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Top Ten Standardized Testing Tips

Top Ten Standardized Testing Tips

It’s that time of year again. Seniors are posting excited Facebook statuses about acceptances to dream, while underclassmen are slaving away, trying to finish the third quarter on the right foot. Juniors have it the roughest. Not only are we finishing up the hardest year of high school, but the impending college search is taking its mental toll. Meanwhile, standardized tests lurk. To try and relieve at least some college stress, here are a few tips that may help calm juniors down on test day.

1. Don’t try and prep the night before. At that point, you won’t learn anything new. It’s better to get to bed at a decent hour.

2. Prepare your calculator the night before. There are too many horror stories of dead batteries, and it’s no fun trying to find the cosine of who-knows-what inside your head.

3. Eat breakfast. Get to bed early so you can get up to sit for a true breakfast. Stress will only increase if you’re frantically looking for nibbles as you run out the door.

4. Take a shower the morning of. You’ll feel more refreshed and ready to work.

5. Plan something fun for after the test. If you have something to look forward to afterwards, the experience will be a little less daunting.

6. Bring food and drink. Grabbing a snack for breaks is better than nervously pacing the halls.

7. Do not bring mechanical pencils. They’re a popular writing utensil at school, but forbidden on both the SAT and ACT.

8. Take it one section at a time. If you’re thinking about slope-intercept form while reading a passage about endangered whales, your score won’t be stellar.

9. On the ACT, guess. On the SAT there’s a punishment for getting a wrong answer, so leave it blank if you can’t narrow down your options.

10. Relax. You’re going to do fine. If you have an off day, you can always take it again. Colleges care about more than just standardized tests. Go in acting like you’ve got nothing to lose, and your score will noticeably improve.

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Luke Foreman, Staff Writer
Inklings evolves as its staff evolves. The paper has always carried on the tradition of improving itself and renewing itself. With new writers like Luke Foreman’ 14, that tradition will continue. Although Foreman is a junior, it is his first year on the Inklings staff. He may lack experience compared to some writers, but he is eager to make up for lost time. Foreman hasn’t always been interested in journalism. His inspiration sparked from taking collaborative writing, a course Staples offers, his sophomore year. And with that newfound inspiration he hopes to contribute as much as he can to making a great paper. Foreman has always been on the look out for new interests. However, one of his older hobbies is playing tennis. Although the tennis team and Inklings staff are seemingly different, Foreman believes there are several similarities. The new staffer explained that, “Both are very good at what they do and can both can be exciting.” The very obvious reason why Inklings and the tennis team are good at what they do is because there are always newcomers like Foreman to keep things moving forward. With Foreman as a new addition, Inklings will be in good hands.

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