Preparing for college can be stressful and demanding. After all, college isn’t all about frat parties and cheering on the basketball team - you have to show some level of academic success in order to be accepted. Knowing that you have a looming standardized test doesn’t help when it comes to your anxiety, either. Most colleges accept the SAT and the ACT, but how do you know which test you should take? Read on to learn how to choose between the SAT and the ACT.

Requirements of the College or University

If you have a specific college in mind, find out what they require and what they prefer to see. For example, some colleges may require either the SAT or the ACT, but the Admissions Department may have a preference. Taking the test that they need is necessary, but taking the test that they want is important, too. Colleges that require SAT scores often want to see up to three SAT Subject Tests, which means that they’ll want the SAT II. ACT tests come in two forms: with a writing portion and without. Most colleges will want to see the ACT that includes an essay portion.

Differences Between the SAT and the ACT

The SAT tests for three subjects: English, math and reading. The test is broken into ten sections. Each section includes a mixture of questions across the three subject areas. One of the ten sections doesn’t count towards the SAT score. The ACT tests for English, math, reading and science, in that order. The test is composed of four sections, each one dedicated to one subject. The science section tests reading comprehension. Students should have a basic scientific vocabulary and an understanding of experiment procedure, graphs and charts.

Which is the Best Choice?

If the college you’re applying to needs either the SAT or the ACT, then your mind is made up for you. What if it’s not that clear cut, though? If you have a strong academic background in high school, you may want to opt for the ACT. This is especially true if you’re strong in both math and science. If you’re not strong in those subject areas, you’ll want to take the SAT. The best way to determine which test to take is to take practice tests for both the SAT and the ACT. If you do well on both tests, then take both of them.

The GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) is a standardized assessment test that many master degree programs require applicants to take. Business schools in particular use the GMAT to determine entry into their accounting and finance programs. Today, the GMAT test is conducted in 110 different countries. Follow these tips for studying in preparation for the GMAT.

1. Learn the Content

This tip may seem obvious, but far too often, students think they can attain a near-perfect score by having test taking tricks up their sleeve. Nothing can replace simply knowing your stuff, though. The two areas of the GMAT that you have to be seriously prepared for are “Quantitative” and “Sentence Correction.” Hint: Become a whiz with prime numbers and subject-verb agreement.

2. Set Time Limits

At first, you’ll take practice GMAT tests without any time constraints. Eventually, though, you’ll have to time yourself, and often. If you don’t, you won’t know what hit you come test day since the GMAT is most certainly timed. You’ll need the practice when it comes to proper pacing and time management.

One of the main reasons why you need to practice timing yourself for the GMAT is to make sure you can answer every question on the test. Unanswered questions will cost you more than wrong answers. What happens if you’re down to the wire on test day and you still have a ton of questions left to answer? Fill them in at random - seriously.

3. Choose the Right Format

Sure, you can get your hands on old copies of GMAT-format exams, but you should focus more on the current CAT-format GMAT tests. Otherwise, you’ll be prepping for an antiquated version of the test. While the questions themselves will be helpful, the format could throw you off.

4. Take a Ton of Practice Exams

Practice GMAT tests will help you all-around. You’ll become familiar with the test layout; you’ll know what types of questions to expect; you’ll learn what your weak points are; and you’ll develop the stamina needed to take such a demanding test. It’s best to start taking practice tests a year in advance. That way, you can set an easy pace for yourself without having to take a bunch of tests on top of each other when the GMAT is right around the corner.

When it comes to your admissions package, sometimes more documentation can be your best friend. At other times, though, it can be your worst enemy. Learn when it’s acceptable to add additional paperwork to your portfolio and when you should trim back to just the basics.

Pros of Padding Your Portfolio

In some cases, adding extra documentation to your admissions package can actually help you. Let’s say your high school or college transcripts are less-than-stellar - what you lack in grades and academic excellence you can make up for with rave reviews. An Admissions Officer will be more willingly to forgive flawed transcripts if your teachers have nothing but positive, affirmative things to say about you. Bad semesters and even bad school years happen. Maybe your dog died the same month that you came down with pneumonia, preceding the several weeks that you spent clearing out your parents’ basement after a flood. Admissions employees are people too - they’ll likely forgive a dark spot on your transcripts if everything else about your application is dazzling.

Two more benefits of super sizing your application package? First, going the extra mile shows a commitment to getting into college. Second, it simply looks good to know a lot of people who are willing to say exceptional things about you. The key is to avoid sending in ten generic letters of recommendation that all say the same thing. Instead, pick the two required letters and then one or two more that each have something valuable and unique to say.

Cons of Having an Admissions File on Steroids

“Sounds like there are only good sides to jam packing my admissions envelope!” Not so fast - sometimes having an overfull application can work against you instead of for you. Here’s why:

1. The more materials you submit, the easier it is for your paperwork to get lost. Admissions Processors - the ones who sort, scan and file away your very important documents - have a ton of work to go through on a daily basis. Sure, their job is to keep track of everything that comes across their desk, but the more inundated they are with work, the higher the chance of something getting misplaced. If you send in five necessary documents and five unnecessary documents, it’s possible that a piece could get filed incorrectly, still leaving your crammed admissions file incomplete.

2. Admissions Officers are very busy people. While their job is to help you get into college, there are a lot of applicants who they need to work with every week. Submitting eight extra letters of recommendation or photos from every science fair you ever participated in is both unnecessary and kind of irritating. If you want to brag about your many accomplishments, that’s great - just do so in a succinct way.

3. Your admissions essay has a word count for two specific reasons. First, your Admissions Officer has to read every single applicant’s essay. Writing an extra 500 words makes it much harder to get through an essay swiftly. Second, your essay is the chance to showcase your writing skills, which every college is interested in. Being able to say what you have to say well and in a pre-set number of words will help determine how skilled a writer you are.

The short answer is “no,” although most people think it is better to guess. Of course, if you just don’t have the first clue as to what the answer may possibly be, you may feel like you have no choice but to take a stab in the dark. However, not answering at all is an overlooked option - and for some tests, it may be your best one. Ultimately, guessing should always and only be used as an absolutely last resort.

Wrong Answers vs. No Answers

Some standardized tests (like the SAT, PSAT, SSAT and portions of AP tests) will penalize you more for answering wrong than for not answering at all. Other standardized tests (ACT, ISEE and LSAT) don’t penalize you for being wrong, which means the best method is to answer every question, guessing or not.

Why am I being punished for guessing???

Unfortunately for students everywhere, the wrong answer penalty is just the nature of the beast. It comes into play for multiple choice questions, which are, by nature, easier than other questions (the answer’s in front of you whether you know what to choose or not). Testing companies penalize wrong answers to counteract the possibility of scoring highly by pure chance.

Good Guesses vs. Bad Guesses

The penalty for one wrong answer isn’t as great as the reward for one right answer. If one right answer on the SAT equals one point, for example, one wrong answer only subtracts a fraction of one point. If you guess enough, though, and enough of those guesses are wrong, it’s going to drag down your final score.

The Best Guessing Strategy

A lot of people argue that guessing is always, always, always the best option. It certainly looks like guessing would pay off from a mathematical standpoint. That’s assuming that enough of the guesses are correct, though. Since you’re blindly guessing at a question that you clearly don’t know the answer to, the odds of guessing wrong are in your favor. The solution? Prepare well enough for the test so that if you have to guess, at least it’s an educated one. By process of elimination, you may be able to narrow your options down far enough that you have a higher likelihood of getting a guess correct. Just can’t make heads or tails out of what the question is asking you? It may work in your favor to leave one or two questions completely blank. After all, zero points deducted is better than a fraction of a point here and there.