Getting in the right frame of mind
Get a good night’s sleep – This will relax your nerves as well as improve your concentration on the test day. Remember that incomplete sleep will mostly lead to unwanted stress resulting in lack of concentration.
Eat a light breakfast – Hunger is often the cause of restlessness and lack of concentration too. So ensure that you have a good breakfast enough to last you till the end of the exam. Do not overeat.
Be ready the night before – Get everything you need to take to the test ready before you sleep the night before. This will avoid last minute panic. Also, ensure that you know the location of your test centre and the time of the test.
Leave yourself plenty of time before leaving - This is a foolproof plan to circumvent any unforeseen delays. Recommendation – Do not drive yourself. If you must drive, keep your driving license and necessary vehicle papers ready. You surely don’t want to get stuck for lack of these.
Pep yourself up – You are at such a stage where nothing you do or don’t from now on will have a drastic effect on your performance in the test. So cheer yourself up and refrain from worrying. You have given your best shot at preparation and tell yourself that you will replicate it in the actual exam too.
During the test
Focus on the questions in front of you – Remember that it’s these questions that are going to decide a lot about where you go.
Do not get distracted - Often one tends to look around when one faces a difficult question. This will not help since most often one will see other students filling in their answer sheets, which is obviously not going to be encouraging.
Do not worry about a difficult question – Face it - every question is not going to be easy. If one is difficult, give it your best and move on. Re-focusing after a difficult question is often the key to consistent performance. One tends to mess up an easy question that comes up immediately after a tough one just because one can’t switch off from the difficult one.
Lastly, remember that this is not the end of the world – Never panic. There are criteria other than test scores, which could get one through. Also, one could always take the test again. This does not mean that you underestimate the importance of the test. This thought mechanism helps one relax and do his/her best in the exam.
PSAT (Preliminary SAT...)
