Things You Need to Know BEFORE You Begin Your Essay
Read the Question Carefully.
- Make sure you understand what is being asked of you by the assignment.
- Make sure you address EVERYTHING the question asks you to address.
- Some questions might have two parts. Unfortunately, many students do not read the question carefully and only answer one part of a two-part question. Their scores are lowered as a result. DO NOT LET THIS BE YOU!!!
Know the time
- Pace yourself to accomplish everything you need to accomplish within the allotted time frame. Knowing the time – and working within the time limits – is a huge part of the strategy for success.
- Bring a watch/timepiece of your own. There is no guarantee the room in which you will be testing will have a clock that is working.
Remain Calm and Focused
- Relax, if you have properly prepared (by practicing extensively) you will be fine.
- Concentrate on the task at hand. Do not waste your mental energy worrying. Focus on answering the question and responding to the essay prompt to the best of your ability.
- This is NOT the time to be worried about college acceptance, your future career or what your parents are going to say when they see your scores. Be mature about what you are there to do and FOCUS your mental energy on the task at hand!
Strive to make a strong impression.
- The test is graded holistically. This means Test Graders will only give you a round score (on a scale from 1-6) for your essay as opposed to going through it line by line and pointing out all the mistakes.
- To influence the scores in an upward direction, make it a point to think about creating a strong impression right from the start.