So, the FSA is around the corner and you need some last minute tips to guarantee that you dominate the exam. Well, you’ve come to the right place.
Let’s start with the things you need to do that don’t involve cracking open a book and cramming it’s contents into your head. Arguably the two most important things to do before the exam are to get a good night’s sleep and have a nutritious breakfast.
Though you may think that staying up late will guarantee you a passing score, it actually does the opposite. Past a certain time, your brain can no longer comprehend and memorize information, so trying to force it to do so is a moot effort.
Additionally, no matter how much you memorized the night before, it is useless if you’re too tired to focus and do your best on the test.
Breakfast is another important aspect of testing that is often overlooked. Many students skip breakfast on testing days, which seems fine until they’re 30 minutes into the test and can’t focus. Avoid a failing score and the embarrassment of your stomach growling in an otherwise quiet room by eating breakfast the day of your test.
Now that the basics are out of the way, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. On testing day, you’ll have two hours to write a multi-paragraph essay on a topic you’ve never seen before— a nerve wracking feat. But fear not, because this is how you can sharpen the mental tools that’ll help you ace the test.
First, evaluate your current skill. It’s a timed test; do you work well under pressure? If you don’t, that’s fine, there’s still time. If you do, well, there’s always room for improvement. To evaluate your skill, take some practice tests on the FSA website and only give yourself two hours as if it were the real test.
If you finish in time, good— you’re one step closer to acing the exam. If you don’t, keep taking practice exams until you do. If you run out of practice exams to do on the website, ask your teacher to give you some prompts to work on. Most importantly, make sure you practice the test in the format that you’ll be taking it (paper-based or computerized) so you’ll have an accurate gauge of how you’ll do on test day.
Now that you’ve finished within the time frame, it is time to make sure that your writing will give you the maximum number of points possible.
The easiest points to get would be the ones involving grammar. To ensure that you receive points for grammar, first go through your work and make sure all of your sentences are complete and properly punctuated. When that is finished, scan your sentences and look for places where you can elevate your vocabulary.
After your basic sentences have been dressed up with better vocabulary, shake them up a little. Sentence variety is taken into account when scoring your test, so try to avoid basic sentence structure and go for something more out of the ordinary. Learn and practice your sentence structure with The Art of Styling Sentences to add flavor to your essay.
The technical aspects of your essay are now perfect, so it is the time to assess the effectiveness of your writing. Is it clear and easy to follow? Is there substantial evidence to support your claims? Both of these are questions that the scorers will ask themselves when looking over the essays.
Making sure your essay is clear and easy to follow is as simple as having a clear thesis and a logical organizational pattern. Your thesis should be so blatantly obvious that it clearly reads as a thesis without actually spelling it out. The rest of your essay should follow the points laid out in your thesis in a logical procession without straying from the central idea.
To keep yourself organized, use transitional phrases throughout the essay to create a structure that clearly signifies to the reader a shift in ideas.
The most important part of your essay, the meat and potatoes you could call it, lies in your evidence. Make sure to cite your sources accordingly; try to use all of the sources given to you and to distribute them as evenly as possible throughout the essay.
Also, while it is important to use your own words, it is also pertinent that you draw quotes from the sources. The sources were given to you for a reason— you’re supposed to draw from them— but at its core, your essay should be your own writing.
Before, the test date was a dark figure looming in the back of your mind whose impending arrival you dreaded. Now, you can rest easy knowing that you’re prepared for what’s to come.
