Getting start to prepare for the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) can be intimidating. Our goal is to make the first step as easy for you as possible. To perform well on the SAT, you need to draw on a set of skills. Acquiring this ability, and the confidence it produces, is what this Web site is about. When you complete reading through this Web site, you will know exactly how to prepare for the SAT.

The SAT is an important test. It's different from the tests that you're used to taking. On explicitly stated purpose of the SAT is to predict how students will perform academically as college freshmen. But the more practical purpose of the SAT is to help college admissions officers make acceptance decisions, because it provides a single, standardized means of comparison. The SAT is a predictable test and can be well prepared through practice.

The following are frequently asked questions and answers. Click on the title to read the sub-page content.

When you decide which colleges or universities you are going to apply to, find out if they required the SAT. Then you need to know when they need your SAT scores.

The SAT I is offered on one Saturday morning in January, March, May, June October, November and December. Check the exact dates to see which ones meet your deadlines. Count back six weeks from each deadline, because that's how long it takes ETS to score your test and send out the results.

If you are not sure about which schools you want to apply to, take the exam in December or January of your senior year. You'll probably have plenty of time to send your scores to most schools.

More importantly, you need to select a test date that works best with your preparation schedule. Ideally, you should have at least 2 months to practice at this Web site. The longer, the better for you.

If you can manage it, it will be a good idea for you to take the test in March of your junior year. This way, if your score doesn't satisfy you, you'll have enough time to come back to this Web site for more practice and take another test in the spring or following fall. If you can't manage it, just pick another date that best works with your situation.

If the schools you'll apply to also requires SAT II (subject tests), take the test immediately after you complete your subject(s) in school (probably in June) when your memory is still fresh. This will save you a lot of review time. The SAT and SAT II are registered separately. You can't take the two tests on the same day.

Remember, try to allow you enough practice time at this Web site before your test date.
 

Colleges evaluate the SAT I in different ways. Some will take your highest math and verbal scores even if they were earned on different test days. Some will take your highest combined score on a particular day. Some will take take the average of all your scores. No matter what each school's policy is, every single score you earn is part of your permanent transcript, and the colleges see them all.

Therefore, it may not be a good thing for you to take the test as many times as you can. You should only take the test when you believe you are truly prepared. Ideally, it's better for you to earn your highest score sooner than later.

You can take the test two or three times, as long as your scores will be considerably increased each time. However, if you hit 1100 or believe that you have dig out the highest potential you will ever have in the test, you'd better stop there. You don't want your next possibly poorer scores to drag down your average score. On the other hand, if you are confident that after more practice, you will do better the next time, go for it. In other word, it'll be meaningless to re-take the test if you expect to earn about the same or poorer score every time.

You should register for the SAT at least six weeks before your testing date. The earlier, the better. This way, you will avoid late registration fees and increase your chances of taking the test at your first choice testing center.

You can register through the mail by completing the SAT registration form inside the annual SAT Bulletin. You should be able to find the copy at high school guidance office.

If you want, you can also register the SAT through Internet of by telephone. Refer to the table below for contact information.  

College Board SAT Program Addresses:
P.O.Box 6200
Princeton, NJ 08541-6200
(609) 771-7600
(8:30am to 9:30pm Eastern Time)
http://www.collegeboard.org

Or

P.O.Box 1025
Berkeley, CA 94701
(415) 849-0950
(8:15am to 4:30pm Pacific Time)
http://www.collegeboard.org

On the day of the test, arrive at the test center between 8:00 and 8:15 a.m. Remember to take the following items:  

1. Admission ticket

2. Photo ID

3. #2 pencils and erasers

4. Approved calculator

5. A watch

The SAT is unlike any tests you've ever seen in school. For example, the SAT uses basic math problems in very particular ways. This is why preparing for the SAT requires a new set of skills. The SAT doesn't test how smart you are, how well you will do in school, or what kind of person you are. Instead, it only tests how well you do on the SAT. And doing well on the SAT is a skill that can be learned through practice at this Web site.

As with other form of learning, preparing for the SAT is an investment of time. The more time you have, the better your chances of boosting your score.  

 

Sections	10
	3 Verbal
	3 Math
	3 Writing section
	1 Experiment Section
Time
	3 Hours 45 Minutes
Score	Overall 600-2400
	Verbal 200-800
	Math 200-800
	Writing 200-800

 

 

 

Critical Reasoning	3 Section
	Sentence Completion
	Reading Comprehension (Long & Short)
Question Type	Multiple Choice
Time
	70 Minutes (One 20 Min and two 25 Minutes)
Score	200-800
Math	3 Section
	Basic Arithmetic Geometry Algebra Algebra II
Question Type	Multiple Choice
Time
	70 Minutes (One 20 Min and two 25 Minutes)
Score	200-800
Writing	3 Section
	Grammar Usage Word Choice
Question Type	Multiple Choice Essay
Time
	70 Minutes (One 20 Min and two 25 Minutes)
Score	200-800

 

 

     The test in question is the SAT I: Reasoning Test, commonly referred to as just the plain old SAT. The modified SAT will be introduced in March 2005. If you will be a high school senior graduating and looking to enter college in 2006, you will take the new exam. If you will be a high school senior graduating and looking to enter college before 2006, you will take the current version of the exam.

The Verbal Section Changes

The first change to the Verbal section is its name. On the new SAT, this section will be called Critical Reading. The second change to the Verbal section is the elimination of the analogy questions. This question type is being eliminated so that this section on the new exam will consist entirely of critical reading questions that will test reading skills at the sentence, paragraph, and passage level. The third change to the Verbal section is the addition of paragraph-length critical reasoning questions, to supplement the existing question types of sentence completions and reading comprehension passages. The topics of the given texts will represent a wide range of subjects, including science, literature, humanities, and history.

The Math Section Changes
The Math section of the SAT will also change. Algebra II material will be tested on the new exam in order to better align the SAT with the math curriculum being taught in high school classrooms. The second change to the Math section is the elimination of quantitative comparisons. The other two current math question types, 5-choice multiple-choice and student-produced responses, will remain on the exam.

The New Writing Section - Essay
The biggest change to the SAT will be the introduction of a new Writing section. The Writing section will consist of two parts: an essay and a multiple-choice section. Students will be given 25 minutes to respond to a prompt and construct a well-organized essay that effectively addresses the task. The essay question may require students to complete a statement, to react to a quote or an excerpt, or to agree or disagree with a point of view. In any case, a good essay will support the chosen position with specific reasons and examples from literature, history, art, science, current affairs, or even a student's own experiences.

Essays will be scored based on the procedures for the current SAT II: Writing Test. Essays will be graded by two independent readers on a scale of 1 - 6, and their two scores will be combined to form an essay sub score that ranges from 2 to 12. Should the readers' scores vary by more than 2 points, a third reader will score the essay. The readers will be high school teachers and college professors who teach composition. To ensure that essays will be scored in a timely manner, they will be scanned and made available to readers on the Internet for grading purposes.

The New Writing Section - Multiple-Choice
The Writing section will also include multiple-choice grammar and usage questions. Some of these questions will call upon students to improve given sentences and paragraphs. Others will present students with sentences and require them to identify mistakes in diction, grammar, sentence construction, subject-verb agreement, proper word usage, and wordiness.

The highest possible score on the new Writing section will be 800. Scores on the essay and multiple-choice section will be combined to produce a single score. A writing sub score will also be assigned. The highest possible scores on the Critical Reading and Math sections will remain 800 each, making 2400 a perfect score on the new SAT.

Change In Brief in " NEW SAT "

Writing Section (New section added)	Multiple-choice questions (grammar and usage) Student-written essay
Critical Reading Section (currently called verbal section)	Analogies eliminated Short reading passages added to existing long reading passages
Math Section	Math content expanded to include topics from third-year college preparatory math Quantitative comparisons eliminated

Except for the Critical Reading problems, the questions are designed to get rougher as you work through a set. The charts below are typical examples of the patterns of math questions.

As you work, you should always be aware of where you are in the set. When working on the easy problems, you can generally trust your first impulse - the obvious answer tends to be right. As you get to the end of the set, you need to become more suspicious about your answer because they probably won't come easy. If they do, look at the problem again, because the obvious answer tends to be wrong.

To move through the test efficiently, you are allowed to skip around within each section. Do not spend too much time on any one question, even a hard one, until you've tried every question at least once.

There are some rules about how you can and can't allocate your test time:  

• You are not allowed to jump back and forth between sections.

• You are not allowed to return to earlier sections to change answers.

• You are not allowed to spend more than the allotted time on any section.

• You can move around within a section.

• You can flip through your section at the beginning to see what type of questions you have.
   

When you get the SAT booklet, you'll also get a separate sheet on which you'll mark your answers. For multiple-choice questions, you'll see sets of answer ovals labeled from A to D or E. Remember, your marked answer sheets will be read by machines. The machine doesn't think. It calculates your scores by what your marks look like, not by what you really meant.

Fill in your chosen ovals correctly, completely and boldly as required, so there can be no mistake about which one you chose. If you knew the correct answer but didn't mark it right, that would be too sad.

For the student-produced responses, you'll still be filling in ovals, but you'll write in the actual numerical answer. You'll read detailed instructions later on when you practice at this Web site.

You should develop a good habit of regularly checking the number of the question and the number on the answer sheet every few questions. Check them carefully every time you skip a question. If you knew the correct answers but filled them in wrong places, that would be even sadder.

 

 

You get one point added to your score for each correct answer on the SAT, and lose one-quarter of a point for each wrong answer (except for Grid-ins). If you leave a question blank, you neither gain nor lose points. Incorrect answers to Grid-ins have no effect on your score. The totals are added up for all the Verbal and Math questions, and that produces two raw scores.

These numbers are not your SAT scores. The raw scores are converted into scale scores, each on a scale of 200 to 800, and these are the scores that are reported to you and the schools you apply for. The reports include sub-scores as well, but most schools focus on the three main scores.

Some students always do better in the SAT than others. Yes, they have studied harder and practiced longer. But knowing the right strategies also plays an important role in their better test-taking. Follow the following test-taking tips and become a better test taker:   

 Questions within a set go from the Except for the critical reading questions, the SAT questions follow this pattern. So work your way through the earlier easier questions as quickly as you can, and you'll have more time for the later harder ones. Answer all the easy questions you can before moving to the harder ones. If you spend too much time on any one question, you won't have time for many other questions. Remember, all questions are worth the same point.
 

 If you can eliminate even one answer, you increase your chances of getting the question right. Statistics show that it's worth guessing in such situation. With each correct answer you gain one point; if you leave the answer blank you get no points; if your answer is wrong, you only lose 1/4 points.

The better you get at eliminating implausible choices, the more points you will pick up from educated guessing. But no matter what, if you have time to read through a question and eliminate at least one choice, it is always to your benefit to guess. As long as you are guessing better than randomly, you will do considerably better.
 

 No matter how frustrated you are, don't pass over questions without at least reading through them. Be sure to consider all the choices in each question. Take each question as it comes and avoid careless mistakes:  

1. Answer the question asked. If the question asks for the triangle degrees, don't answer with its area.

2. If you can, use a different method to check your math answers. If you use the same method, you may make the same mistake.

3. Whenever possible, use common sense to check your answers, such as "Can Mary run at 50 miles per hour?" If Mary can run at 50 miles per hour, she must be a truck!

4. Keep moving, but not so quickly that you could make careless mistakes.

5. Check the number of the question and the number on the answer sheet every few questions, especially when you skip question. Make sure that your answers are filled in the right places.

 Losing your place on the answer sheet can be a major problem that will severely affect your score. This happened too many times to students. To prevent this, check the number of the question and the number on the answer sheet every few questions. Check them carefully every time you skip a question. It would be so sad if you could answer the questions correctly but didn't fill in your answers in the right places.
 

Set your speed limit and keep moving. Don't spend too much time puzzling out hard questions that you lose the time to find and answer the easier ones. Work on less time-consuming questions before moving on to more time-consuming ones. Be sure to mark the unanswered questions and come back later.

You don't have to read the directions as long as you know them in advance. Get to the first question right away. You should save every valuable minute for the questions.

Keep track of time during the test. You should develop the habit of occasionally checking your progress through the test, so that you know when you are one-fourth or half of the way through the time allotted for a section, and when you have 5 minutes left.
Don't forget to bring a watch on the test day!
 

 While you have to keep you answer sheet neat and free of stray marks, you can mark up your test booklet. You can write whatever you want, wherever you want, in the section of the booklet you're working on. But, you will not receive credit for anything written in the booklet.

There are no rules as how you should mark up your booklet. You should develop your own rules. Use catching-eye marks that you can easily identify. Practice a lot before the test. Mark up your test booklet, but don't mess it up!

Relax the day before the SAT. Before you go to bed the night before the test, check through the list of things you need to take with you to the test site. Make sure your calculator has fresh batteries, eat breakfast, and head for the site.

Remember, after you practice at this Web site for 2 months or longer, you will give yourself the best preparation available for succeeding on the SAT. Let you preparation give your the confidence you need to be calm and focused during the test.