Saturday, December 8, 2012

Hunter Entrance Exam Test-Taking Tips


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Hunter Entrance Exam Test-taking Tips

·      Always be aware of your time
o   Leave some “breathing room” for sections that you know you will struggle with
o   Save the most difficult questions for last
·      There is no penalty for guessing so do your best to eliminate answer choices and take an educated guess
·      Be well-rested and confident when taking the test
o   Being nervous, hungry or otherwise in a bad state of mind will affect your performance more than you think

Essay

·      Outline your ideas for the essay à make sure each paragraph transitions to the next
o   May seem time-consuming but can end up saving you time when you have a good grasp of what you need to write
o   Be sure to include the structureà intro, 2 or 3 body paragraphs, conclusion
·      Use more advanced vocabulary and phrasing
o   If you read a lot-which you should-try to copy some of the sentence structures of your favorite author
§  You get better at writing by learning from others and emulating their style
·      Longer essays tend to score better but make sure you have something interesting to say with every sentence
·      Make it a story! à every sentence, paragraph, and idea should flow and transition into another
·      Make reader WANT to read more à a captivating introduction-with some high level vocabulary-is especially important
o   First impressions are crucial

Grammar

·      Reading the sentence aloud-but quietly, you’re in a test-can help you find mistakes
o   Don’t rely on this completely! Know your grammar rules.
·      Tense agreement, noun-verb agreement, adverbs, pronouns, proper nouns, etc.
·      Don’t be afraid to choose “no error”! Have confidence in yourself.

Reading

·      Practice your reading speed and comprehension through repetition and reading techniques
o   Getting used to reading at a “testing speed” is important à it’s not necessarily important to know every detail-although it would be great if you can-but enough to answer the questions
o   Techniques such as reading the introductory and conclusion paragraphs or learning the idea of a paragraph through its topic sentence
·      Grasp the author’s tone
o   Does he use a lot of words with a positive or negative connotation when talking about something? Does he use a lot of extreme words to show his emotions?
o   Ask questions like these to better understand the main idea of the passage and more easily answer questions

Math

·      Know topics such as geometry, algebra, probability, and coordinate system
·      Learn efficient but organized “scrap paper technique”
o   There’s plenty of space to do your work so use it instead of solving problems in your head
§  Helps you be less prone to making mistakes
o   However, make sure your work is organized and clear so you don’t confuse yourself with work from different problems
·      Use the multiple choice to your advantage à you can save time by plugging in the choices that seem most likely for algebraic equations and other questions
o   “Guess and check” except you know the right answer is in front of you

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