Without a doubt, having to take a standardized test, whether it be the ACT or SAT, can be nerve-wracking.  Understandably, getting a good score on your standardized test is a crucial part of the admission process for most colleges.  Accordingly, there are some tips you can follow to help alleviate your anxiety and put you in the best position to succeed on test day.   These are as follows:

1)    Preparation is key – make sure you study as much as possible, as too often, stress comes from feeling a lack of control over a situation.  Meaning, sometimes people have anxiety on test day knowing that they are not fully prepared.  With that being said, the more prepared you are, the calmer and more ready you will feel on test day.

2)    Take a standardized test prep course – there are plenty of prep courses available to help prepare you for all aspects of the exam.  Taking a prep course is important because they give you invaluable tips on studying and they enable you to take several practice tests.   This way, you are fully prepared on test day and will likely experience less anxiety as a result.

3)    Take deep breaths – when you sit down to begin the exam, take a few deep breaths by inhaling and then exhaling slowly. Not only does this calm your system down, it also increases the flow of oxygen to your brain, allowing you to be more focused.

4)    Simulate test day conditions – before the day of your exam, take at least one full test under test day conditions.  This includes timing yourself so that you get used to having to work under time constraints, something that often causes people anxiety.

5)    Get enough sleep – getting enough sleep, especially the day before the exam, is vital to your overall wellbeing and resilience.  Being sleep deprived will definitely make you less focused and can affect your performance.  

6)    Exercise – exercising is very important and can help to keep your anxiety levels down so that you are calm and focused on test day.  Many research studies have proven that exercise is the perfect antidote to stress.  So, if possible, take a walk, ride a bike, go for a swim, or do something else active to help reduce your stress levels.

7)    Take breaks – while studying as much as possible is important, you need to take breaks.  Go for a walk, watch a TV program, or do something else that you enjoy.  An appropriate amount of downtime is a prescription for being focused and ready to tackle your exam on test day.