When I first talk to parents about working with their son or daughter for the SAT or ACT, I tell them how much respect I have for their child’s current teachers. I know their teachers are doing the best they can to get their students ready for standardized tests and for college.

However, there’s a glitch. The SAT and ACT are timed, and the test-takers have a certain amount of time to finish each section. When I hear a student is not good at taking tests and yet still has good grades, I’d be willing to bet that he isn't good at managing time.

I would love it if the ACT and SAT weren’t timed. But no one is asking me to set the guidelines. A test-taker either knows the answer or doesn’t. I can't tell you how many times I have worked with a student on the reading comprehension section and discovered that he didn't read all of the possible answers. If you suspect that your son or daughter has ADD or ADHD, there is a huge possibility that he or she will make this type of error on the test.

We all know about the different guessing strategies for each test. The SAT wants to penalize the test-taker for random guessing; therefore, one has to eliminate at least one or two options before guessing. We know that the strategy for the ACT is to not let a single blank unmarked because the test does not try to penalize the student for random guessing.

However, what do you do if you look at the clock and have five minutes left?

Or a minute left. That’s where a tutor comes in. To teach the student to have plan going into the test to take the panic out of the situation.

            I recently coached a junior who attends the local high school and whose dad is the football coach. I asked her, “Does your dad and his fellow coaches walk on that field with a plan? 

She replied, "Of course he does." And so should she.

            A good tutor will help the student solve problems that will appear on a standardized test, but remember: “It’s about time!” When you do your practice problems, work with a watch close by. And definitely have the watch there on game day.