Help with SAT prep

[Mystic Muse]

I have the SAT this weekend and I'm freaking out. I'm not entirely sure what I should be refreshing myself on or what I should be doing.

Help please? Even just a way to keep myself calm would be good, as would descriptions of what it's like.

[snoopy13a]

Here's two things to keep in mind:

1) If you don't do as well as you would have liked, you can always retake the test. So think of this as a sort of practice.

2) SAT scores aren't that important for most colleges

As for the actual test, just do a quick overview of the math stuff, especially if you haven't taken geometry in awhile.

[AtlanteanTroll]

You took the PSAT right? It wont be harder then the PSAT. It'll just cover more. But you know more! So it'll be fine! YOU CAN DO IT KYUUBI!

Don't believe in yourself! Believe in us! Believe in the Playground who believes in you!

[Blue Ghost]

You'll do fine. Just get a good night's sleep, don't overstress yourself, and go in and ace it. If you've already studied, I would recommend you don't cram anymore. If you haven't studied, perhaps do a cursory review of the pieces you feel weaker on.

[dgnslyr]

Huh, which SATs are you taking? The general test, or the subject tests? I'm taking World History, myself, and I got an 800 on Bio subject test already.

[Mystic Muse]

Huh, which SATs are you taking? The general test, or the subject tests? I'm taking World History, myself, and I got an 800 on Bio subject test already.

I'm pretty sure it's the General test.

[Raz_Fox]

You're doomed. http://i.imgur.com/jaolo.jpg

Reading and writing should be easy - refresh your grammar rules, though, because the correct answer isn't always the answer that sounds the best. Personally, I found that going back over geometry/probability/averages-means-medians-all-that was the best thing I did while preparing for mine.

Get a good night's sleep, bring some snacks for the breaks, and make sure you bring several sharp pencils and a calculator! That calculator will save your life on the math, if you bring a good one. Also, have your brain turned on straight away, and be ready to hand-write an essay first thing. For the essay, build upon more than one anecdote or example, and make sure it's legible. This is much more important than it sounds, because if they can't read what you've written, they won't give it a good grade. :smallannoyed:

[Mystic Muse]

You're doomed. http://i.imgur.com/jaolo.jpg


Nooooo. http://i.imgur.com/fhwi8.jpg

Bleh. Being legible is going to be a pain. Sometimes I can't read my own writing.

[mootoall]

Oh, and make sure to take a position on the essay if it calls for one. I only did so in my second to last paragraph, and got penalized two points (total) for it. And as silly and obvious as it sounds, try not to offend anybody. I took a huge risk by insinuating things about Libertarians. :smalltongue: Other than that, just shoot for over 2000 and you'll be fine for most colleges.

[Mystic Muse]

Oh, and make sure to take a position on the essay if it calls for one. I only did so in my second to last paragraph, and got penalized two points (total) for it. And as silly and obvious as it sounds, try not to offend anybody. I took a huge risk by insinuating things about Libertarians. :smalltongue: Other than that, just shoot for over 2000 and you'll be fine for most colleges.

Any suggestions on what to take a position about? It sounds like a political issue is out according to what you've said. Or at least avoid insinuating things about the other side.

And 2,000 words is what's expected?

[Blue Ghost]

Any suggestions on what to take a position about? It sounds like a political issue is out according to what you've said. Or at least avoid insinuating things about the other side.

And 2,000 words is what's expected?

Well, you can't really decide until you get the prompt for the essay.

[Mystic Muse]

Well, you can't really decide until you get the prompt for the essay.

Oh. So I pretty much have to come up with something on the spot?

[Blue Ghost]

Oh. So I pretty much have to come up with something on the spot?

Pretty much, yeah. Maybe someone who was better prepared has something else to say.

[Deathslayer7]

Writing - they give you a topic or several (can't remember) and then you write an essay on it. I suggest splitting it up into time. Brainstorm, thesis, 3 or 4 facts proving/supporting your stance, and then write like the wind!

Math- algebra, geometry and some trig (basic triangles 30-60-90 and 45-45-90) is what you'll see here.

Reading - Grammar, some vocab, some like this: day is to sun night is to ______. You also have some reading comprehension i believe.

[Poison_Fish]

Be sure to study, but note, also take some time for your brain and body to relax. Not just a good nights sleep, but perhaps an hour of play time. Of course you need to be cautious with that so it doesn't take over, but if your thinking of it in all your waking hours that'll simply lead to more stress.

[Knaight]

Just remember that the SAT is nothing compared to what it is cracked up to be. If you've ever taken so much as an AP class, or if you are in IB, you should be able to get in the 99th percentile with pretty much no effort. If CSAP (The Colorado state test) is an indicator, you were doing work on mandatory tests more difficult than the SAT as early as 8th grade, and your biggest threat is stressing out and making careless errors due to stress. Moreover, I can state with some certainty that the level of erudition and eloquence consistently applied to your posts here is an indicator that you are guaranteed to get at least a 10 on the essay, out of a 12 point total.

In any case, the ACT is usually more important, and it is even easier. The material covered is similar, but it also includes the science section, which is essentially a long form of the question "Can you read line graphs?". I assume the answer is yes, in which case you have a large amount of padding. It also avoids the primary difficulty of the SAT, which is dealing with its sheer length - the ACT is a relatively short test, and its organization is far superior.

[AlterForm]

Cursive. IIRC, the SAT asks you to copy a passage in cursive/script to the tune of "All my work is original, I didn't cheat, if I cheated I'm bad and I should feel bad." Worst curveball on the test, bar none. :smalltongue:

(Slightly) more seriously, to reiterate the above, the best thing you can do is to go in well-slept, comfortably-fed, and in a calm state of mind.

[Knaight]

Cursive. IIRC, the SAT asks you to copy a passage in cursive/script to the tune of "All my work is original, I didn't cheat, if I cheated I'm bad and I should feel bad." Worst curveball on the test, bar none. :smalltongue:

That part was hilarious when I took the SAT. The test proctor pretty much had to write the entire cursive alphabet on the board for some people.

[Mystic Muse]

Cursive. IIRC, the SAT asks you to copy a passage in cursive/script to the tune of "All my work is original, I didn't cheat, if I cheated I'm bad and I should feel bad." Worst curveball on the test, bar none. :smalltongue:


....I think this is what I'm dreading most now.:smalltongue: I hate writing in cursive.

[Ceric]

The people who read the essays don't have time to analyze every single essay for deep themes and thorough arguments. As long as everything sounds good, they'll probably score it pretty high. I had a friend who apparently abused this so badly that he got "stop BSing!" (or something to that effect) written on his essay and still got a good score :smallamused: For similar reasons, make the essay as long as possible. They give you... four pages to write on, I think?... so try to fill that up entirely.

They try to discourage you from guessing on questions you don't know by adding a 1/4 point penalty for wrong answers. Guess anyways :smallwink: Let's say you have four questions and no idea what the answers are, so you guess on all four. The test gives you 4 possible answers, so you have a 3/4 chance of getting them wrong and 1/4 chance of getting one right. So you'd (like) get 3 wrong and 1 right. That's -3/4 points for wrong answers and +1 point for the right answer, for a net total of +1/4 point. On the other hand, if you'd left the questions blank, you'd have gotten 0 points. Statistics! :smalltongue: Not to mention that you're likely to have narrowed down the possible answers to 2 or 3 rather than 4, so you're even more likely to get a correct answer. If you got none of those four questions right, well, it's -1 point. But if you get two right it's +1.5, and if you get three it's +2.75 :smallbiggrin:

Seconding the snacks and a few nice sharpened pencils. Make sure your eraser's good, too.

Bring a watch so you can see how much time you have left and pace yourself accordingly. Fun story, our proctor told us time's up five minutes before it actually was :smallsigh: Everyone in the room had a panic attack until we figured out the mistake.

[Mystic Muse]

The people who read the essays don't have time to analyze every single essay for deep themes and thorough arguments. As long as everything sounds good, they'll probably score it pretty high. I had a friend who apparently abused this so badly that he got "stop BSing!" (or something to that effect) written on his essay and still got a good score :smallamused: For similar reasons, make the essay as long as possible. They give you... four pages to write on, I think?... so try to fill that up entirely. That should be easy enough I think.


They try to discourage you from guessing on questions you don't know by adding a 1/4 point penalty for wrong answers. Guess anyways :smallwink: Let's say you have four questions and no idea what the answers are, so you guess on all four. The test gives you 4 possible answers, so you have a 3/4 chance of getting them wrong and 1/4 chance of getting one right. So you'd (like) get 3 wrong and 1 right. That's -3/4 points for wrong answers and +1 point for the right answer, for a net total of +1/4 point. On the other hand, if you'd left the questions blank, you'd have gotten 0 points. Statistics! :smalltongue: Not to mention that you're likely to have narrowed down the possible answers to 2 or 3 rather than 4, so you're even more likely to get a correct answer. If you got none of those four questions right, well, it's -1 point. But if you get two right it's +1.5, and if you get three it's +2.75 :smallbiggrin:

Okay.

Seconding the snacks and a few nice sharpened pencils. Make sure your eraser's good, too. By Snack do you mean like chips or more like sammiches?


Bring a watch so you can see how much time you have left and pace yourself accordingly. Fun story, our proctor told us time's up five minutes before it actually was :smallsigh: Everyone in the room had a panic attack until we figured out the mistake. Thanks for the advice.

[snoopy13a]

Just remember that the SAT is nothing compared to what it is cracked up to be. If you've ever taken so much as an AP class, or if you are in IB, you should be able to get in the 99th percentile with pretty much no effort.

Considering only one out of one-hundred test-takers score in the 99th percentile, this isn't the case.

[Ceric]

I don't eat chips much, but I think the answer is sandwiches anyways. Something to keep your energy up.

[Blue Ghost]

I prefer energy bars for big tests.

[Deathslayer7]

Cursive. IIRC, the SAT asks you to copy a passage in cursive/script to the tune of "All my work is original, I didn't cheat, if I cheated I'm bad and I should feel bad." Worst curveball on the test, bar none. :smalltongue:

(Slightly) more seriously, to reiterate the above, the best thing you can do is to go in well-slept, comfortably-fed, and in a calm state of mind.

I dont remember this at all. :smallconfused:

[Trekkin]

The people who read the essays don't have time to analyze every single essay for deep themes and thorough arguments. As long as everything sounds good, they'll probably score it pretty high.

Seconding this. Really, the SAT is more boring than difficult; just follow the directions and try not to overthink the questions. In all honesty I'd shy away from obsessively reading prep books and so forth, since they tend to encourage strategizing and plotting and trying to outsmart an inanimate paper booklet. The questions aren't designed to trick you and they're not designed for you to get them wrong; they actually go through a fairly thorough process to make sure they won't trip you up unfairly. It's much more likely that you'll psych yourself out and make errors out of nervousness than it is that you'll miss some patently obvious part of the question (although do read them carefully).

As to the essay, I once asked my English teacher, who'd graded them one year, how they're read, and the response I got was "they aren't". She went on to explain to me how they aren't read with a view toward grasping the subtle intricacies of your argument and understanding every last nuance of your grammar and syntax, because they read them in around eight minutes, if I recall correctly. Typically, the prompt (like these I found (http://www.majortests.com/sat/essay-topics.php))is some statement to which you're asked to respond, and a selection of possible short responses is presented along with a quote of variable relevance. "It is often the case that [insert]. As Someone We Found by Googling our Prompt said, "Quit putting my statements out of context in the middle of your accursed prompts, you vultures!" Do you believe that A is the case, or is B the case? Plan your response, and then write an essay..." And then you have a bit of time and scratch paper to put together some kind of coherent thought.

Really, that's all they want, and it doesn't help to try to be clever. Picking one of the responses and coming up with a justification for it, then presenting that response and the supporting evidence in a logical fashion free of technical mistakes is all that's really expected. It's really a game of having enough there to show a grasp of the assignment at the expected level without overextending yourself and slipping up, since they ding you for errors more than they reward cleverness. If your logic is good, your grammar is free or errors, and your writing style is polysyllabic, it's not likely that you'll do poorly.

Obviously I make light of this test, but it's something to be taken seriously. Just don't go in there trying to "beat" the test or make up for some perceived intellectual inadequacy via clever strategy, and you're likely to do closer to your best than you would by trying to game the system and stress over it, in my opinion.

As to stress relief, I did and still do this for tests: Every other time I finish a page of questions that I'm not coming back to, I take a few seconds, close my eyes, take a relaxed breath, and think "that's more I've answered correctly". Just pausing like that every so often can help keep you from stressing out, and it can help on the reading sections to keep them separate in your head.

Hope some part of that helps.

[Knaight]

Considering only one out of one-hundred test-takers score in the 99th percentile, this isn't the case.

Sure, but we have information about Kyuubi that would predispose her towards being that 1%. Among these:

We know Kyuubi cares about the SAT. This might not seem like much, but there are some people who don't even try, and just bubble in answers at random.
We have data from which to derive Kyuubi's level of literacy. Given the large proportion of people who are literate at the equivalent to a relatively low level in the U.S. and that the data does not suggest a low level in Kyuubi's case, this is another advantage.
We know that Kyuubi has a certain predisposition to hobbies that would be considered "nerdy". Given that there is a correlation between this predisposition and some level of mathematical and linguistic abilities, we can also safely assume that her mathematical skills are at least up to par.
We know that Kyuubi writes more than is necessary. The sheer volume of forum posts produced here alone is an indicator of practice, and given the apparent capacity shown in them -which we can assume to be below that shown in an academic context- the practice is actually somewhat valuable.
I scored in that percentile. Given that comparison of our respective posting habits indicates with a nontrivial degree of certainty that Kyuubi is smarter than I am, and given that she has indicated a greater interest in the portion of academics encompassed by grading and evaluation, and given that the SAT is an indicator of these things, we can deduce that Kyuubi would score better than I would.

[hi-mi-tsu]

Just remember that the SAT is nothing compared to what it is cracked up to be. If you've ever taken so much as an AP class, or if you are in IB, you should be able to get in the 99th percentile with pretty much no effort. If CSAP (The Colorado state test) is an indicator, you were doing work on mandatory tests more difficult than the SAT as early as 8th grade, and your biggest threat is stressing out and making careless errors due to stress. Moreover, I can state with some certainty that the level of erudition and eloquence consistently applied to your posts here is an indicator that you are guaranteed to get at least a 10 on the essay, out of a 12 point total.

In any case, the ACT is usually more important, and it is even easier. The material covered is similar, but it also includes the science section, which is essentially a long form of the question "Can you read line graphs?". I assume the answer is yes, in which case you have a large amount of padding. It also avoids the primary difficulty of the SAT, which is dealing with its sheer length - the ACT is a relatively short test, and its organization is far superior.


I'm one of those old-timey people who took the test before there was an essay section. I was in IB, on the AcaDeca team, I wrote constantly (I'm an English major), I generally got good grades. Even with all that, I was nowhere close to the 99th percentile. It's pretty much impossible to get that sort of score, though shooting for it is, of course, always excellent.

Also, are they making people take both the SAT and the ACT now? Because we definitely didn't have to do that when I took it. It seems as though it would be overkill to worry about both tests, and since Kyuubi's specifically asking about the SAT I'll address that.

When you're studying, focus on those things you know you're weak in. Just like studying for a normal test; if you're not so great at math, brush up a little on that. Kind of poor at word-matching? Do a few of those. However, don't over study, to the point where everything gets jumbled. I would recommend not doing more than two of those SAT practice tests a day (if you have them).

Get plenty of rest. Seriously. I know it's hard to sleep before a test, but do your best. And eat breakfast! It sounds trite, but it's a long test, and your body and brain get moving better if you have some food. (Also, consider doing a little exercise. Just ten minutes of walking or some dancing around or jumping jacks will release endorphins and help you feel more alert and energized).

Other than that, all I can say is good luck! I'm sure you'll do well. :)

[Ceric]

Good luck!

[Mystic Muse]

Good luck!

Thanks.

I'm glad I can retake this because I'm not feeling confident at all. Plus, it's happening earlier than I thought, and I'm up much too late to get a good night's sleep.:smallfrown:

[Tirian]

Well, if nothing else it's good experience to have seen the test if you choose to retake it. Still, keep with the program and do the best you can! They keep track of your highest score in each subject, so even if you do well in just one of the subjects you'll have one fewer thing to worry about.

[absolmorph]

Oh, I'm not the only person taking it tomorrow on here? Wow.

You're doomed. http://i.imgur.com/jaolo.jpg

Reading and writing should be easy - refresh your grammar rules, though, because the correct answer isn't always the answer that sounds the best. Personally, I found that going back over geometry/probability/averages-means-medians-all-that was the best thing I did while preparing for mine.

Get a good night's sleep, bring some snacks for the breaks, and make sure you bring several sharp pencils and a calculator! That calculator will save your life on the math, if you bring a good one. Also, have your brain turned on straight away, and be ready to hand-write an essay first thing. For the essay, build upon more than one anecdote or example, and make sure it's legible. This is much more important than it sounds, because if they can't read what you've written, they won't give it a good grade. :smallannoyed:
There's an essay section? Oh, crap.


Cursive. IIRC, the SAT asks you to copy a passage in cursive/script to the tune of "All my work is original, I didn't cheat, if I cheated I'm bad and I should feel bad." Worst curveball on the test, bar none. :smalltongue:

(Slightly) more seriously, to reiterate the above, the best thing you can do is to go in well-slept, comfortably-fed, and in a calm state of mind.
Oh, crud. I haven't used cursive in years.


Considering only one out of one-hundred test-takers score in the 99th percentile, this isn't the case.
Well, how many people take AP/IB classes? :smalltongue:

[Siosilvar]

Well, how many people take AP/IB classes? :smalltongue:

Assuming that my school is any indication... about 4%?

[Private-Prinny]

2) SAT scores aren't that important for most colleges.

Emphasis on "most". If you're like me, your SAT scores could save you from your terrible transcript.

So, was it as bad as you thought it was going to be? I didn't do one word of studying but still got a perfectly respectable score.

[absolmorph]

Emphasis on "most". If you're like me, your SAT scores could save you from your terrible transcript.

So, was it as bad as you thought it was going to be? I didn't do one word of studying but still got a perfectly respectable score.
It was as bad as I expected.
By which I mean I don't think I missed more than 5 questions, and my main worry is the essay.
And the most painful part was the waiting. Of the 4 hours I spent at the testing place, a solid two were spent just sitting in my chair. Waiting.
Why do people take so long on these tests, or why do I finish them so quickly?

[Mystic Muse]

So, was it as bad as you thought it was going to be?

Pretty much. I know I didn't do very well on the math section. I don't think I did terribly, but I don't think I did well. They started us off on the essay so I don't think I did that well either.

[valadil]

Too late to help now, but in case anyone else reads this looking for help, here's one thing I did that was useful.

So I did practice tests like everyone else I knew. One of my practice groups did two SATs at a time though. We'd do one test and then go straight into a second. Everyone else I know complained that the real test was so long that they weren't thinking straight by the end of it, but the three of us who marathoned them easily had the endurance for a single test.

And just to gripe a little, I got 740 on the math one. It said I had all but two answers right. The two that were wrong were left unanswered. I know I answered every single question. 10 years later and I'm still a little bitter about that. I'd have been okay with getting an answer wrong, but not with the machine grading me incorrectly.

[Eric Tolle]

Damn, I wish I had read this last week, because I've been tutoring students on the SAT.

For those of you out there who will be taking it in the future, here's a few tips:

Do the easy questions first- run through those, and then come back to the hard ones. You don't want to spend all of your time struggling on a question, and not have time to finish the test.

ALWAYS read the questions at least twice, and make sure you know what they're actually asking. I see a lot of mistakes because the student thought the question was asking a different thing than what it actually was. Be careful for "trick" questions.

Likewise read the answers carefully to make sure you've got the right choice- it may not be the obvious answer.

If you come to a question you don't know the answer for, make an educated guess; they subtract .25 a point for wrong answers, meaning a random guess is a bad idea. However, if you can subtract obvious wrong answers so that you're only left with two choices, then that brings your odds of being right up to 50%.

Take quick breaks every ten minutes or so: Lift your head up, close your eyes, stretch your neck and back. It helps reduce the tension.

[Thes Hunter]

I am a somewhat professional standardized test taker....


or... I seem to have become one, since they for me never end.


I never took the SAT, since I went to college in Michigan, so the ACT was good enough.

I don't know what your goals are for a score, I don't know if you have taken any practice exams to estimate your score, but if your exam is next week, you can decide to cram if you want, but generally unless you are cramming 500 drug and disease names in, it probably won't do much to raise your score.

So it's just test head-o-logy that will help.

1) Imagine the teacher who wrote the question
2) Try to figure out what fact/principal that teacher is trying to test you on
3) Look for traps
4) Don't over think it.

I wish I had an example, but all that I have sitting around are a bit too technical.

Basically, writers of standardized exams like to make things sound unfamiliar and weird to throw you off guard. Then you get something wrong, when you knew the answer!

Often times when I find myself beginning to scratch my head and go "Whhhaaatttt?" When I try articulate what concept I think the question is asking, the answer becomes clear. Like "They're asking if I know viruses don't have nuclei, Oh yeah, here's the answer."

Otherwise I can get myself wound up in all kinds of convoluted logic and get led to the wrong answer. So if you find yourself thinking "Well, if this happened then that would be right." BUUUZZZZZ that is the wrong answer.


Now, sometimes you just won't know the concept they are asking. Make an educated guess, move on.

Sometimes, you kinda sorta remember something vaguely about the topic. This is the type of question you can spend all of your time on. However, you will still be guessing... at some level... so it's better to make a quick guess, mark it, move on, and come back to it if you have time.

The exams like to do a lot to shake your confidence. I believe a lot of test taking anexity comes from people thinking along these lines: "What?! I don't remember this! Why didn't I study more?!" When they do remember, they did study a ton. The exam writers just worded the questions to use unfamiliar terminology, and if those same exam takers asked themselves "Ok, this is weird... but what do I know about this general topic. It has to be something related." They would find they became excellent exam takers.

I don't know how long the SAT is, but bring a banana for a snack if you can. It helps keep the brain functioning.

Also, what other people said about getting good sleep, making sure you eat breakfast and all that. It really does make a difference.

Hope this helps, and best of luck to you.


Now I need to get back to studying for my next standardized exam. :smallbiggrin:

[Thes Hunter]

Sorry for the double post, but I found an example of the 'over thinking' and 'try to figure out what the question is asking' stuff I was rambling about above.



Question makes up a theoretical experiment where healthy people get injected with some bacteria. They describe that a red spot shows up, and slowly grows over a course of a couple weeks, with eventual central clearing. Then they ask what bacteria was injected.

And I was all like: "What?! Why would they inject people with something dangerous, it has to be the least dangerous thing in this list." BUZZZTTT! Wrong.

And since I am on the look out for me thinking like that, I then asked: "Ok what are they trying to see that I know. Oh! What bacterial infection looks like this. Oh that's easy, it's Lyme Disease." DING! Right.

Though I tried to talk myself out of it because I was like "Why would the be injecting people with Lyme disease?!" Wrong way to think about it, it's just a question, it makes no real world sense, it's just a tool to get at what you know, but make it look unfamiliar.

If they had asked: "Hunter Dude comes in with a red target like spot on his leg, what is it?" We would all get the answer right, cause that's what we are familiar with.