"Distributed practice" is one of the best ways to prepare for any exam, and that includes standardized tests like the SAT and ACT. With this method, you practice a little bit each day over a sustained period of time, rather than trying to "cram" and learn all the information right before the test.
If you are an entering freshmen just beginning high school, you may find that to be successful, you must put more effort into studying than you needed to do in middle school. Distributed practice is particularly helpful in learning new vocabulary words either in both English and foreign languages, or in preparing for a map test in geography class. Spending 15 minutes each day going over your notes from class and going over vocabulary will yield better results than putting in hours of study time the night before a test.
If you are entering your junior or senior year, you are probably thinking more seriously about college and facing the dreaded college admissions tests. If you will begin now to apply the principles of distributed practice, you will see better results when you take those tests. There are practice books for both the SAT and ACT at major bookstores, and you can also find practice helps on the College Board (SAT) and ACT websites. SAT has a "question of the day" on the College Board website, and did you know that ACT posts daily practice questions on Twitter and Facebook? The questions rotate through the four sections of the ACT test: reading, English, math, and science. Click here to go to ACT's Facebook page and here to follow them on Twitter. It's a great (and almost painless) way to get in some distributed practice!
