[Highschool – English] Help me get an academic scholarship?

[SaFyre13]

(I have no idea where to put this thread, I guess preparation counts as homework)

I was talking about this with drizzleRomanceGirl in profile chat a few weeks ago but I’ve only made this thread now. I’m 14 and in Year 9 in 2014. I’m going for an academic scholarship in a week so I can save my family money. The testing is as follows:

Written expression (25 minutes) – I can barely plan and write anything in 40 minutes, let alone 25.
Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
Mathematics (40 minutes)
Written expression 2 (25 minutes)

I’m fine with mathematics, but the majority of the testing consists of what I would see in a typical English exam. Creative and/or persuasive writing, (it could be either or both in the test, I don’t know) I’m terrible at. Then there’s reading comprehension, where they give you some 4-5 paragraphs excerpts from a novel and ask you questions that involve you to inference information. They’re multiple choice (A-D), and I find usually myself tossing up between two answers because they seem similar. Of course, you only get a mark if it’s the correct answer of the four.

I assume the majority of people here are 18+ and hopefully there are some people who are academically proficient or did well in exams. I won’t get better at writing and comprehension overnight but I hope some people could give me general advice or maybe even just some encouragement. I’ve been upset with my life recently and this scholarship thing has made me stressed out more, so this post probably isn't well structured.

I hate making a big deal out of this but this community and place really make me feel like I actually mean something nowadays.

[Xiz]

Sure, I'll be right to the point:


Relax, and don't worry about it. Study for it, read a few extra books here and there. If you mess up, it is not the end of the world at all. Trust me.

You got this ^^

[qqwref]

I don't know if this will help, but when I was in high school I would usually do multiple-choice tests in two passes. The first time through, read through everything, but don't spend too much time on any question. If you have a feeling one answer is correct, mark it; if you are sure some answers are wrong (but aren't sure about the rest), cross the wrong ones out. Don't put down any final answers yet, just keep track of what you feel is right/wrong.

The second time through, once you have seen everything and thought about it a little, you can double-check the easy questions, and think more about the questions you weren't sure about (in whatever order seems easiest). By the end of this you should choose a final answer for every question. If you get near the test's time limit before you're done with the second pass, quickly answer everything you didn't get to, using the hints you marked down in the first pass. At the very least, you will do better than if you only got partway through and had to completely guess on the rest.

[Funnygurl555]

I'm not 18+ (17 go figure), but I might be able to help!

Anyway, the biggest piece of advice I can give you is to keep taking practice tests. Look at the reasoning for why each answer is right or wrong and get a feel for how the test is created. If you don't feel like sitting and taking a full test (which I wouldn't do either with my attention span, haha), just take one section from time to time.

For the writing sections, if you can find any examples of good and bad essays, then read them and look for explanations for why an essay scored the way it did. You could use this to learn what to do and what to avoid doing. Since it's much more difficult to self-grade an essay, you should ask someone to read over your essays and grade them for you if possible.

If you have trouble with time constraints, then start by taking the test untimed and see how long it takes you to do it. After that, start shaving off a couple of minutes until you can comfortably complete the test within the time limit (or even a couple of minutes before that if possible).

Oh, and here's some tips for you to do on test day-
Sleep well the night before and eat a solid breakfast that makes you full but not too full (or else you'll feel sleepy). I usually drink a bit of coffee before a test as well, but if you never drink caffeinated drinks/don't tolerate them well, then I'd suggest you skip that. Try reviewing a bit before you take the test too, not so much to cram things in last minute but to get your mind jogging before you start the test.

Lastly, I'm going to agree with Xiz and say you should relax. You'll be fine, really. Even if you don't feel that way, just know that stressing out will only hurt you. It sucks quite a bit to have nerves during an exam, so just do your best!