The big day is finally here!
You’ve chosen between the SAT and ACT, made your testing timeline, figured out how long to study for your test of choice, and diligently and efficiently plugged away at your test prep. Finally, after multiple months of lead-up, you’re about to actually sit for the test!
How exciting! And also (for some students), how nerve-wracking!
Luckily for you, though, you’re about to get advice from someone with a dozen years’ worth of experience calming down nerve-wracked students like yourself. It’s my whole job to help high schoolers perform on Test Day and reach or even exceed their Target Scores…and ultimately get accepted into the colleges of their dreams. What I’m going to show you today is exactly what to do the morning of your ACT or SAT to get rid of the test-day jitters, stay calm and collected, and ultimately get your highest score possible! Ready?
The Best Test Day Routine for a High ACT or SAT Score
1) Wake up with ample time to get ready.
It goes without saying that you should get some serious ZZZ’s the night before you sit for the SAT or ACT. (By “serious ZZZ’s,” I mean eight to nine hours of quality sleep!) However, what I often have to walk my students through the week of their tests is how to work backwards to discover WHEN those eight or nine hours should begin!
For instance, if you know you that your test center’s doors close at 8AM—which really means that you must get there by 7:45AM at the LATEST, so as not to risk being locked out—when would you need to leave your house to be absolutely positive you’ll arrive by that slightly earlier time?
Got your “departure from house” time in mind? Good. Now work backwards to figure out when you’d need to wake up to get through the below morning routine and leave by that departure time! (And count 8 or 9 hours backwards to determine when you should actually get to sleep the night before!)
2) Shower in the morning.
If you can choose between showering at night or in the morning, pick morning! You want to use every trick in the book to be awake and alert before your ACT or SAT, and there’s nothing quite like a hot shower to help you make the state change from slumber…to numbers.
3) Wear Comfortable Clothing.
Believe me: no one else cares what you show up to your test center wearing. But YOU will care if you dress in uncomfortable or restrictive clothing or shoes! Save the stiletto boots or miniskirts for outings with your friends and instead opt for clothing that’ll be cozy over the course of three to four hours of sitting.
4) Eat a Protein-Rich Breakfast.
Your brain needs food to fuel all those correct answers, so make sure you eat a balanced breakfast that has carbs AND fats/protein! You’ll need the carbohydrates for energy and the protein and fat to keep you satiated for multiple hours…you’re running a marathon here! Plus, there’s nothing quite as distracting as a rumbling stomach during the ACT’s Science section or the SAT’s Calculator Math section. Hunger pangs could seriously throw you off your game.
Some good options: an omelette with veggies and cheese; eggs and toast with a bit of butter or avocado; granola and whole-milk yoghurt with some fresh berries. You get the idea!
5) To Caffeinate or NOT to Caffeinate?
Here’s the rule of thumb I encourage all my students to follow: coffee or not, don’t change up your caffeine routine the morning of your SAT or ACT! If you enjoy your cup of Joe (or espresso) each day, PLEASE don’t try to quit cold turkey today of all days! (Caffeine headaches are the WORST!)
Likewise, if you’re NOT a coffee/caffeinated tea person, don’t start now—unless you’ve taken practice tests using coffee/tea to see what it’s like, and the results were positive!
If you’re a “sometimes caffeinated” person and could go either way, make sure you experiment taking mock tests both WITH coffee/tea and without, so you understand how each choice affects your performance.
6) Write Your “Morning Pages.”
Years ago, I read a life-changing book called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. One of the practices that she describes is something called “Morning Pages.”
The idea is that first thing in the morning, you put your pen to a piece of paper and fill THREE pages. Your writing doesn’t have to make sense, be grammatically correct, or discuss anything particularly profound. In fact, you don’t even correct mistakes—no crossing out or erasing or deleting allowed! And what’s more? You’re never even going to READ what you wrote, so you can discard it or stuff it in a drawer.
So, if you’re writing garbage and you’re never going to read it or use it again, you might be thinking: “what’s the point?” The answer is simple: the point is to clear your mind of all the gunk and mental chatter, so that those subconscious thoughts aren’t taking up your head space when you’re sitting in your testing seat!
And the morning of the SAT or ACT is exactly the kind of morning when you want to purge anything from your brain that won’t help you stay present and focused!
7) Do a Quick (and Unchallenging) “Warm Up.”
After you’ve done your mind dump of useless musings and even destructive thoughts that aren’t going to help you ace your test (i.e. Morning Pages), now you get to warm up your mind and get into the test-taking zone!
Think about it: you wouldn’t give a singing recital without warming up your vocal cords with some scales, would you? And you wouldn’t play your final field hockey tournament match without stretching and even running some laps, would you? So why would you attempt to take a high-stakes test without doing the same for your brain?
The quickest and easiest way to do this is to take a page of easy-ish Math or Grammar questions and work your way through them. You can recycle the first 4-6 questions from an old Writing/English or Math practice test section OR from old SAT/ACT homework assignments or practice drills. Don’t tackle super-hard questions lest you just end up discouraging yourself. Give yourself some quick wins so you can start to get your head in the game.
If time is short, you could even do your 4-6 questions of “warm up” while you’re eating your balanced breakfast or commuting to your test center!
8) Remember to bring all your Test Day Necessities with you!
Remember all those things you gathered to bring with you on Test Day? (You don’t? Then read this post about what belongs in your stash of essential Test Day items!)
Well, the next step is to actually BRING THEM with you, so you have everything you’ll need to check in, take the test, and be physically comfortable along the way!
9) Arrive to the Test Center on time.
Double- and triple-check your SAT or ACT registration ticket to make sure you know exactly when the doors close, and plan to arrive at least 15-30 minutes earlier! Nothing will throw you off your mental game like being rushed or worried about making it on time.
10) Strike a Power Pose While you Wait.
While you’re waiting in line to get in the test center’s doors or waiting in line to check in, strike a “high power” pose, like a Super Woman pose—for at least 2 minutes straight!
(Haven’t heard of “Power Poses”? Read this post to learn all about how to use them to decrease stress and raise your decision-making capabilities during the SAT and ACT!)
Didn’t have to wait in any lines? While you’re at your desk to take the test, you can still SIT in a “high power” pose while you fill in your information before the test begins!
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If you follow the above advice—as have hundreds of past students who’ve gone on to achieve success on their SATs and ACTs—a few things will happen for you. You’ll have the physical, emotional and mental stamina to ace the SAT and ACT; you’ll encounter fewer logistical hiccups on test day; you’ll know you did everything within your power to get in the best possible headspace for your test…and you’ll more than likely get an outstanding score! Not too shabby.
And if you want to be like those hundreds of successful students—i.e., if you want to have an expert in YOUR pocket to help YOU get your target SAT or ACT score—find out how to work with me here.
OR, if private tutoring doesn’t fit your budget or study style, never fear! My online course is perfect for you:
This is a totally digital, totally self-directed video class that will help you slay the dragon of your test anxiety. I walk you through over a DOZEN tricks and strategies for keeping calm and testing on. So if you liked the hack that today’s post had to offer, just imagine the kind of score you can achieve with loads MORE of them!
