About Mitch Hackney's Texas Tips

After sitting for twenty hours in a pre-licensing class your brain (and other parts of your body) may be ready or a rest. But, now is the time to complete what you have started. Since you are likely changing careers the most important thing you can do today is get ready to take the test at Pearsonvue.

Having taught pre-licensing classes for the top rated school in Texas for eight years and having taught similar classes in the state of Washington for over six years I am well aware that students going to take the Texas component of the new SAFE ACT are under prepared if they are relying only on texts used by most class providers. The cost is $48 plus your time, and it just makes sense to be over prepared than under prepared...I think most people would agree with that.

Make sure you read all of this before going to the test material.

Before we attack the material, per se, you should learn that there is a philosophy for taking multiple choice tests. Unfortunately, it isn’t widely known, but after forty years of educating the mortgage and real estate professions it has become clear that the method for taking a multiple choice answer test is very important to learn. So that you can get a grip on what is being said here let us review what you will come face to face with at Pearsonvue. The number of questions on the test are 75, but there are 7 additional questions that could be called “floater” questions. Pearsonvue will not tell you which ones are floaters, but it doesn’t really matter when you understand the concept for taking the test. The point to remember about floater questions is that they can count for you, but they cannot count against you. All that is good news.

You have already been told that you must pass with a score of at least 70%; that has already changed to a required score of 75%, if you intend to become a loan officer. You may also have been told that you will not be allowed to take your cell phone, calculator, purse, etc. inside the testing area. Those items can be left in the trunk of your car or in the locker provided by Pearsonvue in the reception area.

When you enter the testing area you will be furnished blank paper and pencils. When you are finished with the test those items must be returned to the administrator. Do not tear any pieces from the paper, since doing so would send a red flag that you were trying to take certain questions with you to give to other prospective testees. We will address the pencils and paper in just a moment. Some people are more math oriented than others, but the main thing to remember is it has been many years since most of you have been in public school. The math is not difficult if one knows how to solve the question.

The good news for those who do not consider themselves to be good mathematicians there will likely be no more than five questions on the test, and there could be as few as two. When you get to the Math Review you will be very happy to see that each question will be solved in a very straight forward manner, and by paying attention to the method for solving the problem one will quickly see there will be no need to be fearful of the math questions.

The computer will offer you a short tutorial before you begin the test. Be sure you take it. It may help smooth out some of your unanswered questions. It will “take you by the hand” and guide you through the process. When finished it will ask “Are you ready to begin?”. Make sure you are because once the clock begins there is no turning back. The two hour clock can be clicked away so that it does not annoy you or cause undue anxiety, and it can be brought back anytime you need to check your progress.

Getting down to basics: To pass you must get 53 questions correct.

Your questions will show up one at a time on the computer screen. You will not be allowed to go forward to the next screen until you have answered the question or marked it for review.

Pay close attention to this next section. Understanding this part can make or break your score:

Make sure you understand the question before you answer it. This is the single biggest flaw in the majority of the cases where the test is failed the first time it is taken. The natural tendency is to “read into the question what you want it to say”. Good answers but to the wrong questions are still wrong.
Read all of the possible answers. There may be a “better” answer than the one you clicked on. That’s the one Pearsonvue wants.
Here is where you will put the pencils and paper to good use: When you answer a question that you are sure is correct make a mark on one of the sheets. Continue to do that all the way through the test. Putting them into clusters of five will make it simple to count your score.
Now, go back and review those questions you marked for review. Be careful about changing any answer if you had a good feeling about it. Experience has shown that first impressions are more likely to be correct than the second answer.
You will have a good feeling about some of your answers, but you may not want to bet the farm they are correct. At this point count those answers you “know that you got correct”. The question naturally follows, “what if I didn’t get 53 correct?”
This is where the “philosophy of multiple choice test taking” comes into play. First, count up your score. Example: 32 is the total of those answers you are sure of. You needed 53, so it looks like you are 21 short of a passing score. Don’t be too hasty. Learn this next strategy well. It can mean all the difference in the world to your final score: Begin with the first question you are unsure of. Read it carefully, again. Look at the possible answers. Many times there will be two possibles that are fairly close with the other two either too high or too low or simply not appropriate. The first step to take at this point is to eliminate the worst possible answer, which leaves you with three possibles. Now, try to determine the next worst possible answer. That leaves two. If you are still in the dark do the old fifty-fifty routine. Flip a coin. Strangely enough, you will win about 50% of the time. If there were 50 questions that you used this strategy on and you won only 45% of them that would add 22 to your score of 32 making a total of 54, and you would WIN !
In the event you should fail the first time remember that this is but a pebble in life’s road, not a boulder. Study this material again, and take the test again. Some of the finest CPA’s and attorney’s failed their bar exams one or more times, but that didn’t stop those who were determined to win.
Don’t get cocky about the test, and don’t get discouraged by the test. Either emotion could lead you down the wrong path. DO stay focused on the task at hand.
On the morning you are to take the test look into the mirror and give yourself a pep talk. Staying positive all the way through will help keep you focused on a successful outcome. Negative self talk is destructive not only to one’s emotions but to one’s physical body.
Approximately half of the 82 questions will be concerned with Federal Laws; about 17 to 20 questions will be concerned with state of Texas Laws; the balance of the test will concern itself with general knowledge of the industry and a few math questions.

When you go to Pearsonvue or ProMetric to take the Texas component of the SAFE ACT you will find “TEXAS TIPS” to have been very valuable in your achieving a passing score.

ALL the best to you.

Mitch Hackney