<p>Everyone knows to get a good nights sleep, and eat breakfast. Post your tip</p>
<p>My tip: Get up early(6AM for a 8 AM SAT). Jog 10-5 minutes if your not a regular runner. If you run regularly, go like 2-3 miles at a fast pace.</p>
<p>what this does</p>
<p>1) waking up early ensures you are not still tired at 8 AM.
2) Running gets the blood going, which brings more oxygen to your brain, which helps you concentrate more.
3) Running calms you down.</p>
<p>interesting.</p>
<p>make sure you read the newspaper/do some simple math problems before you head off to the test center just so the actual questions on the test aren't the first things your brain processes in the morning.</p>
<p>My kids like to bring hard candies (like lifesavers or cough drops) for the tests. They've always done so & I expect they'll continue to do so. I try to be sure they have a decent breakfast--not too much or too little--just right. Also be sure to have enough lead & eraser (if you have mechanical pencils, which my kids favor) or enough #2 pencils & erasers if that's your preference.</p>
<p>Get a decent night's sleep before the test, of course. Remember to have fresh batteries for your calculator (if you're allowed to use one in your test).</p>
<p>I heard that peppermint or any kind of mint helps increase your concentration..</p>
<p>Eat a banana before the test. Potassium helps your brain function.</p>
<p>some coffee and bananas.
walk (or run) a little to get your blood circulating
listen to mozart before test</p>
<p>I've gotten used to waking up really early to do homework and such (during the week I'll wake up around 5:30am or 6:00am [school starts at 8:15] to do homework/study/read) to get used to functioning at that time. So I wake up around 5:30am on test days, eat a light breakfast [I NEVER eat breakfast, so usually just toast is enough for me] and go to Jamba Juice or Starbucks, get some coffee and read a magazine. I wouldn't recommend reading a book because that's one topic while a magazine is more reading different topics for information, I guess. I usually read National Geogrpahic, US News, or Foreign Policy. Newspapers work, too, of course. So I just read and drink my coffee or smoothie for about an hour and then I'll go straight to the test center from there. And, this is probably not recommended by most, but I bring a snickers bar and water bottle for the break. The extra sugar works for me, I dunno.</p>
<p>I thought of more. I am so quirky when it comes to test days...</p>
<p>I always have altoids but hard candy/gum works just as well for me. Cough drops, as someone mentioned, would probably be great.</p>
<p>And I have about a MILLION pencils in my purse. Ticonderogas so I don't have to worry about bad erasers :P Not just for me (even though I use a different pencil for each test/section [ACT I'll have 5, SAT I'll have 10, AP I'll have two]) but because some people <em>forget</em> pencils and I hate when proctors ***** about not having enonugh pencils, so I share. Hahaha. </p>
<p>Umm, always have batteries or a spare calculator...</p>
<p>And I think appearance is important the day of the test. I know a lot of people who go in looking like they've rolled out of bed... but I have to feel as though I look somewhat nice to take the test a bit more seriously. If I go in comfy pants and a sweatshirt or something I'll get tired. So I usually go in jeans and a tshirt (usually a college school... my Reach usually makes me work a bit harder on the test as it's a constant reminder of why I need to do well) with hair and makeup done like it's a regular school day or something. Usually hair is in french braids so that it won't get in the way...</p>
<p>And always arrive with enough time to spare because once I arrived JUST on time and I was freaking out, thinking I was late.</p>
<p>And I need a watch with a timer. Absolutely essential for me.</p>
<p>Yeah, okay that's all I've got for now. I'm so anal about testing conditions..</p>
<p>Personally I hate going super duper early. I did that for my bio SAT II and I just sat there freaking out for about 15 minutes. I wasn't sure whether I was allowed to study from a review sheet in my pocket while I was waiting for more people to come in because I figured they'd think I was planning on cheating from it later on. And I didn't want to study while hiding it from everyone's view or I'd look suspicious and they'd kick me out and tell me I can't go to college...</p>
<p>I'd remembered that everyone says dress in layers in case it's too hot/cold. I wore jeans, a tshirt, and a sweatshirt in June (our schools are usually freezing cold) and ended up being miserable because I couldn't take my sweatshirt off since my review sheet was in the front pocket of it (I'd forgotten about it before) and I was afraid it would fall out and someone would scream CHEATER!</p>
<p>Oh god the anxiety...</p>
<p>One of my pet peeves is that I HAVE to have my desk completely cleared. So this November, December, and January I'm gonna wear a hoodie and pants with big pockets for my etra pencils/erasers so that I don't have to worry about things rolling around (AHH!) or taking up much needed space.</p>
<p>Is it just me or is it really annoying having to switch between your test booklet and the answer sheet on a tiny desk?</p>
<p>Tiny desks SUCK! If possible, and I'm dead serious, try and talk to students from oher schools to see which school has the biggest desks. I took the SAT at a school a few miles away because I had been there for a school event once and their desks were HUGE! It was great! So I signed up for ACT there, too. </p>
<p>I have to take AP test on a tiny desk... no other choice though, sigh. Test environment is so important it's insane. I also have to sit in front to the side. I've been lucky and have gotten this position all but once, and asked to move to an empty seat in the front. Luckily there was an empty seat because I don't want to cause a problem but nor do I want to sit in the back where I can see everybody freaking out. One thing that drives me insane is when people bounce their leg up and down during a test. I can't concentrate at ALL.</p>
<p>What good advice makeyourselfxo !! AND you seem like a nice person, with sharing your pencils and everything. I agree, I dress better during test days, and during school days in general.</p>
<p>Bump!..good post. Yeah I'm anal about the way I look...so I never leave my house unless I match and look good :). Does mint actually increase concentration? If so, I'm gonna bring some altoids. I'm also anal about crowding up the desk with useless stuff and I'm a neat freak so my stuff has to be organized lol. What time is everyone going to go to bed? I think I'm going to try to get in bed at around 10ish this whole next week so friday night it won't take me forever to go to sleep since I usually go to bed at 12. Isn't coffee a No-No since it makes you *<strong><em>? I wouldn't recommend it...you wouldn't want to hold in a *</em></strong> while trying to take a test. anyway, name some other good tips :)</p>
<p>Haha, thanks, red06 =) I wish I could say my motives were purely nice... but I just can't stand it when proctors moan and groan about not having enough pencils for everyone. And I mean, what kind of person doesn't bring pencils to a test?!! I hate waiting there for the test to start, so if extra pencils can speed up the process, good. Plus, some proctors bring in stubby little pencils with bad erasers and those just don't help anyone like my newly sharpened ticonderogas will. Haha. So, whatever.</p>
<p>Coffee makes you ****?! Coffee's like all water.... so.... um..... uh.... I dunno? In any case it's probably not a bad idea to go to the bathroom before a test.</p>
<p>(I just realized how many typos/errors were in my above posts, sorry)</p>
<p>Has anybody tried drinking Red Bull before the test?</p>
<p>This thread is great, it shoudl be stickied.</p>
<p>DO NOT attempt to memorize words just before the test. If you have time after you arrive at the test centre, just stare at the wall. It will keep your memory blank for use during the Reading sections.</p>
<p>I'm not 100% sure..but I've read that it does and as a result it causes dehydration...not something you want. How about redbull? Anyone tried taking a test after drinking it? What are some other tips on concentrating?</p>
<p>"makeyourselfxo"...good idea for the seat upfront. I CAN'T STAND people tapping or shaking their leg. It annoys the **** out of me lol. I'm gonna sit up front and on the right for the test. :)</p>
<p>if you think the proctor moaning and groaning during the test is annoying.......try an old lady proctor using a kitchen timer to keep track of time......imagine.....tick.....tock......tick......tock</p>
<p>lol, thats what i had to go through. i didnt want to confront the old lady, because she was nice. but at the same time the timer was driving me insane so during the first break, i talked to her.</p>
<p>At my school, we have to sit in these old wooden chairs and our desks are tiny wooden boards that aren't even a foot long. The board just sits on the wooden arm chairs. And if you try to move...I accidentally hit the edge of the board while I was waiting for the reading section to end and it flew in the air and made a big noise. And we take the test in a big auditorium so the floor is slanted, so my pencils rolled all the way down to the front row (I was in row 26)...everyone was staring at me and I couldn't concentrate after that...it was horrible..</p>
<p>And were not allowed to eat or drink in there...so I nearly passed out from dehydration...I hate tests!</p>
<p>Turn on some Skinemax the night before the test and...</p>
<p>well, improbably not allowed to say but it starts with an m and ends with an e</p>
<p>Believe me, it works</p>
<p>I took my exam in this fancy private school and their exam room is like a university lecture room - bench type of tables and seats (like from the movie theatres- where you push down the seat down because the spring folds it up..)
And I went in late, and I got the furthest row - the highest row. And I did not knw I had a slight fear of heights.. Yeah and so I kept staring at the bottom floor part and I slightly had a panic attack..
And sitting back sux because when I was writing my essay, I kept on looking at everyone's paper in front (as they were kinda underneath me), to see how much they have written. And this guy in front of me had HEAPS of dandruff and I remember just staring at his white dots on his hair for like 50 sec straight, wasting my precious time..</p>