My Experience
When I first started the diagnostic test in Peterson's AP English I attacked it like the ACT. I have studied so much for the ACT that any multiple choice test it almost comes natural to use my skills from standardized testing. I started underlining what I thought was important and re-reading anything that I didn't understand. After I had finished the first poem I thought it went fine, I understood the material and did the questions. The only question that I didn't know was number two, it asked about the speakers point of view in stanzas 3,4, and 5. I used the process of elimination and just chugged on to the next thing. I was surprised by the pride and prejudice excerpt because I understood it for the most part, when I read the first couple sentences I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it was. The one question that I didn't know at all was number seventeen which asked to summarize the paragraph, I didn't think any of the answers really worked but just chose the best one. The last reading passage was more difficult than the others but there weren't any particular parts or questions that really stumped me. I finished the test in thirty five minutes which tells me that I was attacking it like the ACT, at least with the timing, and need to spend more time double checking so I get all the answers right. The experience overall wasn't bad. I thought it would be a lot worse and of course was procrastinating but I'm not always good at reading comprehension so I think in the long run these kind of exercises are really beneficial for me.
