First Aid Kit for Testing During a Pandemic
Test preparation means being prepared for test day, come what may. While most preparation occurs in the months, weeks, and last desperate days before an exam, every test taker should endeavor to be ready for whatever might happen on the day when it all counts. And unexpected, surprising, and sometimes even alarming things can happen during tests. The process of testing can take as much of a toll on a body as it does on a brain. The atmosphere of intense concentration and anxious silence tends to open up nasal passages and magnify the nuisance factor of every little itch, pain, and sniffle. Toss in the fear that the students testing next to you might be carrying COVID-19 (even though they almost certainly are not) and you can understand why your Test Day Checklist must include a well-stocked first aid kit: MASK Don’t expect to get into your test center…
Annotated Test Day Checklist: COVID Edition
While scattered locations across the country saw ACT administrations in June and July, the last weekend of August really marks the beginning–and hopefully not the end–of college admissions testing in the time of the novel coronavirus. Many school districts may have abruptly closed their test sites, but many still seem committed to offering anxious teens the opportunity to test. If you were lucky enough to register for a test center that is still running the SAT or ACT, make it count! College Board has shared guidance on health and safety measures for weekend test administrations, including the following rules: — All students and staff to wear a mask or protective face covering during an SAT administration. — Students must be seated at least six feet apart during testing. — Students must confirm a series of safety screening statements prior to entering the test center or room. Clearly, testing during COVID-19…
Is My SAT or ACT Test Center Closed?
Into each life, a little rain–or snow or natural disaster or pandemic–must fall. Isn’t that how the line goes? No matter what calamity comes your way, don’t make it worse by showing up for a test that’s been cancelled. Both College Board and ACT maintain pages with critical information about test center closings and reschedules. SAT Test center closings for the SAT and SAT Subject Tests are listed on the SAT Test Center Closings page a few days before each test date. Information about makeup testing is posted to this page as it becomes available. If a makeup date has been confirmed, that information is included. Note that students affected by test center closings will be notified by email, possibly before the official page is updated. It’s also worth sharing that the College Board page doesn’t always update quickly, so consider checking in with the school hosting your test if…
The Night Before Your Big Test
No matter how much or well you practice, your score comes down to how well you perform when it counts. While we rightly focus on what happens on test day, we’d be remiss if we ignored that all-important night before test day. You cannot guarantee a given score but you can guarantee that you arrive relaxed, confident, and prepared to earn that score by following these three steps: Pack everything you’ll need the night before. Don’t wait until you wake up to get your essential gear together. If you’ll need to present ID and an admissions ticket, make sure you locate them before you turn in for the night. Also assemble a comfortable wardrobe with layers in case your testing environment is too warm or too cold. Pack performance snacks, water, and tissues. Also make sure that any calculator you bring is fully charged. Directions to an unfamiliar test center…
Writing Relieves Test Stress
Test anxiety is truly an unruly beast, eager to sabotage us during our most important moments. Fortunately, all kinds of strategies work well at taming this beast. If you’ve ever struggled with maintaining peak performance in the face of stress, consider adding expressive writing to your arsenal. Expressive writing?! Gerardo Ramirez and Sian L. Beilock, researchers from the University of Chicago, unraveled an interesting knot of interactions: – Worries lead to poor test performance. – Expressive writing helps regulate worries. – Expressive writing should lead to better test performance. These researchers devised a series of tests to test their hypothesis that expressive writing benefits high-stakes test performance, especially for students who tend to worry in testing situations, by reducing rumination. They created a high-stakes math testing environment in their lab and amped up the pressure among subjects. Then, subjects spent 10 min either sitting quietly (control group) or writing as…
What About the SAT or ACT Waitlist?
No college-bound student wants to hear the word “waitlist” from the school of her dreams. But the waitlist option can be a boon to anyone who misses the registration deadline or decides at the last minute to take a test. The College Board neatly summarizes the risk and reward of waitlist status: Waitlisted students are admitted to the test center on a first-come, first-served basis. Waitlisted students are seated after all regularly registered test-takers have been admitted and if sufficient test materials, staff, and seating are available. If weather or some other unexpected condition closes your test center, your waitlist request will be canceled and you will be notified. You may be able to submit a new waitlist request for another center if there’s time. So the most important fact to keep in mind is that students on the waitlist, or what ACT refers to as Standby Testing, are NOT…