Top Secret Tutor Tips

Laura Dickey Corey, Premium Tutor

Know What You're Looking For Before You Go Looking

We've all been there: that moment when you're frantically rifling through every pile, flipping over every cushion, desperately trying to find something in those last few minutes before you have to go. Maybe it's your keys, your phone, your wallet. Or maybe it's an answer on the SAT. Can you imagine how much harder that would be if you didn't know what you were looking for? There is a reason every scavenger hunt comes with a list of what to find.

It sounds obvious in a "real life" scenario that you would have trouble finding something if you didn't first know what that something was, but many students need to recalibrate their approach to test questions to incorporate this simple principle. All too often I watch students aimlessly search for the right answer choice before defining what that answer should look like. For example, a student might attempt to answer a Sentence Completion by plugging in the words from each answer choice without thinking critically about the hints in the sentence. The more effective and efficient method is to read the sentence, identify key context clues that suggest what the word(s) in the blank(s) should mean, and then search for a word that matches that meaning. The same concept applies throughout the SAT and ACT. You always need to know specifically what the question is asking for - and thus what the answer should look like - before you try to find the right answer.

Know what you're looking for before you go looking. When students follow that approach, they will both improve their accuracy and save time.