear sweat pants and a hoodie, you're going to think about going back to bed.

• Wake up 10-15 minutes earlier than your normally would. This will make it so you have a slower-paced morning and you won't be so rushed.

• Plan an extra 5-10 to get to your testing center early so you aren't panicked in that final hour before taking the test.

During the exam

• The key is to stay focused, which means don't talk to your friends about the exam during break time. What's done is done, and there's no use rehashing answers you can't change.

• Take a mental break and properly bubble in your answers. After completing every two pages, bubble in the answers for those two pages before you flip the page. Your mind will think of it as coloring and you'll get a little mental breather to reset and refresh yourself.

• Use your ScanTron as a straight edge for points on graphs and measuring side lengths.

Testing Day Checklist

✔ Test site admission slip

✔ Picture ID

✔ Multiple sharpened No. 2 pencils and extra erasers

✔ To avoid temptation, keep your cell phone in your car. If you have it with you, make sure you turn your cell phone off. Nobody wants to have their test ripped up in front of everybody.

✔ Fully-charged graphing calculator or with extra batteries

✔ Completely silenced watch only if you have been using it to time yourself. You cannot have a timer on your desk; it has to be on your wrist.

✔ Noise canceling ear plugs (Not allowed for SAT or CollegeBoard Exams)

✔ Bottled water (for break time)

✔ Hard candy or chewing gum (mint-flavored, ideally)

✔ Healthy snack for break time (protein or granola bar, fresh fruit, greek yogurt, etc.)

✔ A zip-up sweatshirt that is easy to take on and off in case you get cold easily.

✔ Your A-Game!