My approach to acing standardized exams is practicing. I learned this approach in elementary school when I had to take end-of-grade tests each year. To prepare us for these tests, my teachers would often give us practice tests. These came in different forms. Sometimes, everyone would be quiet and work through the entire test as if it were the real EOG. Other times, we would play Kahoots with practice questions. After learning that I could find practice EOGs online, I began searching for practice tests, completing them, and checking my answers with the answer key each year before I took my EOGs. This practice helped me to succeed and make high scores on all of my standardized tests.

When I got to high school, less emphasis was put on end-of-grade standardized tests, as many of my classes did not require it, but I started hearing more about the upcoming ACT. When I took the pre-ACT in my sophomore year, I got a decent score, but it was not as high as I wanted it to be. The summer before my junior year, my school held an ACT boot camp. We would learn strategies and take practice tests in ACT workbooks. After spending time at this ACT boot camp, I realized that I could be more successful on the ACT if I put what I had learned in elementary school to work, so I asked for an ACT workbook for my seventeenth birthday.

The ACT workbook that I got for my birthday had information about what to expect during the ACT, such as the number of questions and time limits for each section, as well as six practice tests. During the couple of weeks before the ACT, I read the information in the book and took all six practice tests. I would treat the practice tests as though they were the real ACT by working in a quiet environment and setting timers. If the time limit for a section was 60 minutes, I would set the timer on my phone for 60 minutes and the timer on my watch for 55 minutes, so I would get a 5-minute warning. After I finished the test, I would look through the answer key to give myself a score. Then, I would look through the explanations for questions that I had missed or was unsure about. By taking practice tests, I was able to identify my weaknesses, such as overthinking or taking too long on individual questions, and find ways to improve on them. I was also able to get better at understanding how to answer the questions and faster at completing sections.

When the test day came, I was confident because I knew what to expect and what my strategies were going to be to complete the test. When I got my scores and saw that I had gotten a 34, I was glad that I had spent so much time going through practice tests. I realized that the saying “practice makes perfect” is very helpful for test-taking settings. Knowing what to expect and how to implement good test-taking strategies is extremely helpful for taking standardized tests, such as the ACT.