<p>My S just took the SAT I for the second time yetersday. He scored a 2100 the first time around. The problem is he seems to do so much better on practice tests. He attributes this to the hour. Do any of you night owls have any suggestions for doing your best so early in the morning?</p>
<p>you have to practice in the last week... you need to wake up at like 6:30 everyday and just do some sections... that is what i did.</p>
<p>But i don't know if i did well as it was my first time, i was just looking for the experience, and just hoping to get over 2000</p>
<p>i plan to retake it in June with a bunch of vocab down, some reading down (have a list of books i want to read) and possibly get my reading all the way up.</p>
<p>Caffeine. I seriously had a 16 ounce diet coke before 10 am in addition to super strong tea.</p>
<p>It really helps if you've been up for a couple of hours. I'm an early bird so it isn't a problem for me as I'm sure it would be for others but I'm sure that time to wake up is really beneficial.</p>
<p>There are a few important things, some of which may seem obvious:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>He should take his diagnostic tests at about the same time that he would be taking the official one (8 to 8:30 am). Ideally, someone else should proctor the test for him.</p></li>
<li><p>The week leading up to the exam, he should be sure to get plenty of sleep (8 to 9 hours) each night, and he should definitely be in bed by 9:30 pm the night before the exam.</p></li>
<li><p>He should wake up by 5:30 to 6 am on the morning of the exam. Most people require at least two hours to fully "wake up" and be at their mental peak. He should also do a few warm-up questions in each section before he gets to the test site.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I hope this helps!</p>
<p>damn i went to bed at around 11:30 the day before the test...</p>
<p>went to see a 'Gina Monologue at Fordham with my brother and came home at around 10:30</p>
<p>This might sound crazy but my son did considerably better on the second go-around with SAT (800 on two sections) because I swear he was finally awake. We took him out for a biscuits and gravy breakfast (protein and carbs) several hours before and it seemed to work. He did it again for the SAT IIs with success.</p>
<p>I am going to save these to use if he needs to retest or for the Sat II's. He is already onto caffeine. He had an energy drink on the way to the test (which was about a 50 minute drive). This isn't the same and being really rested, at least not for him. Practicing for the test early in the morning, changing the wake/bedtime schedule to match the test at least for the week of the exam, planning on 8 to 9 hours of sleep and a good breakfast with carbs and protein are all things he can try. He needs to work on making schedule changes well ahead of time. He went to bed at 11:00 the night before the test. This was a half an hour earlier than the usual. He said he couldn't get to sleep any earlier than that. Thanks for your help, I should have asked a few weeks ago:) Let me know if you have any other ideas.</p>
<p>I wanted to add one more thing, this came from my spouse who believes that Son should do NO STUDYING the night before. In fact, Son played a computer game all evening and went to bed at a reasonable hour. He prepared adequately before the test, and cramming doesn't usually work anyway (at least it did not for me in college) Son was less stressed that way.</p>
<p>Go to sleep at 6 PM, wake up at 5 AM. Expose yourself to lots of light.</p>
<p>Go to sleep at 3PM (as soon as you get home from school), wake up at 1 AM and study, then go back to sleep and then wake up barely getting to the test site in time</p>
<p>coffee. or if possible (but very uncomfortable), stay alert by being really cold in the room (like dressing lightly in the middle of the winter) =P</p>
<p>the 8.00 actually hurt me. i couldn't get sleep the previous night, so i ended sleeping for 5 hours. i survived the test on redbull. and it was horrible i tell you. horrible.(pressure the next day)</p>
<p>Do your practice tests at 8:00 AM. Replicating real test conditions is the best way to prepare.</p>
<p>For me, lots of sleep was unnecessary (I think I got 6 hours). My secret was a lot of food during breaks. I brought approximately seven six-packs of sandwich crackers. Do not get hungry during this test. Keep you brain well-fueled.</p>
<p>Make sure you get enough sleep not just the night before, but for at least a week before. How much sleep is "enough" for you can vary, so you should figure that out well in advance.</p>
<p>you know, some people wouldn't bother (like me for instance), but also, make sure your comfortable during the test. wear layers, and have tissues, because for me, right near the end, i started to get really chilly and it was just so obnoxious trying to finish the test with a runny nose, and thin sweater</p>
<p>Big mistake to sleep before 9 pm because I had the headache and i never get headache's.</p>
<p>Actually I remember reading that there were studies done of chess
players in Russia that showed that males performed worse than
their optimal than females in the morning (no reference for me to
cite sadly). Something to do with testosterone level interfering with
mental function.</p>
<p>Also, it apparently takes 48 hours for biorythms to settle into patterns.
So sleeping early etc just the night before the test will not help unless you
have establsihed the rythm earlier. If you couple that with the "it
takes 72 hours to recover from x hrs sleep deprivation" you have almost
5 days of good living to do before positive effects accrue on the day
of the test?</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>I took Ritalin, didn't go to sleep, ended up studying at 5 AM, took another Ritalin at 7:30 and was fine during the test</p>