Harrison Tutors Advise Confidence For Regents Exams

Harrison High School students are joining their peers around the state this week as they sit down to take Regents exams. While proper preparation is essential, area tutors say that confidence is equally important for earning high scores.

Offered every year in January, June and August, most Regents exams are three hours long. Students are required to pass five Regents exams to receive a high school diploma, and an additional three exams to receive an Advanced Regents Diploma.

"The key thing at this point is to build confidence," said Bob Cerf, area director for Westchester Clubz In-Home Tutoring. 

Cerf said that while the majority of studying and review should already be completed for this week's exams, there are still a few things that can be done to help build confidence prior to taking the test.

"They should go back and review practice exams they can get on the Web. They should look them over and fill in the gaps."

Ed Massena, a tutor at The Learning Shop in Harrison, agreed that it's definitely too late to learn an entire course, but students can definitely identify and fill missing holes by reviewing old exams. 

Old Regents exams are available online at www.nysedregents.org.

"They really need to see a practice version of the test in advance and feel confident they can handle it," Massena said. "My philosophy is that if they feel some success in their practice before the exam they'll be in the right mindset going in."

According to Massena, even a few tutoring sessions leading up to the exam can be enough to make a difference for some students. He said that tutors have a complex understanding of the tests and have a good idea of what students need a firm grasp of. They're also able to share smart test-taking skills, he said.

Cerf said that students should prepare for Regents exams the same way they would for the SATs. His blog includes tips for preparing for them, such as following a training plan, reading a variety of literature and taking practice exams.

Even the most prepared students can run into pre-test jitters or get psyched out during the exam. In this case, Cerf said students should remember to just breathe.

"If one question is throwing you off, you can talk positive to yourself and tell yourself that it's only one question and you can do most of them," he said.

Aside from positive thinking and confidence, some of the other test-taking tips suggested by Cerf and Massena take place prior to the test. Both advised students eat a good breakfast and get a good night's sleep the night before.

"The night before you're hopefully in a position to relax," Cerf said. "I don't believe in staying up until 2 or 3 a.m. because you're not going to retain that stuff."