When your three kids ace ACT/SAT, it is natural that people request for advice. I am happy to share the tips for getting a top score, however, even a high score won’t guarantee acceptance into IVY leagues or make you win at school’s senior award nights. Also, it doesn’t make you a nice person but it will help you to get there.

A good score will increase your chances to get acceptance in to top schools, secure prestigious scholarships around the globe and last but not least, you will be teased all your life if you say any dumb thing because supposedly you need to be too smart.

Improving test scores is a real challenge and primary goal of most of the teenagers who are college bound. However, putting too much focus on these standardized tests take away all other activities from students which help them shine not only in schools but life in general. These include music, sports, drama, theatre, and social service. Improving a little score can make a huge difference in acceptance or rejection.

Here is the list of tips, I have compiled for students and parents as a recipe for achieving top score:

Be kind

Kindness is a great trait. It helps you to build long-lasting relationships and friends. Our schools can be a cruel place sometimes; overstressed and lonely kids look for sympathetic words or a little admiration. Saying “Hello” to random people at school will make their day, try to offer lunch to lonely kids, make friends and listen to other kids who want to share their stories. There is no point of securing awards if you were not able to make your school a happy place.

Buddying up with Study Gate Academy

If you haven’t made an account on studygate yet, leave everything else and go do that. It is a great learning platform for all age-group. It offers “a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere.” Whether you are in high-school or pre-school, it is a great place to sit back and brush up all math concepts. Not only that, it also offers introductory courses on science and technology, economics and finance, computing, arts and humanities.

Embrace hard classes

A lot of teens opt for easier courses just to maintain their grade point average. It is indeed painful to please advance class tutors and there is also a risk to your GPA, but taking those demanding classes prepare you better for standardized tests.

Read books

Reading is a great habit. Undoubtedly, it enhances your vocabulary and make you more empathetic. Buy books as much as you can. The research shows that book owners have smarter kids. When families own books and read them, there is a high likelihood that they discuss those concepts and characters and that’s where the real learning begins. Huge shout out to used books stores, school discount orders and library sales. You can also but digital books if you feel like but this is really useful.

Utilize YouTube

You can find some of the best educational videos on YouTube. TedEd, Extra History, Smarter Everyday are some of the resources available on one click of your computer. Binge on YouTube video and become smarter.

Subscribe to a Newspaper

Digital news reading is quite common these days. It is indeed a good thing to do especially when we talk about saving environment. But the hard reality is that your kids are not reading the news online. So it is much better to subscribe to old-fashioned newspaper as it offers multiple rewards for the readers. While opening the paper, kids are exposed to new ideas, interesting information, advanced vocabulary, and sports stats etc.

Work it out

Make sure that your kids are doing some physical activity as fit children are usually the smart children. Indulge them in different activities e.g. running, bike, ski and hiking.

Learn a language

Learning a new language or music literally wire your brain to learn. It also helps them to explore new opportunities and their learning curve improves exponentially.

Make a routine

A tired brain won’t be able to function properly. Hence, it is extremely important to have a full night’s sleep to perform efficiently. Making sleep a priority will really help your kids to accomplish desired score on the tests. It is a HUGE factor in enhancing the efficiency.

Healthy food

Have a good diet at home. These things matter a lot. If you add leafy greens, berries, walnuts, and turmeric to your food, it will add a lot of value in your health and also make you smarter.

In the end, no matter how much you score in the test. Preparing for the test enhances your ability to learn making you more resilient and curious. Wherever you choose to go, they will serve you well throughout your life.