This is kind of a general question. I noticed that stress had affected my past scores. When I say this mean that I didn’t do as well as I predicted. Last year (junior year) I had a substantial amount of stress due to a on going medical condition. I studied non-stop and didn’t make time for myself when I needed it most. Shortly after that I got surgery, felt better, and increased my SAT score. Worrying yourself sick isn’t good for anyone, and I made this post so we could share some advice on stress coping methods. Just to share some experiences and to help each other out. This is what I did to help with the stress.
When I was on bed rest for a good 2-3 months I still studied A LOT, but I noticed that by doing this my recovery wasn’t going so well. So that when I decided to study for only 1 hour a day and after studying I would work on some of my art work or maybe read a novel. By the time I was able to start exercising again I took a 30 minute walk to clear my head when I started to feel overwhelmed. This is how I managed my stress without getting myself sick.
Before the test on October, I just laid on my bed and stared up to the ceiling for 45 minutes, not even thinking about anything actually. On the morning of the test, I kept a constant smile and went in confident. I didn’t feel much stress during the test
I took a cold shower the morning of the test and would put a mint in my mouth during breaks. Idk if that helps but I was a lot more calm this time than the others. You should also prepare everything like the Thursday before because I couldn’t find my ID card that Friday night and got bad sleep because I couldn’t find it. I ended up using my sophomore ID card(I’m a senior) and hoped they wouldn’t notice lol.
I slept really well the night before. Ate a good breakfast. I wrote a practice essay in the morning to get warmed up for the real essay, but otherwise I didn’t do any studying before the test. Umm, after that, just do whatever you can to relax. Listen to music, etc. I ate a lot of candy during the test.
Another thing is that the school you take the test in does impact you. The first time I took it, I was in a school 2 hours (got up at 5) with bad proctors, way too many students, the test started almost 2 hours late, etc… The second time (this October) it was in a top public school 30 mins away, and my score went up 120 points. I didn’t study between the first and second ones, I was just much less stressed. The testing environment really makes a difference, as does your mindset.
On the morning of tests I like to listen to a lot of jazz/alt J and either park a reasonable distance from the testing center and go on a short walk or just sit in the cool air.
