Now that another school year is in full swing, several new students have asked me how they can reach the most competitive score brackets on the SAT (700+ per section) and ACT (32+ per section). The first step towards achieving these scores is recognizing the reality of the task: in most cases, you can make no more than four or five errors on the entire section in question.To work your way up to this level of accuracy, you must practice perfection, which means your goal on every worksheet should be no less than 100% accuracy. After all, if you cannot attain perfection on a single worksheet of similar questions, how can you expect to do so on a four-hour exam spanning all possible concepts?
The following practices are non-negotiable for an elite score:
1. Read the questions correctly. If you misread a question, no one can help you. Thus, you must help yourself by 1) reading each question slowly, 2) breaking it down into manageable pieces, and 3) identifying the final piece of information you are expected to provide. Take action and underline this crucial part of the question so that you have a visual reminder.
The responsibility of reading questions correctly falls entirely on the test-taker in the moment. As a result, is often the deciding factor between students who obtain 700+/32+ per section and those who do not.
2. Use process of elimination. On any language-based section, your primary approach must be to find and eliminate incorrect answers. If you think you can achieve a high score by searching for the correct answer, you are gravely mistaken. The questions are engineered to make students think they are doing well when in fact they are falling for trap after trap, so avoid these pitfalls by actively seeking them out and eliminating them.
To clarify, the sections where process of elimination must be your modus operandi are:
SAT – Critical Reading, Writing
ACT – English, Reading
3. Check your work. Be your own biggest fan and help yourself avoid careless errors. In Math, plug your final answer back into the original equation to make sure it works. In English and Writing, read the entire sentence with your selection filled in. Often, you will notice an error during this step that you did not when you were focusing solely on the answer choices.
4. Study vocabulary. It is such a simple thing to do, and there are countless online resources available that specifically target the SAT and ACT. Remember, if you are not willing to put in the work, ten other students are. If you are aiming for one of the top 30 colleges in the world, then you have to be willing to work harder than any other student in the world.
One final observation: if you reflect on why the best universities desire high standardized test scores, there is some logic behind the madness. They want students who know how to read for details, consider all points of a problem, and check their work for accuracy. If you put in the effort now, you will demonstrate to the admission officers that you possess these skills and are ready for the demands of higher education.