How to prepare for standardized multiple-choice tests

SAT * ACT * GRE * LSAT * MCAT * NCLEX-RN * etcetera

Frequently Asked Questions * Web Sites * Books to Borrow or Buy
Other articles by same author

In this "large" article, written as a series of FAQ's, I'm going to ask, and answer, some questions about standardized tests like the SAT and others. You will find advice that might help you when you are taking standardized tests. My ideas and methods can help you study and prepare in advance. (I've been accumulating these ideas for many months and years. If you have some ideas that you think I should add to this document for other students like yourself, do let me know.)
Eight Little Ideas to get you started: FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
  1. Relax the night before the test.
    You could read a good book?
  2. Don't worry.
  3. Eat a good and nutritious dinner
  4. Don't worry and relax.
  5. Get a good night's sleep.
  6. Eat a good nutritious breakfast.
    How about some fruit and some
    cereal (less sugar) with milk?
  7. Don't worry.
  8. Practice taking tests.
    Use methods described here
    or develop one of your own. For example, you can use Flash Cards. Make your own, or buy some from Amazon.com already made.
  9. Oh, did I forget to say???
    Relax,
    and DON'T WORRY.
  10. No, I can't count (look at title)!

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All materials on this page ©'99 by
John (at) Mazes.com
Webmaster for <www.MAZES.com>		 Books and Software to help you prepare for the:

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I register for a test online?

Visit College Board Online for the latest on test dates, ways to register, test preparation tools, and more. (This information came from <www.ETS.org>, the Educational Testing Services web page.

Should you CRAM the night before?

As you already know, you can't cram for standardized tests or for college entrance exams, because they measure the kinds of things that you have learned over many years. In essence, these exams test the knowledge you have accumulated during all your years of schooling.

You cannot study all the material covered by these tests in a few nights or even a few weeks. If you try to cram for a test like this in just a few days, you might very well do worse on the test.

If you haven't done anything, and your exam is just a week away, don't cram. Review things that you find hardest every night night, but don't cram the night before. Read a few books, glance at flash cards you might have made for school, but mostly relax and make sure you get a good night's sleep several nights before.

If you have been a good student and paid attention in class every year, you shouldn't worry about this test. But, if you have not been attentive in class, and did your best to not work in class, the test may be difficult for you.

How soon should you start preparing?

As I mentioned above, you can't cram for a standardized placement exam in a few days. But, if you are motivated, there are things you can do to prepare yourself for the upcoming test.

First and foremost, you should start reviewing and preparing as far in advance as you can. If you can start months, or even a year or more ahead of time, you can plan a daily regimen of review and preparation that will increase your test scores.

Your best preparation for a standardized test that you know is coming up is to do some review and preparation every night, but, as mentioned above, do NOT cram, and on the night before the movie, read a good book or see a good relaxing movie, and get a good night's sleep with a nutritious but not filling breakfast the next morning..

What should I do the night before the exam?

Sleep is the most important. Make sure that you have gotten a good night's sleep several nights in a row.

General Preparation Suggestions

Down below, I'll get into some more specific answers, but first, let's start with some general suggestions to help you prepare for standardized exams, starting many months before the exam:

  1. Be a good student.
    Be attentive
    Do your homework (to the best of your ability).
  2. Develop good test-taking skills.
    Learn to pace yourself on tests so you don't take too long on some parts.
  3. Relax
  4. Don't spend too much time worrying about the test
  5. Do your best work in school
  6. Keep reminding yourself that what you do in school is at least as important as what score you get on a test.
  7. If you have a good school record, bad scores won't hurt you
  8. A well rested mind does better than a tired mind.

You can also find more information about studying in general if you go to keyword STUDY SKILLS.

Yess, You should Guess!

Even if someone tells you that you will lose points by guessing, it is USUALLY to your benefit to guess. The trick is to use "Educated Guesses". Here's how to guess:

Materials covered on various tests

There are two main components to most of these standardized tests: Verbal (reading) and Quantitative (math). Some tests have an Analytical section (puzzle solving). There may be other sections to other tests, so it is important to see if you can find sample tests, so that you have an idea about what kinds of questions might appear on the test. You might be able to get a sample test from your counseling office, so ask as early as you can.

Improving your Vocabulary

Remember that knowing the meanings of as many words as you can is going to improve one of your test scores. You can work on this by:

READ constantly. When you come across a word that you haven't seen before, look it up, make a flash card out of it, use it in conversation, and make it one of your own.

Find word lists, make yourself flash cards, and use new words in your vocabulary.

Subscribe to e-lists that focus on interesting words. I subscribe to "A.Word.A.Day" which, as you might expect, sends one word per day to my e-mail. You can subscribe to it by visiting: http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html>. If you do not have web access and you would like to receive this daily mailing, reply back to me, ask me to do it (include this paragraph), and I will be glad to ask that it be sent to you.

Borrow books and make more flash cards. I borrowed books that had to do with the various tests, and made flash cards out of hundreds of interesting words before I took the GRE the second time. My verbal score went up from 550 to 630. Some people would say this is because I'm older, or because I have more education, but these tests don't test education or age, they test how well you recognize words, and the best way to get this is by doing LOTS OF READING:

My verbal scores over the years????

Find programs that are meant to improve vocabulary. My brother gave me one from LEXIO company called Word Command. You can read more about it at <www.lexio.com>. There are many other great programs out there. Word Command lets you review words, take quizzes, and even has a screen saver that works with vocabulary. They do have a free demo version of their program at <www.lexio.com>.

No matter what study aid you use, when you see the roots where words came from, especially LATIN roots, look at how that root word helps define the words that are based on it. Sometimes, knowing the root will help you make an educated guess as to the meaning of a word.

By all means, if you have lots of time, borrow books with sample exams in them, take the sample exams, familiarize yourself with testing conditions, and RELAX.

Do a little studying toward this goal every day. It's better to study on a regular schedule than to cram at the last minute. (Though it doesn't hurt to review some of the stranger vocabulary words right before you take the test).

Web Resources Available

I cannot recommend any specific test preparation course or test preparation book or test preparation website as best, because:

  1. What I think is best may not be best for you
  2. I have not extensively used all the materials
  3. Your learning style may be better suited to different materials.

I do suggest that you visit these online sites for test preparation, developing study skills, and review purposes. Look at all of the sites in general terms, then focus on the sites that look like they will do the best for you. I am providing you with the hyperlinks below (in no particular order). All you have to do is click on the blue letters below.

If you have America Online, these links might also be useful:

Please tell me if any of these links don't work. Just e-mail [Webmaster {at} Mazes.com]. Include the web address for this page, and tell me which link didn't work.

Should you use books to prepare for tests?

By all means, if you have lots of time, borrow practice books for the various tests. These have lists of good vocabulary words to study, and even have sample exams in them that can let you see how much your vocabulary is improving. Of course, each book covers different kinds of materials, depending on the test that it was written to help you with.

Do a little studying toward your goal of improvment every day. It's better to study on a regular schedule than to cram at the last minute. (Though it doesn't hurt to review some of the stranger vocabulary words right before you take the test).

You might be able to borrow preparation books from your school counselor, from the public library, or from one of your teachers. If you find a book you particularly like, you can purchase that book if you wish from a bookstore or online.

If you decide to purchase books designed to help you prepare for a test, you might ask your teachers or counselor if they recommend a particular book. Someone who knows your strengths and weaknesses might be able to suggest a book that will be better for you. Another way to choose a book for purchase is to look at all the books you can, then purchase the one that you think will be best for you. Books can be purchased at bookstores, from catalogs, or from online bookstores.

Books and software that might help you prepare for the

The books that I found by doing a book search on AMAZON.COM are listed at the end of this message. By the way, if your goal is to improve your vocabulary score on one test, you can probably use a book for any other test to work on your vocabulary, because the vocabulary sections are reelatively similar.

One system of taking standardized tests

This is a technique that I use that I believe helps me get slightly better scores on multiple-choice standardized tests. When I take one of those standardized multiple choice tests, I use a two-pass strategy, or, if I know I have lots of extra time, a three-pass strategy. BUT - VERY IMPORTANT - do not try any new method for actual test taking unless you have tried that method under practice conditions as close to actual as possible. For example, have someone actually timing you on sample tests from books below.

You will need scrap paper for this strategy. Save one piece of paper handy for "phase three questions", because you will jot down questions you'll come back to if you have time after answering all questions in both phase one and phase two.

Phase One: (First pass through the questions)

  1. Quickly read JUST the question (don't read the answers yet):
  2. Ask yourself "Do I know the answer to this question?"

    NO
    ---> do not read the answers, skip to the next question at once

    YES
    ---> read the answers
    ---> then read the question and answers again
    ---> answer the question
    --->.if you're not sure, go with your gut feeling or GUESS (technique described above)
    ---> and if you guess, jot down the question # (see phase three)

Phase Two: (Second pass through the questions)
---> Do this for each question you didn't answer already:

  1. Quickly read the question and the answers you didn't do the first time through
  2. Read the question and the answers again, normal speed
    (by reading twice, you improve your chances of understanding what the question asks)
  3. If you know the answer now, mark it and go on to another question you haven't done yet.
  4. If you have a "gut feeling," mark what your "gut" feels.
    (Gut feelings have a habit of being right, so always go with your gut!)
  5. If you do not know the answer, then GUESS (with the technique I described above)
  6. Write down the numbers of the questions that you GUESSED on.
    You might have time to look at them again in phase three.

Before Phase Three

Before you start Phase Three, quickly look and make sure that you have made a mark for EVERY question. If you have not, do those immediately, because your score will probably be lower if there are any unanswered questions on your test.

Phase Three: (Last pass through the questions)
Only look at the questions that you wrote down on your "phase three sheet"

Read the question again.

Ask yourself, "Do I now know the answer to this question?"
(Yes, it is possible that even though you didn't know the answer ten minutes ago, you might know it now.)

If you know the answer now, absolutely for sure, CHANGE your answer.
---> Carefully erase the answer you marked and change it.

Most of the time, it is NOT worth changing an answer otherwise, but if you have a gut feeling, you might improve your score, but DON'T try to come up with a new gut feeling.

I hope this helps you a little. It helped me get a score in the top 10% of all people who took the NTE exam a few years ago. As far as study strategy, remember to try to do a little every day, then relax the night before the actual exam, see a movie and get a good night's sleep.

What should I eat before the exam?

The night before your exam, why don't you have pasta? According to some "experts" (including a graduate school professor), it stimulates the brain.

There are different opinions about what you should eat right before an exam, but there are some suggestions that are agreed upon by most people:

Preparing for National Teacher's Exams?

Standardized teacher's exams, like the NTE (National Teacher's Exam) measure what you have learned throughout your school years. You cannot cram for this exam, even in months, though review of what you already know to be basic facts can help a little, if only because it makes you feel more comfortable.

The NTE is a grueling six hour exam. It will test you on:

Instead of studying the materials that this test covers, you would be better off to practice your test-taking skills, as recommended by the UFT (United Federation of Teachers). In other words, learn how to take a test, and learn how to be comfortable taking a test.

The NTE's are timed tests. Each section has a specific time limit. You must learn when to stop thinking about a hard question, guess from the answers you know aren't wrong, and go on to the next question. By all means, see if your local teacher's union or school counseling office has sample tests that you can practice with. Have a friend act as official timer, stopping you at the prescribed times.

Some teacher's unions offer one or two session courses on preparing yourself to take the exam. You might call the union representative for a school near you and find out from him or her where to call for such a course. It will probably be inexpensive if sponsored by a local teacher's union.

Here are some web sites that relate to, or mention, the NTE, presented in no particular order. I've also given you the keyword AFT, which leads to the website for the AFT (American Federation of Teachers). It might be a good site to explore for information important to teachers.

Please tell me if any of these links don't work. Just e-mail [Webmaster {at} Mazes.com]. When you write, please include this page's web address, and tell me which link didn't work.

What are some of the pro's and con's about standardized tests?

If your teacher asks you this question, he probably wants you to give your opinions based on what you've read, but here are some ideas to get you started:

  1. If you know how to take multiple-choice tests, you'll get better scores.

  2. Tests can be biased against people who don't have "standard" experience.

  3. People who are stressed by time limits won't do as well.

  4. It's only one kind of measurement. Other tests might be better for some people.

Ok, what reasons can you come up with. There are MANY MORE. It's not the reasons you come up with, it's the reasons that you use to support your argument that are going to count more. You might give examples for bias, etc.

Do "test prep" courses help?

The reason that students get higher scores after taking special classes is not so much the study as the practice. When you take the special courses, you do get some instruction, including tips that I've presented here. They also give you lots of practice taking tests. Many people benefit from these courses, but there are other alternatives.

If you can afford the course, and if one is offered in your area, by all means, take it. If you are taking their class, you are going to be forcing yourself to learn and practice even more than if you just buy a book. The people who designed the course have studied the tests. If you do take one of the courses, practice all you can at home, too. If their books don't give you stuff to practice at home, get one of the books and use them. Remember, the more you practice, the better you will do.

You can practice for the SAT without taking special courses. Borrow or buy some sample SAT books and use them for practice. Do the various reading and studying that is presented in the materials, then when you get to the sample tests, try to do those tests under conditions as close to the real thing as possible.

If you are motivated, then you should do just as well using books and online materials, if you use them quite a bit, than by taking a course. Some of the tips that you will learn in books or courses, like learning to relax, take tests, and various score-building techniques are in this letter. Whatever methods you use to prepare, use those materials as often as you can.

Which test is most accurate?

As long as a test is "standardized", then you may consider them to be as accurate as any other standardized test. When tests are standardized, they are compared to other standards and are measured for how well they accurately do their job. In other words, don't worry about what test is best. Meanwhile, here's some hints that I've been collecting about taking standardized tests:

Good luck on your tests.

Books that I found listed on www.Amazon.com
Listed in order of price (not recommendations, just a listing)

Book Search Results
(I searched www.AMAZON.com for books that you might want to investigate. I have tried to delete out of print books from this list, then I sorted the list by price only. I make no recommendations on any of these books, because what might be best for one student may not be best for another. Instead of just ordering books from a list like this, you should take this list to the library and see if you can borrow some of them. If you decide you want to purchase one, you should be able to buy them at a local bookstore, or by clicking the links below to find them at AMAZON.COM, the internet bookstore. I left amazon's prices listed below as guidelines. If you order from an Internet bookstore, you also pay shipping charges of $3 or more, but the shipping charges might be offset by the discounts that they give off of the retail prices.)

If you have web access, you may click on any of the underlined links below for more information about each title. Some of these listings include reviews from people who have used these books.

Books that can help you prepare? (There are many others, ask a librarian)