SAT test strategies for kid who needs extra time but won't receive it

Test Preparation
1

My D has some short term memory issues that we are trying to get figured out. Because of this, she now needs to read much more slowly to make sure she understands the passages. This is causing a lot of anxiety for her as she takes the SAT practice tests.

The time element flares the short term memory issues, so I’m wondering could she simply not answer the last 8 (or however many) questions, and thus give herself more time on the others? The goal being she’d reduce some of that pressure to answer every single question. Are the last questions always more difficult than the first?

We are encouraging her to take the SAT in May and then again in June–She’s not looking for a high score. She’d be thrilled to get in the 1330-1360 range- On the two practice tests she took, she scored 600 Math 610 reading/writing–however the most recent test she made quite a few simple mistakes (knew the answer filled in the wrong bubble) and second guessed herself on a lot to the reading questions. Her tutor calculated she would’ve scored 650 on Math and 690 on Reading/Wrting had this not been the case.

Just curious if any of you have suggestions as to what might be helpful- thanks so much.

2

First off, as someone who needs extra time due to some unbelievably low processing speeds, I feel for your daughter. One strategy that always helped me to was to read the questions in advance and use those as my guide for the answer or to read the passage in increments of what the question requires (ie if a question needs you to read to line 8, stop there and answer it, the first paragraph, stop there, you get the idea). Maybe save big idea questions for last. This is also stuff that applies for people regardless of extended time although I’m not sure how helpful it will be to someone with short term memory issues. I’m not sure if answering the last questions first is a good idea because I don’t believe you get any more points for answering those than the ones at the beginning but you have a higher chance of getting them wrong or spending more time on them.
As far as trying to find other ways for your daughter to feel less pressured, ask her to think about what aspects of a timed environment make her stressed if having a clock or not having a clock makes her stressed, try to make sure that she has that for her real test. If she is afraid of not finishing in time, perhaps you could plan out how many minutes to take on each section, regardless of how many questions she answers, leaving several minutes at the end for review and to answer any she missed. Depending on her her personality, having a strategy like that may reassure her and help her focus and do better. If not, there are probably other plans you can make that would better fit her personality and help her succeed.
When I took the SAT/ISEE as a middle schooler (I’m currently a junior) reading comp was the section I had the most trouble with finishing. Although on standardized tests my percentile was about even with everything else but on those two I barely finished, and only because I skimmed the passages at the end really fast and gave it my best guess. If you get in a situation like that, I would focus on answering the questions about specific elements of a passage (such as vocabulary in a certain line or the idea of a short paragraph) as opposed to questions which you need to read the whole passage for.
Sorry if this wasn’t very helpful. I’m not an expert but I am sympathetic to your situation. I hope it works out and your daughter does well!

3

Whatever reading sections she finds easiest she should do first, and she should guess on any questions that require any more than thirty seconds of time, and go back if there is time. That time is otherwise wasted on answers she could get correct.

IMO, the ACTVis the easier of the two tests. Yes, the time constraint is an issue on the ACT, but I believe both questions and answers are more straightforward. I am a test prep tutor, so I have a lot of knowledge about both tests.

4

Thank you badwolf316 and Lindagaf for your thoughtful responses, I’ll have her read them when she gets home from school. I’m sure she’ll appreciate your input very much.

5

With the short term memory issue, it could help for her to circle the specific question that’s being asked on the math problem. That makes a tip I read from someone here.

In the PWN math book, the author does recommend spending careful time on the easier problems rather than hurrying through to the more difficult problems. That seems to coincide with what you were thinking.

It sounds like we may have a similar issue. My oldest has slower processing. I did not seek accommodations for testing because the neuropsychologist who tested her said she didn’t think she would qualify because her achievement levels were too high, i.e., she wasn’t failing. In other words, there wasn’t enough proof that it was technically a disabling condition. However, she put the recommendation in her report because it was significantly affecting her ability to meet her potential.

That recommendation was helpful in a couple of tests when there was a lot reading and writing out a lot of specialized notation since her speed problem is visual and visual-motor based. She needed to pass that class to proceed in her degree, so I’m thankful we had the documentation even if she didn’t need it much.

I hope your D can get the same documentation in case she is in the situation when she needs it.

6

Thank you MACmiracle-it does indeed sound like we have similar issues. We are in the process of getting all the necessary evaluations, it’s taking longer than we anticipated. We’re going to discuss all the tips shared here, and I know they’ll be very helpful. It’s also lovely to know that she’s not alone in all this. It’s very frustrating for her, so knowing other kids experience similar struggles with these tests takes a bit of the sting out of it. She’s not the only one, in other words!

7

The questions do not get harder as the test progresses.

However, certain reading passages may be easier/harder depending on her own interests/background.

If she finds the science reading passage harder - skip that one. Or for some kids the fiction passages are more challenging. Also - there will be passeges with graphs - depending how she feels maybe that is the one to skip. There will also be a paired passage - given memory issues - that could be the most challenging.

Practice tests should help her identify which type of passage might be best to skip.

Within any given passage - the questions may start hard…or start easy…or get hard in the middle. No way to predict.

I am a strong advocate of active reading - underlining, circling, making notes in the passage, labelling paragraphs.

Also - I disagree with the read the question first approach. The new SAT is ALL about context. Reading the Qs first is a good way to miss out on the important context clues that are required to read.

Best of luck to her!

8

Well, her scores seem to be fine but to avoid further stress on this, here is a list of 950+ schools that are test-optional or otherwise deemphasize scores. Many of the schools are tippy top in terms of quality and selectivity.
http://fairtest.org/university/optional

For merit aid, some of them do require scores. But it is perfectly possible to apply to some great colleges without taking a single standardized test.

Again, mid 600’s is pretty darn good, but if that score somehow doesn’t reflect true ability, consider applying without scores at all.

9

I am also an SAT tutor, but with only 2 years experience I don’t consider myself as much of an expert as I’d like to become. I am currently tutoring one student who will get extra time, and one student who should get extra time but was denied. Here are a couple hints for those challenged with time.

Reading –

I’m not a proponent of the read-the-question-first approach. That said, I think it makes sense to practice a few approaches in advance and see what works.

I do strongly recommend – for all students – that when you get to the paired passages, you read only the first passage and then answer the questions that relate to the first passage. Then go on to read the second passage, and then answer questions that relate to the second passage, and then the ones that relate to both passages.

If she does well on the remainder of the reading questions, she could skip an entire passage and still achieve the goal score. I don’t necessarily recommend that she skip a section, but it’s ok if she gives herself permission to do so. I definitely recommend that if she hits a passage she is not connecting with, just let it go, move on, and come back to it if there’s time.

She should use her pencil often. Underline, asterisk, write notes in the margin. I recommend that for everyone, but I suspect she might benefit more than most.

She should tell herself that each passage is incredibly fascinating. That tactic helps everyone absorb more and recall more, even if they know it was not exactly true. It’s kinda like smiling even when you feel glum; you can’t help but feel at least a little better.

I recommend for all my students that they don’t try to absorb all the details of the reading but instead try to quickly gain a big picture concept of the flow of the passage. This works especially well for the social science and natural sciences sections, and even the historical section. Try to have a big picture sense of the article and then reserve plenty of time to go back to the passage to find support for the correct answers to the particular questions. This approach works less well with the fiction passage, which generally requires a slower and more in-depth reading the first time around.

Bubbling – Don’t bubble after every question. It takes a lot of time and each time is a distraction. Also, the odds of a bubbling error go up significantly this way. Have her circle her selections in her work book and then bubble at the end of the passage. Huge time and attention saver. Obviously, once you get to the last 5 minutes or so, start bubbling each question as you go.

Guessing – Pick a favorite guessing letter (I recommnend “b” or “c”, but “a” and “d” are perfectly fine too) and be sure to quickly fill in any remaining questions that you didn’t get a chance to look at with your letter of choice. You’ll have a 25% chance of selecting the correct choice.

Math –

Always re-read the question asked right before you circle your answer choice. I can’t emphasize that enough.

Circle your answer choice in the work booklet. Bubble at the end of every 2-pages; right before you turn the page in your booklet, bubble your choices. This will potentially save a couple minutes.

Use your pencil liberally. Underline units and words like “greater than”, “product of”, etc. Use your pencil to do your work on all but the very easiest of problems.

Always re-read the question asked right before you circle your answer choice. I can’t emphasize that enough. :wink:

If timing is an issue on the math section, START with the grid-in questions (#16-20 on Section 3, #31-38 on Section 4). The grid-in questions (like the first part of the test) start easy and get harder. The thing is, if you run out of time and are unable to answer the last 5 questions of Section 3, for example, it’s a double shame, because (a) you would have missed the opportunity to do questions 16 and 17, which are two of the easiest questions on the test, and (b) since the last 5 questions are grid-in, it’s virtually impossible to guess. If you start with 16 and go to 20 and then start over at question 1, and you don’t have time for the last 5 questions, (a) you are skipping 5 of the harder questions on the test (and you might not have gotten them anyway), and (b) you still have the ability to guess and odds are that you’ll get at least 1 correct through pure luck.

Always re-read the question asked right before you circle your answer choice. I can’t emphasize that enough. :smiley:

Good luck!!

10

wow! Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions–I’m going to have her read and re-read them and then we can discuss how she can apply them–I think she’ll do quite well, actually. We’ve spent a lot of money on tutoring, and her tutor didn’t ever give her any of these tips–very annoying if you ask me.