Overstudy

Among the tidbits of wisdom that I attempt to impart to my students is the fact that it doesnt really matter if they understand a particular rule/concept/strategy after Ive explained it to them once. The real test is whether they can apply at 8 oclock on a Saturday morning, when theyre still not 100% awake, and, oh yeah, are in the middle of taking an exam that will play a very significant role in determining where they spend the next four years of their lives. In general, I do my best not to pile on the pressure for my students (theyre certainly under enough already, and I certainly dont want to be responsible for anyone having a nervous breakdown!), but every now and then, when someone needs a reality check about whats involved in really and truly mastering a concept, I give them that little speech. Usually its met with a small giggle and a look of minor incredulousness. Until they actually go through the process of taking the SAT and end up sitting in front of question 9 in section 10, desperately trying to wade through four-and-a-half hours of test-taking fatigue and figure out just what is wrong with the stupid sentence already, most people dont fully appreciate what it means to understand comma splices. So let me spell it out. If you havent taken the SAT yet, you might not quite believe, but trust me, its something to keep in mind as you prepare. True mastery of a particular concept, whether it be comma splices, dangling modifiers, or right triangles, means that you can always recognize when its being tested. Always. No matter how tired you are, no matter what you were doing beforehand, no matter how much room the people in the next room are making, no matter what angle its being tested from the knowledge is just there. If you can usually recognize comma splices on the SAT but use them rampantly in your own writing, that means you dont fully understand them which means that you still have the potential to get fooled on the exam. Likewise, if formulating a clear thesis statement and composing an argument that adheres consistently to it something thats just beginning to sink in for you, theres no guarantee youll be able to pull it off on the real test. This is not just a question of getting familiar with how the SAT works. Until you get to the point where its an extension of a real-life skill, one that you consistently apply in your actual schoolwork, there will always be an element of chance. (If you dont believe me, ask a kid who got a 12 on the essay without doing a single practice run: I can virtually guarantee that coming up with a clear thesis and keeping their argument directly focused on it is something they can do in their sleep.) I think, by the way, that this is part of why so many people perceive the SAT to be so tricky. If youve just brushed up on a couple of things for the test but havent fully assimilated them, of course youre going to miss things; its inevitable, especially since the test is written to exploit those misunderstandings. What does this mean in terms of studying? Well Ill put it this way. For most people, the inclination is to study until theyve gotten more or less where they want to be. And then stop. But that doesnt really work: just because you did incredibly well on one practice test doesnt mean that youll necessarily do as well on the next test (unless, of course, you really do know what youre doing). So take another one. And another one. Do it until theres absolutely no way you can possibly score below a certain level, even on your worst possible day. And when you go back and review the questions youve missed, make sure that youre not just looking at the questions themselves but rather at the underlying concepts theyre testing. If you have trouble with subject-verb agreement, take a book and try to identify the subject and verb in every single sentence; if your ability to identify dangling modifiers is hit or miss, try writing some of your own. If you can produce it correctly, youll be a lot les s likely to overlook someone elses error. You might not be able to master everything, but you can pick a handful of concepts that seem well within your control and focus on them. Even three or four more questions per section could boost your score well over 100 points. The bottom line is that you never know just whats going to happen when you go in and take the test. If you perceive your score as the result of chance, whether particular the test is easy or hard well, chances are youre not going to do nearly as well as you could have. Or, at the very least, youre going to feel as if the whole experience is somehow beyond your control. But if youve trained yourself past the point of mastery, the whole experience might actually border on. . .maybe not quite pleasant, but at least not so bad.