Getting Ready for the September 13th SAT – Key Tips for Peak Performance

Dear MJTP Families,

The September 13 SAT is coming up this Saturday—a big moment, and I wanted to share some thoughts and reminders to help your students be at their best.

What I’ve Noticed

Now that school is in full swing, things are getting busy:

• Homework loads are increasing
• After-school and evening activities are pushing back study session times
• College admissions tests are underway
• Trying to juggle academics, social life, rest, and prep feels overwhelming

All of this can lead to mental fatigue, especially if sleep, nutrition, or rest are shortchanged. On test day, fatigue often shows up as slower thinking, more careless mistakes, lower stamina, and difficulty staying focused.

Warming Up & Getting Blood Flowing: Science & Anecdotes

There’s both anecdotal evidence and research showing that doing some physical warm-ups or getting your blood moving shortly before testing can help sharpen thinking, improve reaction times, reduce mental fog, and boost overall cognitive performance.

Suggested reading: “Exercise can boost your memory and thinking skills” by Harvard Health is a solid article explaining how moderate physical activity improves mood, sleep, and stress levels—which in turn supports memory and cognition. Harvard Health

Another great study: "Through paired‐samples t‐tests, this study found out that after exercise, subjects displayed increased reading speed and fewer eye drifts, coupled with increased mean scores." Running Boosts SAT Performance

Other studies have found that brief, moderate aerobic exercise before or during mentally demanding tasks improves things like executive function, attention, and reaction speed. For instance:

• A meta-perspective paper discusses how short bouts (e.g. ~20 minutes) of moderate aerobic exercise tend to yield the biggest cognitive benefits. MDPI
• Another study showed that even a simple warm-up improves performance on reaction time and concentration tasks. JSAMS+1

My Advice for This Weekend & Test Day

Here are some practical habits & strategies to follow between now and Saturday:

1. Rest & Sleep Well Tonight & Tomorrow
   Try to hit your sleep quota. Avoid late-night cramming if it means cutting into your rest.
2. Eat Well
   Balanced meals; avoid heavy or very sugary meals the night before; something energizing but not overly taxing for breakfast.
3. Relax Your Mind
   It’s OK to do some light review—but don’t try to absorb huge new concepts at the last minute. Avoid stress-inducing things that disrupt mental calm.
4. Do a Physical Warm-Up Saturday Morning
   Even light jogging, stretching, or something to get the heart rate up a bit can go a long way. Maybe 10-20 minutes of moderate movement.
5. Focus on Technique, Not Just Content
   Remember your test strategies:
   • For reading passages: ignore the answer choices first; search for clues; envision your own answer; eliminate with the “PROVE-IT” method.
   • On test day, don’t get stuck on a single hard question. It’s more worth it to move on and maximize points on the easier/medium ones.
6. Quick Review, Not Cramming
   • For reading: go through your passage topic Google Docs, try doing some passages.
   • For grammar: revisit your Grammar Land document, focusing on tricky non-essentials, semicolons, subject-verb agreement, simplifying sentences, etc.

Key Reminders

• Outcomes (i.e. your exact score) aren’t fully in your control. What is in your control are the habits, techniques, mindset you bring into the test.
• Avoid bad test habits (e.g. random plugging in of vocab just because you think a certain word “sounds good”). Use what we’ve learned.
• If you feel frustration creeping in during the test, don’t let one question derail the rest. It’s not worth it to sacrifice many possible points over one hard question. Use the "Clear the Mechanism" technique, resetting your mind after each question.

Wishing every student a calm, well-rested, focused Saturday. You’ve done the work. Now trust your preparation, lean on good habits, and show up with confidence.

If you have any last-minute questions or need help reviewing particular items, I’m here.

Best,

Mr. John
Mr. John’s Test Prep