CETs One Month Study Guide

It’s a month left until the CETs season, or the so-called CETember! With the piles of homework, projects, and finals, it might sound impossible to squeeze in CET review to your schedule. However, it is not impossible. Here’s a one month study guide to help you prepare for the most awaited entrance tests!

Make a schedule and stick to it

Know your rhythm. If you’re the type of person who works best in the morning, opt to wake up extra early on weekends to study. If you work best at night, squeeze in a quick nap so you won’t be too tired from staying up. A schedule that I followed while I was studying for my Ateneo College Entrance Test was at least one hour on weekdays and at least three hours from Fridays to Sundays. I knew that lessons stuck to me if I kept answering drills and practice tests so that’s why my review schedule was pretty long. Tailor fit it to what truly works for you!

Gather reliable study materials

I went to the review center on weekends from July to August. They gave  each of us two books—one with lessons and the other with drills. It’s important to have a variety of reliable study materials for the CETs. My friends and I exchanged review materials as we went to different review centers. You may also purchase some books in your nearest bookstore, but make sure to browse on reviews on the said book! Some books are not as reliable and may contain several typos and wrong information.

Know the format

You have to know which tests contain what. For instance, UPCAT has a Filipino section. You have to make sure to review for all the sections of the test, including abstract reasoning. ACET does not have a Science portion so I wasn’t too stressed on memorizing scientific terms, instead, I made sure to brush up on my Math skills as I knew that ACET was heavy on that.

Review the basics

If there’s anything that definitely helped me while reviewing, it’s going back to the basics. I reviewed all the basic formulas, concepts, and ideas that were taught from grade school to junior year of high school. I made sure to master the underlying concepts behind the bigger Math problems to ensure that I am applying the correct thing. Also, make sure to review the basic grammar rules. A lot of them may sound easy while reviewing but are actually confusing as you take the test! Master all the rules from parallel structures, fragments, relative pronouns, and the like! Squeeze in some review time for vocabulary as well so you may understand the passages better.

Learn test-taking strategies

With the time pressure, memorising everything may not be enough. You must learn some test-taking strategies for you to be able to maximize the time given to you. Here are some strategies that have worked for me!

• Math:

  • Plugging in answers and numbers: This is also known as the trial and error method in which you pick one of the choices and plug it into the problem to see if it’s correct.

• Reading Comprehension:

  • Skim through the questions then skim the passage. Avoid reading the entire passage first then browsing the questions! It’s a waste of time.

Pick up on your pace

Once you feel like you have mastered the topics, start picking up your pace. Time yourself and note how long you take on answering each test so you know what to improve on. Also, apply the test-taking strategies you have learned! When I took the ACET, we were given limited time to answer a lot of numerical problems. The math strategies I have mentioned above definitely helped me answer as many numbers as I could.

Studying for the CETs while juggling academics is hard, but it is worth it. After all, good things come to those who hustle! If you need more tips on the CETs, check out this article written by the alumni of some of the top universities in the country and check out our blog for more articles on Senior High School!