<p>Every review book on the planet mentions the importance of sleep on the SAT/ACT/SAT II/AP/etc.
In your experience, how important has sleep been to your success on these tests?
I'm taking the SAT in January.</p>
<p>For the ACT, I woke up early for four or five days straight before the test, so that the morning of the test, it felt natural waking up. I felt good when the alarm went off...(as opposed to my alarm clock jolting me awake from deep sleep and feeling tired as s**t). I scored well (34), but I'm not sure how much of a role the sleep played because it's not like I know what I would have gotten had I not slept well the night before. </p>
<p>I was on summer break the week before the ACT, whereas that's not the case when I'll be taking the SAT in January so I won't be able to perfect my sleep schedule.</p>
<p>From the book BRAIN RULES by Dr. John Medina, Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine and director of The Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University </p>
<p>“Loss of sleep hurts attention, executive function, working memory, mood, quantitative skills, logical reasoning, and even motor dexterity.” (p. 168)</p>
<p>I have chronic headaches so it helps me significantly on the ACT. Unfortunately, i’m also insomniac. </p>
<p>The difference is from the low 30s range from when I actually had an okay sleep and to a 34 on the ACT on a better day. Was still sick that day though and got sick 2 days before the next ACT test day, so I will never know what I would get if I wasn’t sick and had a good sleep.</p>
<p>My science score fluctuates the most depending on how bad my headache is, but probably because it requires the most reasoning and brain power.</p>
<p>There are tests where it’s not as necessary to be alert. Mainly the MC type memorization tests, where you don’t need to be super alert to recall an answer. Like for my AP biology exam I wasn’t concerned with a lack of sleep the night before. </p>
<p>But for problem solving tests (which the SAT and ACT are) I think being alert is essential. Luckily in my experience I don’t need much sleep for this the night before (3 or 4 hours I’ve found will suffice, never tried anything less), I just have to wake up far enough in advance and get my morning shower in. Maybe I’ve just gotten used to it because I have insomnia the night before big things.</p>
<p>I took the SAT three times this year. The first two I didn’t get much sleep and tried to compensate with energy drinks, coffee, etc. For my final test I got a full nights rest and raised my score by 120 pts. For some people it may not make a difference but sleep definately helped me</p>
<p>Do get enough sleep before the test! I got 9 hours of sleep for the Oct 2010 SAT and got 2300+. But for the PSAT 4 days after the Oct SAT, I only got 7 hours of sleep and scored a 208.</p>
<p>Ironically, my friend and I both did better when we got little to no sleep. Personally, I think you do best under the conditions you’re used to. I never get 9 hours of sleep so when I finally did for test day, it really threw me off.</p>
<p>OKay, everybody has prob told u this, but ill say it anyway
SLEEP IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!
Turst me, if u dont sleep, nothing that u studied is gonna be in ur head and hwen u dot eh actual test, u might mess up
so sleep is good for u</p>
<p>^Definitely… You could know everything in the world, but it will take you 2 minutes to recall the most simplistic piece of information and by then you will be screwed anyway.</p>
<p>Usually, if there’s a big test the next day, I’ll be too worried to get a lot of sleep. But if I had been getting 8-10 hours of sleep during the previous few nights, I won’t be tired on test day and will do fine.</p>
Maybe if one gets absolutely zero sleep. But as long as I get a couple hours of sleep, and am awake for an hour before doing something (driving, taking a test, whatever), I can do that task as well as normal. Other people can too. I believe the term is “running on adrenaline.” </p>
<p>On < 3 hours of sleep I have:
-gotten 2nd place at a Science Olympiad Nationals Event (1.5 hours)
-scored a 35 on the ACT
-aced a handful of high school tests
-gotten scores of 5 on AP tests
-almost aced a college midterm (mean was a 75)
-driven 4 straight hours on a crowded highway with no incidents (no sleep)
-skied an entire day with no incidents (no sleep)</p>
<p>I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but I just want to show all that’s possible for some people with little to no sleep.</p>
<p>ok I know there have been plenty of responses, but I think the moral is this: some people have an uncanny ability to perform well on little sleep (but contrary to their beliefs, I HIGHLY doubt it is because they are used to it; with a regular sleep schedule for at least a few days, with 8-9 hours each night, I guarantee they would notice improvement in all aspects of their functioning), but don’t risk anything. If it’s possible with your school schedule, go to bed early for 2 or 3 nights before the test and wake up before 7, and sleep should not be a problem but rather a benefit. </p>
<p>It doesn’t matter what everyone’s experiences have been- getting a decent amount of sleep is going to help, so try to go about it as best as you can. Too much sleep is as bad as too little, so avoid sleeping 10+ hours (even if you have one night of <4 hours of sleep, oversleeping the next day will make you more tired). The key to avoiding inhibiting torpor is to regulate your sleep schedule; if you sleep a few hours two nights before the test but get a decent night’s sleep the night before, it will not be nearly as helpful as getting a decent night’s sleep for several nights beforehand. Regularity= same amount of sleep AND from same times i.e. 12am-8am is not the same as 10pm-6am. It is widely known and proven that the best sleep is the sleep you get before midnight, so I would suggest starting the Wednesday night before the test at the latest, sleep from 9:30-6:30 each night.</p>
Yeah I’d agree with you. But for people with anxiety problems like myself, it’s important I think to know if you can perform well enough under almost no sleep. Because if you end up being able to perform, then it takes a lot of pressure off the feeling of needing to get x hours of sleep, which makes it a lot easier to fall asleep. </p>
<p>If you go back and look at the things I listed, all but one were before college. At some point I just realized that I didn’t really need sleep to do well, and this helped my insomnia so much. Granted there are other things that can keep me up at night still, but worrying about not functioning the next day is not one of them anymore.</p>