Preparing for your College Entrance Exam

Whether you're taking the ACT, SAT, GRE, or GMAT, it is advised to prepare in advance with practice questions and sample exams. A test preparation course can change your view of college entrance tests from a necessary evil, to an opportunity to show off your accumulated knowledge. Professional trainers offer test prep programs to help you succeed in these timed and stressful college exams.

College Entrance Exams Matter

There's no doubt that college entrance tests are important. College administrators take your scores from these nationally recognized entrance exams into account to determine your place in line for admissions, financial aid, and scholarships. Entrance exams aren't the only qualification for college admission, but they're another chance for you to stand out from the crowd. Each test may take only a few hours to complete, but your performance can determine your academic placement and future career success for years to come.

Test Preparation: An Essential Process

Efficient test preparation can give you a dose of much-needed confidence in your undergraduate and graduate entrance tests. Nothing beats sage advice from those who have completed the testing process before you, especially when paired with the guidance of the organizations that create and administer the exams. Each test administrating body offers study guides containing sample questions from recent tests.

Here are the four major testing organizations for undergraduate and graduate students:

Undergraduate Testing Boards

The College Board (SAT)
American College Testing Program (ACT)

Graduate Testing Boards

Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAT)
Educational Testing Service (GRE)

The process of each test is similar. When you sign up to take a test, the administering body will send confirmation of your registration, a schedule and list of testing locations, and a general test practice guide. Test tutorials and guides generally evaluate each section of the test, explaining the number and types of questions as well as the allotted time for taking each section. Test elements such as essay and multiple choice options will be mentioned.

The test scoring methodology will determine your preparation and test strategy for each individual test. For example, answering questions incorrectly on the GMAT or SAT tests leads to a penalty, so guessing is not advised. The ACT test, on the other hand, only tallies correct answers. Careful reading benefits takers of the GRE exam, where a number of questions that appear to be identical will actually require different answers based on the precise wording of the text.

Preparation and Refreshing Your Skills

Preparation courses and practice tests can offer critical practice in the details of the college entrance test you plan to take. Skills such as answer speed, educated guessing, time budgeting, and test methodology can ensure you walk into the testing center with confidence.

Test preparation doesn't stop at the multiple choice section. For the written and essay-analytical portions of your tests, preparation courses can be useful in reviewing and renewing your critical structuring, organizational, and outlining skills. Your best test preparation tool may be in not allowing your lack of insight about one or two questions poison your confidence for the remainder of the test.

Sources
American College Testing Program (ACT)
The College Board (SAT)
Educational Testing Service (GRE)
Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAT)