1) Be familiar with the types of questions in each section. Refresh your skills in basic grammar and mathematics. Practice on our test questions and sample exam until you are comfortable with every question type.
2) Know how long you have to complete each section and budget your time accordingly.
3) Don't waste time reading the instructions on the test day. We include the specific instructions for each question type on this site. Read them thoroughly here and make sure you understand them. This will save you several minutes on the actual test day.
4) Develop a strategy to attack the questions in each section according to their level of difficulty. Remember, each question (regardless of its difficulty) is worth one point. Learn to recognize and seek out the types of questions you are good at. Answer as many "easy" ones first, returning later to tackle more difficult, time-consuming math problems, passages and arguments.
5) Answer every question, even if you are clueless about how to approach it. In many cases, you are better off guessing than wasting a ton of time on a problem you aren't able to solve. The test questions will vary widely in their level of difficulty. Some questions will be extremely difficult for all students and should not consume a disproportionate amount of your time.
6) Keep track of time as you work on each section of the test. We will teach you many strategies for how to approach different types of test questions. Yet you must effectively manage your time during the test to get a chance to apply those strategies correctly to as many questions as possible. Practice, practice, practice! Take the sample exam under timed test conditions. Give yourself one full minute at the end of each section to quickly fill in answers for questions you didn't get to.
7) Be extremely careful with your answer grid. Make sure you record your answers properly and skip spaces properly if you jump around during the test. We recommend that you circle the correct answer to each question in your test booklet, in addition to recording it on your answer grid. Circle questions that you are skipping, so that you can find them easily later when you return to them. Take a minute at the end of each section to verify that you have recorded your all of your answers properly.
8) Don't try to cram a lot of studying into the last few days before the test. Your best bet is to prepare a few hours a day for several weeks before the exam and to relax (or try to relax) the day or so before the actual test.
9) Arrive at the test center a few minutes early with all of your essential supplies (photo ID card, admission ticket, sharpened #2 pencils, watch, comfortable clothing, snack). Avoid chatting about the test during the breaks: this usually just increases your self-doubt and your test-taking anxiety.
10) Few applicants know how they did on the test when they leave the test center. Most feel badly, but this is usually just burnout from the stress of the long day. Don't panic and cancel your score unless:
a) You were seriously ill on the test day (and it affected your performance)
b) You were seriously unprepared and plan to remedy that before taking the test again
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