#9: Prep for that test!

Engage in some form of test prep. I took a 10-session course by Kaplan, which was incredible—their online resources are unbelievable. The most important resource besides the endless online quizzes and workshops are their simulated tests, which score you as you’ll be scored at the testing center, but show you exactly which questions you got wrong and why. This way you can troubleshoot the sections you do poorly on (those sections will not necessarily be your weak points, academically speaking!). I took Kaplan’s baseline test and scored 450 Math and 650 Verbal (I had never even taken geometry in school). I scored 610 Math and 720 Verbal on the actual test. If I’d had a few more months to practice, I know that I could have scored a 700 Math. You must give yourself time to really digest the concepts and practice navigating the test format.