I’ve been helping high schoolers get phenomenal SAT and ACT scores (and get into top-tier colleges) for 15 years now. Getting to work with a wide range of students is part of why I love my job—I really enjoy the puzzle of figuring out a given student’s individual strengths and needs and designing a game plan just for them.
But there’s one common thread I see again and again in new clients, regardless of their background: test anxiety.
That’s why I’ve dedicated a whole series of blog posts to the subject. I’ve covered what test anxiety IS and which types of students are most likely to get it. I’ve also shared a few of my top tips for beating test anxiety. If you haven’t read them yet, I highly suggest that you do! Don’t worry, I’ll wait :)
Back now? Great! Because guess what? MORE secret tactics for slaying test anxiety are coming your way! This week I’m helping you calm your nerves long-term with the frameworks strategy.
Article Contents
1. Video version of this article
2. What causes test anxiety, and who tends to suffer from it?
3. The Frameworks solution to test anxiety
4. How to use the Frameworks method
5. Why this strategy helps “Slackers” beat test anxiety
6. Why this strategy helps “Perfectionists” beat test anxiety
7. Other big-picture mindset shifts for the college process
8. Conclusion
Video version of this article:
Why it's important to overcome Test Anxiety
If you’re an 11th-grader in the class of 2026, chances are you’ve recently taken your first SAT or ACT this spring. (That is, unless you’re one of the small handful of members of the class of 2026 who can get away with not taking the ACT or SAT—i.e., your entire college list is composed of “Test Free” (aka “Test Blind”) schools, OR all the colleges on your list are Test Optional and you have the GPA and academic strength to skip standardized testing entirely and still get in.)
So given that most of you still want to send in a high ACT or SAT score to give yourself the best possible chance of getting into your top-pick college, I wanted to go back to what I started to share with you a couple months back: not letting test anxiety get the best of you.
After all, SAT and ACT prep can take a fair amount of time and work. After you’ve put in the hours, we don’t want your great score be sabotaged on test day by nerves! That’s no fair.
What causes test stress, and who tends to get the most stressed out?
As my very first post in this series explains, when you take a closer look at the issue, there are really only two main causes of test anxiety:
Lack of Preparation, and
Mental Chatter
I also explained in that post that there tend to be two types of students who suffer the MOST from test anxiety:
The “Slacker”—suffers primarily from the “Lack of Preparation” listed above, and
The “Perfectionist”—who suffers primarily from the above-mentioned “Mental Chatter.”
Today’s Test Anxiety Strategy is most explicitly oriented towards getting a “1) Lack of Preparation” under control. However, it can be effective for BOTH “Slackers” AND “Perfectionists.” I deploy this technique in my Ace the Test: Game Plans and when I first start working with a new student on raising their SAT and ACT scores.
I sometimes refer back to this technique if I need to get a “Slacker” to pick up the pace, or to help one of my “Perfectionists” stop having a stress attack so they can actually focus on studying (or taking the test).
Test Anxiety Hack #3: Make a Big-Picture Framework for Your College Journey
The idea behind this is actually simple; it just take a few minutes of dedication to actually implement it.
Basically, you’re going to look at the Big Picture for what you’re trying to accomplish, break that down into smaller pieces, and then outline any details that contribute to the ultimate goal. Once you do, you’ll realize that your exciting goals aren’t just wishy-washy daydreams—they could really happen! And you’ll have the smaller, actionable steps in place to MAKE them happen.
Sounds way more calming than just anxiously putting off thinking about the whole “college process” and “test prep” thing until the day before your SAT.
How to use this Test Anxiety method
Identify which colleges you want to apply to in the first place. We’re talking your DREAM schools.
Research them! What are their standardized testing requirements? Do they ask for the SAT or ACT? Will they consider those scores if you submit them? (Find this on the individual colleges’ websites.)
What are the median Digital SAT and ACT score ranges for students who got in? (Find this on CollegeData.com.)
What are YOUR diagnostic test scores on the ACT and SAT? How far away are you from your dream school’s score range, which you determined in #3?
What specific pieces of content in grammar and/or math and what specific strategies for ALL sections can you learn that would bridge this gap between #4 and #3? (You may need help from an expert on this—like me!)
Why this strategy helps “Slackers” beat test anxiety
For “Slackers” who feel like they don’t have the motivation to even start studying fr the SAT or ACT, I’ve found in my experience that this strategy has whipped them into high gear like no other—and gotten astounding results!
The “Slacker” doesn’t want to expend time or energy if they don’t see the point. So start with “the point.”
Remember, oftentimes, this type of test anxiety sufferer simply doesn’t see the larger purpose of his Calculus homework. So he doesn’t DO the homework. And then (shocking no one), he doesn’t get better at Calculus.
However, if you can BEGIN with the long-term dream (in this case, his or her dream college), get them to really see themselves on that campus as a very real possibility, and then connect the dots so they see how their dream of going to that college directly relates to a LIMITED list of topics to learn on the SAT or ACT…get ready! You may see your “Slacker” high schooler voluntarily skip Minecraft to study for the first time in recent memory!
Bonus points if you can help the student do the work themselves of mentally connecting the dots between their dream school and the specific test content and strategy topics they need to learn to get there!
Why this strategy helps “Perfectionists” beat test anxiety
For the “Perfectionist” who sees nothing BUT the capital-i Importance of the test…and therefore sends herself into a panicked meltdown, making a big-picture framework for college standardized testing can help her step back from anxiety because:
She will see that she doesn’t NEED to be perfect, e.g. get a 1600 or a 36. Instead, she only needs to improve X points to get a score of Y. That literally means she either doesn’t need to learn EVERYTHING the test could possibly ask about—or she should go ahead and study everything, with the understanding that she will make mistakes…and that’s ok. Because she can still score high enough to get into her dream school, even with a few missed Qs!
She will realize that there is a FINITE number of topics and strategies she needs to learn to actually accomplish her goal! She doesn’t need to drill herself endlessly on advanced grammar topics that won’t show up on the test—and even if they did show up on the test, they wouldn’t be the “low-hanging fruit” that it’s more strategic to focus on.
In fact, when I start working with one-on-one SAT and ACT tutoring students, one of the first things I do is—you guessed it!—create a framework for each section of the SAT or ACT. What do those test section frameworks look like, you say? I’m glad you asked! In a future post, I’ll lay out a few sample test section frameworks in detail and explain how these frameworks help a given student cut down on her study time AND her stress while boosting her score.
Other big-picture mindset shifts for the college process
Here are additional frameworks I create for my clients to increase their test prep motivation AND decrease their stress:
Framework for the content and layout of the SAT or ACT as a whole.
Framework for each section within the SAT or ACT, including a list of everything that could be tested within it. (And remember: it’s a FINITE list! If you learn all the topics, there’s nothing more to cram in your head—now it’s just a question of practicing applying that knowledge!)
Framework for Junior Year (planning out when you’re taking the SAT or ACT, when you have finals or AP exams, when you have tournaments or play practice or Spring Break, etc.).
Framework for the entire college process (grades, standardized testing, college essays, campus or virtual visits, etc.).
Basically, once you can get YOUR “Slacker” or “Perfectionist” to understand the Big Picture of their dreams, and then break that big dream into chunks, it not only lights a fire under your “Slacker’s” behind, but it eases a LOT of your “Perfectionist’s” overwhelm and anxiety!
Conclusion
And if you get stuck while creating a framework for any of these—or you’d like an expert to lend her perspective—that’s precisely where I can help! Book an Ace the Test: Game Plan® so I can do this hard work FOR you.
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 overcome the challenge of 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 tons MORE of them!
