SAT Tips

sn1026 · Before February 2015

SATs are coming up and for those who are interested, here's a mini-guide:

Most people panic when they hear the dreaded acronym SAT. Relax! Here are a few tips to help you get through the test.
Be sure to bring with you on the day of the test: Your admission ticket (Printable online), a form of photo identification (Passport, School ID, Driver?s License, etc.), some No. 2 pencils (3 would be best and possibly a sharpener), and an acceptable calculator* (Don?t forget spare batteries or a spare calculator). Feel free to bring a bottle of water and some snacks to eat during breaks. There are typically 3 breaks, each lasting around 5 to 10 minutes.
Be sure NOT to bring: Pens or mechanical pencils (Your test won?t be scored if used), cell phone (If you bring one, make sure to turn it off), or any device which makes noise (timer, watch alarm, etc.). Bringing any of these items will most likely cause your SAT scores to be cancelled.
1. General Overview: The SAT is made up of a total of 10 sections: 3 Math, 3 Writing, and 3 Critical Reading, and 1 Experimental**. Each section ranges from 20 - 25 minutes (with the exclusion of Section 10 which is only 10 minutes) and contains about 20 - 25 questions per section, with a total of 54 Math questions, 49 Writing questions, 67 Critical Reading questions? and 1 Essay. This means that you?ll have about 45 seconds per question assuming you want the last 5 minutes to check your work. Each question is worth 1 point (raw score) if you get it right and you lose .25 points if you get the question wrong. It?s best to only guess if you can narrow your answer choices down to 3 or less choices.
2. Essay: Alright, this will always be the first section of the test, and the one you?ll most likely panic on. Take a deep breath and take a minute or two to things through. You only need 4 decent paragraphs (3-5 sentences each): an introduction, 2 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Firmly state your point of view in your introduction. Stick with one argument and NEVER go against your argument.*** Then, support your argument in your body paragraphs. Finally, summarize everything you?ve said in your conclusion and try to leave the reader thinking (a witty comment or a paradox can work). Remember though, your most important paragraph is the introduction; you want to leave the scorer with a good impression. You?ll be scored by 2 scorers and given a score from 2 ? 12.

3. Math: These are probably the most straightforward questions on the test, with a grand total of 44 multiple choice and 10 grid-in questions. You either know it or you don?t. Think about what the question is asking and what you can do to get there. If you don?t know or the question seems like it?ll take a long time to solve, skip it and move onto the next question. You can come back to it later once you?ve finished with the ones you can do at a first glance. Grid-in questions are your chance to score ?free? points on the SAT. You don?t lose any points for guessing on them, and only have the potential to gain points. Don?t forget, on grid-in questions, the answer will NEVER be negative!

4. Writing: Writing is made up of 49 multiple choice questions, with the majority of them being ?Find the error in the sentence.? Read the sentences carefully. If something in the sentence sounds weird, chances are it?s probably the error. If nothing seems wrong with the sentence, don?t try to look for an error that?s not there. Put down ?No Error? if you believe that?s what the answer is. Some common errors in the sentence errors are that EITHER always goes with OR and NEITHER always go with NOR and subject-verb agreements.**** The second type of writing questions are ?Improve the Sentence.? In these, you?re left to shortening the sentence as much as you can whilst keeping the original meaning of the sentence. If a part of the sentence seems wordy, try cutting the sentence down, getting the basic meaning of the sentence. The final type of question is ?Improve the Paragraph.? In this, you?re asked to rearrange, insert, or delete certain sentences in paragraphs to either make them more detailed or more concise. For these, you want to re-read the specific paragraph, with and without the specific sentence. See if it sounds good or just sounds awkward.

5. Critical Reading: To many (including myself), these are the hardest sections, with a total of 67 questions. Try and score some quick points on the fill-in the blanks. When dealing with them, it's good to note whether each pair of words in the answers are synonyms or antonyms (The odd pair out tends to be the answer though you should always check the context of the sentence.). Next, the short passages. Skim through the passage quickly and try to get a general understanding of what its talking about. Then, go through the questions and answer what you can. After, re-read the passage and answer the remaining questions. Now comes the main challenge... the long passages. Read the questions first and try to do the questions relating to a specific paragraph and the ones relating to vocabulary words. Once done, read the entire passage carefully and answer the main ideas and inference questions. It should be noted that inference questions are generally classified as ?hard? questions and it is better to skip them if you are completely unsure of your answer.

*You are able to borrow a calculator from school for the SAT.
**The Experimental is an unscored section in the test which may contain Writing, Critical Reading, or Math used to design new SAT tests.
***Bad example: Digging holes is a motivating experience! However, my back hurts afterwards.
      Good example: Digging holes is a motivating experience! It helps me grow stronger.
**** Sentence with error: Neither the students nor the teacher was able to find the solution    immediately.
               Sentence without error: Neither the students nor the teacher were able to find the solution immediately.
      Why is this correct? The subject of the sentence is STUDENTS. Teacher is NOT the subject. Since STUDENTS is plural, we have to use the plural form of ?was?, WERE.

Last edited by sn1026 (Feb 27 2013 10:59:31 pm)

Tako · Before February 2015

sn1026 wrote:

*You are able to borrow a calculator from school for the SAT. Please talk to Mr. Roberson if interested.

> Random wall of text as a first post?
> Copy + Pasted from school website?
> Random username?

Thanks for the tips, but these are all strange behaviors out of a new user. I've got my eye on you.

sn1026 · Before February 2015

Sorry about that, recently wrote an article which I figured I might as well share, explaining the "please talk to..." Statement. As for my username, they're my initials coupled with an important date to me. might seem random to you, but to me, it holds a sort of meaning.

Saintcool · Before February 2015

I am curious are SAT's something different in America? In England it's just something you take to see what level you are working at in years 3 and 6, therefore not really worth revising for at all.

Ratburntro44 · Before February 2015

In the US the SAT is a standardized college (by which I mean post-secondary institution) admissions test. It is pretty important.

Deetz · Before February 2015

Along with the ACT, just for future refrence.

Muffin · Before February 2015

Good guy ad bot, gives us advice instead of selling camel cargo baby carriers

Tako · Before February 2015

sn1026 wrote:

Sorry about that, recently wrote an article which I figured I might as well share, explaining the "please talk to..." Statement. As for my username, they're my initials coupled with an important date to me. might seem random to you, but to me, it holds a sort of meaning.

Ah, alrighty then.

skullz17 · Before February 2015

Which SAT are we talking about?

Deetz · Before February 2015

An American college-entry test.

32OrtonEdge32dh · Before February 2015

Or you could just walk in with whatever you need and take the test.

Official Everybody Edits Forums

#1 Before February 2015

SAT Tips

#2 Before February 2015

Re: SAT Tips

#3 Before February 2015

Re: SAT Tips

#4 Before February 2015

Re: SAT Tips

#5 Before February 2015

Re: SAT Tips

#6 Before February 2015

Re: SAT Tips

#7 Before February 2015

Re: SAT Tips

#8 Before February 2015

Re: SAT Tips

#9 Before February 2015

Re: SAT Tips

#10 Before February 2015

Re: SAT Tips

#11 Before February 2015

Re: SAT Tips

Board footer