The Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) is a standardized test for students to test their reading, writing and mathematics skills in order to gain them admissions to colleges and universities in the state of Texas. Formerly called the TSAP, the THEA test is mandatory for all students seeking college admissions in the state. Every university in the United States either takes the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) or ACT (American College Testing) examination scores as the criteria to select the good students and allow them to join for the undergraduate courses they offer. Similar examinations are also conducted in various parts of the world, enabling students to prepare themselves with adequate skill to face the challenges that college throws on their path.
What Is It About?
The test consists of three sections –Reading, Writing and Math. The Reading section has 40 multiple choice questions, around seven reading passages of 300-750 words each. The Math section has 50 questions, with multiple choice answers, and the Writing section has 40 questions and a 300-600 word essay. The average score for a pass is 230 out of 260 for both the reading and math sections, 220 on the writing section and 6 out of 10 for the essay. Preparing for THEA exam enables students to learn goal setting, note making and test strategies that they would find useful to master the university course work.
What The THEA Test-Takers Need To Learn:
The students before taking the THEA test need to comprehensively prepare in order to deal with it with considerable ease. They need to learn meanings of words, familiarize themselves with common and uncommon phrases and figurative expressions. Elements of high school grammar need to be well understood so as to obtain a good score in the reading section; these include prefixes, suffixes, similes, metaphors, analogies and hyperboles. The writer’s point of view must be well understood while answering the passages in this section.
To succeed in the math section, every high school graduate must be well-versed in the fundamentals, familiar with decimals, percentages, ratios and proportions, measurements, integers and fractions. Data interpretation also forms an important subsection for questioning in this test. A subject that most students despise is the Algebra that must also be effectively tackled to pass the math section of the THEA.
The writing section requires one to recognize and understand the purpose and focus of the intended essay topic. The sentence structure and usage of words and phrases should be done so effectively that the essay must impress the evaluators instantly.
How to Prepare for THEA:
Buying a THEA study guide and taking a diagnostic test must be the first step in preparation, ideally taken 6-8 weeks before the test. Reviewing the sample tests every week or twice a week will refresh the student’s memory and help score well. Choosing a wise study plan and taking notes from time to time and staying confident and cool on the day of the exam play significant part on ensuring good test scores, hence a bright future for the student.