what is the best way to study for the S.A.T's?

Question

the hardest part of the test: studying.
any tips?

Answer 1

Hire a private tutor. Then for the last week before the exam all you do it SAT practice. Then you'll Ace it.

Answer 2

Begin studying a few weeks before the test. Use a study book- I like Princeton Review's best. Read all the information and strategies, then take the practice tests. Be sure to take them timed- that's a big part of the SAT people overlook when studying.

Answer 3

The Official SAT Study Book is very helpful.
Start studying a month before.
Read a lot of books so you actually know what the vocab words mean.
Take practice tests from he study book and pace yourself so that you will finish on time on test day.

Answer 4

What will not work for most students:

1. Studying only the night before or a few days before the exam.
2. Only reading the chapters and your class notes over and over.
3. Only reading the chapters and highlighting them once.

Why these things don't work for most students:

These activities will not work because they merely lull you into a false sense of security that you know the material. By reading the chapters over and over, the information becomes very familiar to you and it seems as if you know it, but if you closed the book and actually tried to recall all of the material, you would most likely not be able to do it. And that is the problem. The exams in this class require you to recall information even though they are multiple choice exams.

What will work for most students:

ACTIVE STUDYING!

Active studying means that you are actively attempting to learn and integrate the material rather than just passively reading it. So, how do you actively study? Try this...

First, begin studying early by keeping up to date with the readings and notes.

Second, start your "real" studying at least one week before the exam.

- engage in your typical study habits, such as rereading material, highlighting, preparing
outlines, flash cards, etc...

Third, at least a few days before the exam, test yourself. This means...

- close your book and notes and try to recall everything you know about a topic

- you can do this in your mind, or better yet, write it all down - by writing it again from
memory, you get an additional pass at encoding (i.e., learning) the material

- you may also do this with a bare bones outline to help cue you to the topics


Fourth, try to elaborate upon the material.

- the more connections you can make to the material and examples that you can come up
with, the better

- watch out for one potential pitfall!

- If you personalize the material too much it may result in you learning the wrong
information. For example, I once had a student who decided that he didn't need
to study the material on depression because he had been depressed so he "knew
all about it". However, his personal experience was not entirely consistent with
the material I had taught. Furthermore, just because he had experienced
depression, it did not mean that he knew every piece of information from the
book and lecture. Needless to say, he did not do well on the exam.

Fifth, try to integrate the material.

- this will be a particularly useful strategy as we learn about more disorders

- you can integrate material by comparing and contrasting the different disorders,
therapies, models of psychopathology, etc...

- it often helps to make tables, charts, or lists (first with your notes and then from memory
to test yourself!). For example...

- you might prepare a big table that lists all the disorders, their primary symptoms,
and their primary treatments

- you might prepare lists of disorders that have the same gender distribution or
treatments

- you might rank order the disorders in order of most prevalent to least

Sixth, try studying with a study group.

- this only works well if...

- you really do study, rather than spending the time socializing

- everyone actively contributes to the group - don't expect to simply sit there and
have someone tell you what you need to know

- you test one another - AND - you can track down the correct answers!

- if you try a group and it's not working out for you, don't stay with it

A final word...

The study strategy described here requires time, effort, motivation, and commitment. Without those qualities, for most people, there is no study strategy that will work. You are responsible for how much you're willing to do, and the effort you choose to put in is likely to be directly related to how you score on exams.

Answer 5

Get the big fat Pre SAT book and go through the whole thing. Study, study, study.