‍The Keys to Improving Your Grades and Test Scores

Conventional wisdom about how to improve your grades and test scores goes something like this: Buckle down, work harder, and devote more time to studying. But conventional wisdom is just plain wrong. You don’t have to work harder; you have to work smarter.

WEEK 2 TO-DOS

THIS WEEK

Pick 1 or 2 classes where you could bump up your grade with just a big more focused attention. These are the classes where you have the B that could be a B+, or you have the B+ that could be an A-. Figure out what it takes to get the higher grade and start doing that. If you have no idea what it would take, go and talk to your teacher. Trust us, your teacher will be very happy to give you some suggestions to help you perform better.

Why do this? Your grades in the last half of 11th grade are the most recent evidence that college admissions officers will have about the kind of student you are. So better grades are very helpful. Plus, they contribute to an upward grade trend, which is also impressive. Finally, it lays the groundwork for outstanding recommendations from the teachers in those classes where you demonstrate your commitment to performing to the best of your abilities.

THIS WEEK AND EVERY WEEK

• Check your email, voicemail, texts, and snail mail for any communications that relate to applying to college. Read them and take whatever action is necessary.

• Update your parents about what you’re doing. This regular communication will work wonders in your relationship with your parents during this stress-filled year.

TIPS & TRICKS

1. Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night. One study showed that college students who increased their nightly sleep from 6 hours to 7 hours showed a whopping 10% boost in exam performance. That’s a big improvement for just giving your brain the sleep it needs!  For great tips on improving teen sleep, check out this article from Dr. Craig Canapari, director of the Yale Pediatric Sleep Center.

2. Take practice tests. According to this article in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, taking practice tests is a far better way to study than highlighting, rereading, or summarizing (the most common ways students study). What kind of practice test should you do? Ideally, you use a practice test that is as similar as possible to the real test. So if you will have a multiple choice test in your Chemistry class, then ideally you would study using a multiple choice test that has previously been given in that Chemistry class. What if you don’t have access to a prior test? Doesn’t matter. It turns out you will still benefit from practice testing as long as the practice test addresses the same subject matter. So where do you find practice tests?

• For standardized tests of any variety, there are practice tests available from many sources. (AP, IB, SAT, ACT, TOEFL) – use them!

• For tests in your school courses, treat the questions at the end of a textbook chapter as a test, using homemade or purchased flashcards to test yourself, or searching online for tests in the subject matter. You can also see if your teacher will release old tests for you to use as study tools.
  

3. Set a study schedule that includes shorter sessions over time rather than a giant cram session. After comparing what scientists call “distributed practice” to “massed practice,” the results were pretty clear that distributed practice wins. Great. But what does that mean?

Distributed practice is a fancy way of saying that you break your studying into shorter sessions over time, rather than cramming everything into bigger, less frequent sessions. (Also the same approach you’re taking to your college applications in this series!)

Based on our experience working with students, here is what we suggest:

• For standardized tests: Commit to doing at least 2 study sessions a week for the 10 weeks prior to the test.

• For tests in school courses: Commit to adding at least 1 study session of the practice-test variety into your “homework” each week for every course.

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