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SAT Chemistry Instructor Samantha R. shows you how to study for the SAT Chemistry test with just a week away.
- Take Control and Make a Schedule
- Study What is Tested the Most
- Don’t just read, RE-WRITE and RE-DO
Today, we’re going to go over three tips for last-minute studying for the SAT chemistry test.
Tip 1: Take control and make a schedule
Making a schedule is an immediate stress reliever because it puts you back in the driver’s seat and jump-starts your studying. How many hours at this point can you reasonably devote to studying? Take stock of all that you have coming up – tests, quizzes, your extracurricular activities, and make an assessment of when you have time that you can commit to studying. Don’t put your GPA in jeopardy; school comes first. But when you figure out which days you can devote to studying, make a commitment to study during those times, even if it’s only for a short period
Tip 2: Study What is Tested the Most
Last-minute studying is about getting the most bang for your buck. Grab a Barron’s or Princeton Review, go through it, and see what subjects are on the test. If you don’t have access to one of these, no worries. Go to the College Board website; they have a list there, too. You don’t want to spend precious minutes studying something that isn’t even covered. Use your class notes, previous texts, quizzes, and textbook to cover the subjects tested.
Tip 3: Don’t just read, RE-WRITE and RE-DO
Don’t just read, rewrite, and redo, even though it takes more time. Rewriting your notes and redoing problems is more effective than just reading them. As you’re going through your notes and studying, make sure to rewrite all of your formulas, rules, and trends. This is also going to give you a cheat sheet that you can review for a half-hour, either the night before or the morning of the test. Redoing problems will also keep them fresh in your mind and help you move quicker on test day.
Just remember, short-term or last-minute studying is a time to review the concepts that you already know, not to learn totally new things. You’re probably going to encounter subjects on the test that you’ve never seen before. The College Board created the test, knowing that students would not know all of the topics covered during the test. Therefore, you can still miss a few questions and get a perfect score.
Remember you’ve mastered most of these concepts in your classes already. An organized review will help you get your studying under control and prepped to do your best on test day.
What was your biggest takeaway from these tips? Do you have any questions for Samantha R. and Alexis Avila?
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