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Excelling on Standardized Tests

Angry Ayrab

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Here is an odd observation that I would like to test out with the crowd. Personally, I do exceedingly well (98-99 percentile) on standardized tests, without putting in the amount of studying other people do.

My normal pattern of studying starts off with taking an official practice exam and failing it (usually due to overanalysis of multiple choice options and being unfamiliar with test properties). Give me a few more practice tests, and I am able to blast out rocking results on the exam. I don't know how this works, but I am guessing something to do with pattern recognition and a good grasp of core required data.

My data is limited as I have only taken three national standerdized exams.

ACT (2 days, 3 practice tests)
SAT (2 days, 3 practice tests)
MCAT (1 week, 6 practice tests)

I can't find where I read this, but I heard that N type personalities do not do well on standerdized exams. I would love to hear your analysis and or past experiences.
 

Simplexity

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I actually used to kill standardized tests like you did. I admittedly am not uber smart though so the lack of studying caught up to me, part of that may be that I was not constantly intellectually stimulated in my youth so my abilities might have tapered off more rapidly.

I actually think that N's with good or very strong thinking skills can overcome the negatives qualities of intuition in regards to standardized tests. Personally on those things my intuition is reigned in real quick, especially on test days. Practicing is a whole different thing though, I can see how you would relax your thinking and tend to over analyze questions then.

I don't think some N's(would say most but I don't know) can necessarily put in the massive grunt hours for tests, at least no where near the level some S's can. Theres something to be said for conceptualizing and reasoning everything out as opposed to really drilling the specific bits of informations contained on those tests.
 

Dwigie

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I do okay...but the sad thing is my math section(I'm allergic to calculus), the fact that I don't go to an american school and that I didn't take prep classes two years like other people.
I did pretty well on the crit and writing for someone with english as their second language.
I had to overload on snacks or I'd get brain freezes during this test.
What kind of hell are the SATs?
I didn't do especially bad....(except on the math part :whistling::ninja:)
 

miss fortune

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People study for standardized tests? :shock:

I always kicked thier asses quite satisfactorily- in fact, I got a full college scholarship for my truly wicked test taking abilities.

Then again, I always just looked at them as a game- a contest between me and the test makers... that takes some of the pressure off that most people feel when taking a standardized test.

Plus- I've always associated tests with food :drool: because of this I actually ENJOY taking standardized tests!
 

Neo Genesis

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I normally scored at or around the 97-98 percentile, although I never really took many practice tests. Every standardized test that I've taken, I've taken cold. No prep time, no studying. I always viewed them as tests for my own personal growth, and really didn't care about the results at all.

I've missed so many questions on tests because I overanalyze them. Definitely right there with you. Also, I HATE the essay portions. How do people write that fast?

SAT (one day, one test. Took the PSAT a year earlier, does that count as pratice?)
ACT (two days, two tests. Slightly better score second time.)
 

Angry Ayrab

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lol,

bunch of punks here taken standerdized tests without practice...

I wanna see what yall would do on an MCAT without practice...

:devil:
 

Simplexity

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People study for standardized tests? :shock:

Then again, I always just looked at them as a game- a contest between me and the test makers... that takes some of the pressure off that most people feel when taking a standardized test.

Plus- I've always associated tests with food :drool: because of this I actually ENJOY taking standardized tests!

I think those are both important points. I've always viewed tests that way, especially standardized ones. I think it helps in relieving the pressure, but at the same time I think that is what truly allows you to excel at them. Thats why I never understand the massive studying people do on them. To me its just a glorified word/ logic game. Theres not really studying you can do for that except working on your actual reasoning ability. That is something you can actively practice in real life by just running through your own thoughts and seeing how you came to conclusions, sort of like what those logic and word games force you to do. At least if you want to, or are good at them.
 

FDG

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Actually most studies say that Ns perform better (on average) on standardized tests.
 

Little Linguist

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Actually most studies say that Ns perform better (on average) on standardized tests.

Well, damn, then I must be an S because I blow at standardized exams.
 

Mondo

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I always have scored in the 99th percentile in the past.
The most studying I did for the SAT was taking the PSAT.
I don't like taking the tests. My SAT experience was long and grueling.
For some reason, the proctors took forever to get the test started!! :steam:
I remember sleeping for the rest of the day after the test.

I'm counting on the LSAT for law school.
I had a really bad freshman year in college, something I'm working on fixing but I'm not going to be graduating summa cum laude or anything like that at this point, lol.

I'm not sure if there is a type/testtakingability correlation.
I know a lot of SP's and SJ's (especially those SJ's) who do really well on these things.
However, I will say that Ne helps me a lot on these things.
 

Dwigie

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:ninja: well I guess I'm just the dumb one of the bunch :laugh:
 

FDG

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Well, damn, then I must be an S because I blow at standardized exams.

Mmm no, Ns perform better just on average, not every N performs better :yes: but anyway you seem to be smart even if you blow at standardized tests :nerd:

Personally, I'd love if school was exclusively comprised of standardized tests. They feel like a "game" to me.
 

Kanamori

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I did worse on the ACT and SAT than I have on most tests... The ACT and SAT ruined my usual way for getting good scores: vague BS that begs being interpreted the right way, and guessing answers based on wording... guarding well against it crimps my steez, and is often a part of standardized tests.
 

Kyrielle

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For the grade school standarised tests, I usually got high percentiles on everything. But for the SAT (the old one)...yea I sucked. I took a course in how to take it and study for it and then I did better, but to me, I still sucked at it.

And...if everything were comprised of standarised tests, I would probably try to find a school where that wasn't the case. It's not that they're hard exactly, I just loathe the format and I loathe the proctors and I loathe that they're designed for everyone in the state/county/country in mind instead of just that class with just those students. :( They don't even test for actual knowledge half the time!
 

cascadeco

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People study for standardized tests? :shock:

I know...funny. Perhaps I was clueless, as I didn't know back in high school that I was 'supposed' to study/prep for the ACT or SAT, or take practice tests. The official tests were the first time I'd done them, and I didn't re-do either.

I always kicked thier asses quite satisfactorily- in fact, I got a full college scholarship for my truly wicked test taking abilities.

I'm not AS brilliant as you;), but I did well also - 98th percentile.

Now, about 7 yrs ago when I was about to go to grad school, I took the GRE...and I DID study for a few months prior, doing practice exams and all of that. Definitely made a difference, and I kicked ass on the GRE - esp. the Analytical/Logical component (this was back when they had 3 sections to the test - quantitative, analytical, and verbal) -- got into the 99th % instead of 98th. haha.
 
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