How To Create An SAT Study Plan – San Mateo ACT SAT test prep tutoring

A study plan is essential to accomplishing your goals and improving your SAT score. Daily practice will ensure that you are ready for the exam, eliminating the need for stressful cramming. Here’s how to make your plan.

Look at Your Calendar

Look for free days in your calendar. Do you have a Saturday or Sunday with no sports tournaments? Is there an evening wide open? Plan big chunks of time on these days for taking timed practice tests. These tests will familiarize you with the exam and help you track your improvement.

Plan for Daily Practice

Studying for even just a few minutes a day can help improve your score. Plan a few minutes to answer a sample question, go over a formula or practice a few flashcards. The College Board’s Daily Practice App can help you accomplish this goal.

Longer Study Sessions

Block out time in the months before the exam that you can sit down for awhile and really focus on the material. Spending a few hours a week with your trouble spots can go a long way toward bumping up your score.

Plan For Tutoring

Nothing can boost your confidence, provide you with test taking hints and tips and relieve test taking anxiety like professional test prep help. Mr. Test Prep’s flexible schedules offer the opportunity to attend test prep courses when it works best for you. Plan to take time for some guided test prep.

Taper

Just like an athlete, the bulk of your preparation should have come long before the exam. Plan to taper your studies to quick reviews in the week before the exam. Take time to get plenty of sleep, eat well and exercise. Staying healthy and alert can be extremely beneficial on exam day. Alternatively, cramming will leave you feeling exhausted and challenge your ability to focus and work quickly.

You should include the most helpful study methods for you in your study plan. Be sure to customize it so that you are getting the greatest amount of benefit from your plan. Ultimately, having a plan will eliminate stress and leave you feeling prepared for and confident about the SAT.

 

San Mateo ACT SAT test prep tutoring

Mr. Test Prep has been a part of the San Mateo SAT Prep community for nearly 20 years. His experience working with students—from math wizzes to numberphobes, from novelists-in-training to kids who hate to read—has shown him that improving test results first requires improving a student’s confidence. To directly address this important facet of SAT prep, his tutoring program exposes students to the conditions of the test, while training them in subject-specific skills and teaching them testing strategies that can make the test much easier.

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3 Things You Should Never Do When Studying -Los Gatos ACT SAT test prep tutoring Services

Studying well can make your time studying more efficient and more effective. Here are three things you should never do if you want to have a productive study session.

 

• Keep Your Phone Close

 

Even when you turn off your notifications and toggle the “do not disturb” button, your phone can still be a temptation for distraction. You may be tempted to check email or social media. You might think of that one text you just have to send. Each time you look at your phone you lose focus and your study time takes longer. Unless your phone is essential to your studies, put it in a different room while you are studying. The farther away you put it, the less tempting it will be.

2) Study Late at Night

Studying late at night may be better than no studying at all, but just barely. Plan your time appropriately so that you can study when you are alert and sleep when you are tired. Studying while awake and focused will help you retain more information faster. Sleeping also helps cement information in your memory. If you skip sleep to study, your study sessions may not be doing much good.

3) Skip Breaks

If you are short on time, it may be tempting to power through a long study session. However, the longer you go between breaks the more your brain stops paying attention to the information you are trying to cram in. A study published in Cognition found the brain performs better when given a short break about every hour. Use your break to grab a healthy snack, take a brisk walk, or stretch a bit. These activities will restore focus and help you remember material.

When you need to prepare for an important exam, efficient study time can help you learn more material faster. Plan accordingly so that you can take full advantage of all of your brain power. Don’t study distracted, sleepy or fatigued. Know yourself and what you need to do to have the appropriate amount of uninterrupted study time.

 

More About Mr. Test Prep’s Los Gatos ACT SAT test prep tutoring Services

Michael Romano has been offering his Los Gatos SAT prep services for almost two decades. He’s seen thousands of kids and helped with just about every kind of standardized testing anxiety a student could have. This has taught him that increased scores come down to confidence. Yes, you have to understand the material, but confidence is—more often than not—the #1 cause of a student’s trouble with testing. Bearing that in mind, he has created an SAT tutoring program that builds confidence by desensitizing his students to the conditions of the test, while providing them with targeted instruction on both the academic content of the exam and the tips and tricks that make it so much easier.

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The Lowdown On Study – Is Teamwork The Answer?- Cupertino ACT SAT test prep tutoring

Group study is an excellent way to learn material and prepare for exams. What is it exactly that makes group study an effective tool for learning?

Internalizing Material

A study was performed by an associate professor of education at Washington University. The professor, Keith Sawyer, PhD, diagramed every interaction and movement of study groups as they prepared for exams, down to the “ums” and “yeahs.” Sawyer found that the most significant action performed during the group was looking up and looking down. When the students looked down they were reading through notes. As they began to internalize the material, they also began to look up at one another. Over and over again as material went from notes read on a page to concepts being discussed and internalized, students went from looking down to looking up. When you study alone, it is not likely that you will look down, read your notes, and then look up and restate the material in your own terms. Simply reading through notes is a common method of individual study, but doesn’t require engagement with the material.

Explaining Material

In groups you have the opportunity to explain material to colleagues. Helping a friend who is having a more difficult time understanding specific concepts will help you have a firm grasp of the material yourself. Likewise, peers can help you grasp concepts you are struggling with.

Auditory Learning

Listening and speaking is another form of engaging with the material. As you interact with the material in a variety of ways (  reading, hearing, speaking )  you will be more likely to internalize important concepts. Most students will not speak the material or listen to it while studying alone.

More Minds

All of your peers have also attended lectures, read the material and taken notes. If there is something you missed, it is probable that someone else recorded it. As peers come together to share material, you are all more likely to cover all of the necessary topics.

What To Avoid

Groups are advantageous in a variety of ways, but be wise about your group study time. Choose groups that are able to stay focused and on topic. Also choose groups where each member comes prepared and has something to offer. Of course individual study is often necessary, but group study can augment your learning. Find a group you enjoy and work well with and see if it improves your exam scores.  

 

Cupertino ACT SAT test prep tutoring

Students generally dread test prep classes. They’re boring, difficult and pointless, or so most kids think. But they’re also necessary… Recognizing this, Mr. Test Prep has created a new approach to SAT/ACT tutoring that gets the job done without all the pain and frustration of traditional programs. Rather than depleting the finite well of motivation your student will need to get you through senior year, come to Mr. Test Prep for the most painless—dare I say fun?—SAT Prep in the Cupertino area. Specializing in the psychology of test taking, as well as the academic practices required to succeed, the lessons learned at our Cupertino SAT Prep center will empower your student both on Test Day and in their future academic endeavors.

from Mr Test Prep http://mrtestprep.com/cupertino-act-sat-test-prep-tutoring/
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3 Signs You Might Need An SAT Tutor -San Jose ACT SAT test prep tutoring

It can be hard to ask for help, but finding a tutor for the SAT when you need one can make all the difference in your score. Here are 3 signs you need to seek out help.

 

1)Practice Test Scores Don’t Improve

 

If you have been taking practice tests, studying and practicing again and you don’t see any improvement, you may not be using the best study methods for you. When you don’t see a change in your score, your study time isn’t helping you. A tutor can help you develop the best study methods for your learning style and offer test taking tips that can improve your score.

2) Anxiety

Feelings of anxiety won’t go away on their own. To relieve anxiety you need to build up your confidence about your ability to do well on the test. Having a thorough understanding of what the test will be like can also help eliminate anxiety. An SAT tutor will offer tips for relieving anxiety on test day so that you can perform your best. The added benefit of feeling prepared and confident will also reduce stress and anxiety.

3) Trouble with Timed Test

It can be hard to force yourself to stay within the allotted time when you are practicing. However, the pressure of taking a timed test can be one of the most challenging aspects of the SAT. If you do not practice in a timed setting, you may be entering the test unprepared. Mr. Test Prep offers timed practice tests in a setting the emulates the setting of the real SAT. Not only will you learn to work under the pressure of time, but you will also learn how to stay focused in the face of distraction.

An SAT tutor that helps you feel confident about the SAT is a worthwhile investment. If you want to improve your score beyond what you can accomplish alone, don’t wait to get help until it is too late. Get in touch with Mr. Test Prep to see how our tutoring program can give you the tools you need to achieve the score you want.

 

San Jose ACT SAT test prep tutoring

By marrying the best of private instruction with the best of group practice, Mr. Test Prep’s San Jose SAT Prep program supplies students with the resources they need to succeed. Having served San Jose’s SAT Prep needs for the last 18 years, Michael Romano is uniquely qualified to instruct students on the content of the test and advise parents about how best to plan the SAT/ACT season. To learn more, book a Free Diagnostic Session today

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Studying For Your SAT – How Many Hours Guide- Palo Alto ACT SAT test prep tutoring

A simple formula for exactly how many hours should be spent prepping for the SAT would certainly make test prep easier. The truth is no two students are the same, therefore no two students will need exactly the same amount of time to prep for the SAT. There are a few ways to gauge how many hours of study you will need to prepare for the SAT.

Practice Test

Take a timed practice test. Your results will help you gauge how many hours you need to spend prepping for the real exam. Develop your target score and see how much you need to improve your score. The bigger the discrepancy between your practice test score and your goal score, the more time you will need to focus on test prep.

How Many Weeks

The amount of weeks you have given yourself to study before the SAT will also influence how many hours a day you need to study. If the test is months and months out you will only need to study a few hours a week. If the test is in two months or less and you have just started studying, you may need to put in a few hours a day. The Choice, A New York Times Blog, suggests registering for an exam that is at least eight weeks out to give yourself enough time to study without needing to cram.

Practice Test Again

Taking a timed practice test again, after you have put in time studying, will help you decide how quickly you are improving. If you saw significant improvement, stick with your plan. If you are not improving, revise your strategy, plan for more hours and consider test prep help.  

Your Own Chart

There is no universal chart for the perfect amount of study time. You need to discover how comfortable you feel with the exam, how much you need to improve, and what skills need to see progress, then develop your own plan and stick with it. The important thing is to actually develop a plan and use it. Don’t put off studying until the last minute. The sooner you get started, the less time each week you will need to devote to test prep.

Keep in mind that extra steps to enrich your learning such as reading above and beyond classroom material, or working on problem solving skills, may not be directly counted as hours towards test prep, but they will certainly improve your score.

Palo Alto ACT SAT test prep tutoring

With over 18 years of experience, Mr. Test Prep operates the premier Palo Alto SAT test prep program. By combining one-on-one SAT tutoring with free SAT practice tests, Mr. Test Prep offers the benefits of private SAT tutoring (focused attention, tailored instruction, a human connection) in a group environment, which prepares the student for the SAT test experience. Students who attend his Palo Alto SAT Test Prep program will see their hard work and dedication reflected in significant score increases. Call Mr. Test Prep today and get prepared!

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