The SAT and ACT have a reputation for being really hard tests. They are – but they are hard in a way that most students don’t expect. So it catches them doubly off guard. It’s what you don’t know that you don’t know that can kill you (or get you mugged in a dark alley)
Apparently in school tests are very straight forward. Which makes sense. The teachers aren’t trying to trick you – they’re trying to get an accurate picture of what you know.
The SAT and ACT are like muggers
But the SAT and the ACT are hard tests and very different animals. They are NOT nice and straight forward.
They are tricky, devious, always pulling sleight of hand tricks, and deliberately misleading.
For a lot of my students, we don’t focus on what they *know*. Because all my kids know the Pythagorean theorem but that won’t help them solve this “triangle” problem.
Instead, we focus on getting them used to and expecting the level of deviousness that the tests use.
How do you stop the mugging?
So how do you interact with a partner who lies, cheats, steals all of the time? Simple: you don’t trust them. Ever.
N.E.V.E.R. E.V.E.R. trust an ACT or SAT test question.You double check everything they say. You take nothing at face value.
You spend at least TWICE the time reviewing the test as you did taking it. And figure out WHAT you missed, WHY you missed it and what new TACTIC you are going to use in order to not fall for that same trick again.
Once students get their guards up, they’re much less likely to be deceived by those tricky test questions.
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