Standardized Exams: Tests of Endurance
Every standardized exam claims to test your ability to think critically, to solve problems, to demonstrate quantitative reasoning skills, and so on. But standardized tests do more than assess how well you do arithmetic, or how well you know grammar. They also test your endurance.
The SAT, with the optional essay, is 3 hours and 50 minutes, not accounting for breaks. The SSAT is almost three hours. These exams are long and grueling, even for students who find standardized testing easy. It’s a tale as old as testing itself: an otherwise high-achieving student struggles to get a good score on their SAT because the test tires them out. Though they might get A’s in their math classes, they fail to get their desired score on the Math Test because they’ve been taking the test for two hours before they reach the first math section of the exam.
To best prepare for your exam, you need to do more than learn the material. You need to build up your stamina.
The key to doing this is to do as much timed practice as is reasonable. Untimed practice is an integral part of learning new material and building good habits. It is paramount, however, that those habits and concepts get applied in test-taking conditions. The more practice tests you take, the more accustomed you will be to the length of the exam for which you’re studying. Think of it like running-- it’s a lot easier to wake up one day and run five miles if you’re used to running five miles.
In fact, thinking of yourself like a runner can be useful throughout your test-taking process. The endurance necessary for success on your exam isn’t just mental-- it’s physical. We often think of our mental and physical lives being separate, but that’s not necessarily the case. How we eat, how often we sleep, and how often we exercise deeply affects our energy levels, and our ability to focus on tasks.
On a three hour exam, it’s easy to misread a question, or forget a technique, or lose concentration. It becomes a lot easier to make those mistakes if you’ve been getting four hours of sleep for the two months before the exam. It gets a lot more challenging to maintain focus and energy if you’re running on pizza and Red Bull. Eating well, sleeping, and exercising regularly are necessary to success on these exams. They’re obviously no substitute for studying, but without them, your studying will be far less effective.
Standardized tests are never fun. But you can make them a lot easier by doing timed practice tests, and taking care of your body. Endurance and stamina are skills, just like reading comprehension or quantitative reasoning. It’s important to devote the time and energy necessary to building those skills for exam day.