hello all! i took my third and final sat on august 25th, for privacy reasons, i will not share my exact scores, but they are in the range for the colleges i am applying to, so i am satisfied with them. here’s my guide to getting the sat score of your dreams; best of luck x
evidence based reading section: like act reading but a little more challenging (65 minutes, 52 questions, 5 passages)
evidence based writing section: exactly the same as act writing and language (35 minutes, 44 questions)
math (no calculator): don’t stress tm abt this section, it’s actually easier than math w calculator, main issue (for me at least) is timing (25 minutes, 20 questions)
math (calculator): more complex math, goes up to basic trig and geometry (55 minutes, 38 questions) both math sections have grid-in questions in which you have to write in your answer rather than select a multiple choice option
writing (optional): analyze a piece of writing in an essay, a bit more challenging than act writing (50 minutes)
the sat is made by the college board, who also make the ap exams. so if you’ve ever taken an ap exam, you have a college board account. if not, you’ll have to make one. it’s fairly easy to do.
make sure your password is something you can easily remember. if possible, set it so your computer remembers it.
you can later send your scores to colleges using your college board account.
when signing up to take an sat, make sure that you print out your admission ticket early rather than late. also make sure you have clear directions to your testing center if you’ve never been there before.
you will also be asked for an additional proof of id. if you take the sat through a talent search program, this will be provided for you. otherwise, bring drivers’ id, passport, or an sat id form. (the sat id form is kind of a pain to fill out, so i would strongly recommend you bring one of the other ids i mentioned.)
if you’re a senior planning to submit your sat score to colleges, make sure you’ll get your sat scores back before you apply. for this reason, it’s better to schedule a summer test over an autumn test.
cramming the night before probably won’t improve your score. if you have to study at all the night before, do your best section and look over math formulas. (they won’t give you arc length and that’s almost always on the test.)
bring a snack! a hungry brain will not improve matters!
check to make sure your calculator is approved by college board. most are, but you never know.
you can opt to take sat writing on test day if you found out a college you’re interested in requires a writing score. but lots of top schools don’t require sat w writing (all the schools i’m currently applying to are top 50 and none of them require a writing score). you only really need to take it if you have ivy league/uc ambitions.
self study: this method is what most people do. they do practice tests online or through khan academy, or buy an sat prep book and do practice questions. this method is pretty solid, but you have to be disciplined to do it effectively. if you know you can’t motivate yourself to study, this is probably not the move.
sat classes/tutoring: if you have the money to do this, or if you can find free classes, this method is also fairly effective. if you know you can’t be trusted to study by yourself, this is probably the best way to study.
blind testing: this is where you take the test without studying at all. you may want to do this for your first sat, but it is not recommended you do this for any sat after, unless you’re some sort of test-taking god (but if you are, why are you reading this post?)
yes and no. it really depends on the prep book.
i’ve always used the princeton review books. they’re pretty high quality and the questions are a lot like the ones on the sat. they tend to focus more on “tricks” then how to, like, do the questions though, which bothers me a little bit.
college board makes its own sat review guides, which are also fairly reputable. they have former sat tests in them, which can be helpful. however many real tests have already been released by college board online and are thus free.
kaplan also makes pretty good review material. imo kaplan tests are harder than actual sat tests. kaplan is also less focused on “tricks.” which i found more helpful than princeton review’s methods.
the summer before my junior year i took a kaplan course to prep for the sat. i got a lot out of it, personally. they gave us tips for taking the test at a much faster pace, and i brought my score up by 100 points.
that being said, tutoring is def not necessary for success. the course was p expensive, and it was also a lot of work to keep up with. if you’re already pretty busy, you may not get a lot out of a class because it does take up time.
if you have the time and money, i’d say a kaplan or other test-prep course could be worth it to you. if not, there are plenty of other, less expensive ways to prep for the test.
for example, studying with a group of friends can play the same role as a kaplan class in that it will get you motivated (or shamed into) studying for the sat.
do not sleep on khan academy! if you don’t know what it is by now, it’s a free website with tons of helpful videos on just about any subject ( i especially recommend it for math and science.) they have sat prep material that has been verified by college board and you can customize a study schedule to your needs, and, if you log into your college board account, you can build a study plan that focuses on your weaknesses-based off your psat or your last sat.
take the psat if you can before the sat. it’s formulated quite similarly to the sat, and if you do well on the psat you may be eligible for a national merit scholarship.
make a study schedule and stick to it. and be specific with it, so instead of saying “today i’m going to study sat math” say “today i’m going to review geometry topics and do fifteen practice problems.”
don’t attempt to do too much in one day. you will almost certainly get burnt out if you take a full practice test every day or something.
practice tests are helpful, but schedule them for days on which you literally have nothing else to do so you can time them properly (they are about four hours if you practice the essay as well.)
write down every question you get wrong in a notebook, along with an explanation of how to get the correct answer. that way, before test day, you can flip through the notebook and quickly review what sorts of mistakes you tend to make so you can be extra vigilant on the real test.
promise yourself rewards for good work! for example “if i get all the questions right today, i’ll buy myself a present.”
the day before the test, if you have to study at all, practice the section of the test that is easiest to you. this will get you extra confident for the next day.
i can’t afford the sat. what do i do?
fee waivers are available for the sat. see if you are eligible to get one.
to answer this question, check the sat “middle 50%” range for the college or university you’re applying. do not look at the “average” sat score, as this is a less reliable indicator of the necessary score needed for acceptance to that college.
if you are in between the scores in the middle 50% range or at the cutoff points for the middle 50% range, your score is very similar to the scores of people who were admitted. at the very least, your sat score will not keep you out of that college.
if you’re above the scores at the top of the range, you have a good shot at getting admitted, potentially with some sort of scholarship money.
if you’re below the scores at the bottom of the range, it will probably be harder for you to get in to that school. however, it is not totally impossible to get accepted, especially if you’re only ten or twenty points below the cutoff for the end of the range.
colleges do not look at just test scores, contrary to popular belief. plenty of people get turned down from top schools with perfect sat scores. recognize that doing well helps, but it’s not everything. the sat is simply a measure of how well you can do on the sat. it is not a valid predictor of intelligence or even success in college and beyond. you are more than just a number. you are. i promise.
chances are, if you’ve taken the test more than one time, your composite score has fluctuated a little bit. you might have done better in math on one test, but bombed english, yet when you took it a second time, your math score plummeted and your english score soared. so which score do you submit?
most colleges, thankfully, won’t make you choose. you can now submit multiple tests, and your highest subscores across the board will be taken to create your all-time highest score. this practice is called superscoring. be sure to check the score policies for the colleges your interested in, as not all colleges superscore (cough cough: the uc schools)
random sat tips that worked for me:
you know those reading questions where it asks you to answer a question and then the preceding question asks you to back it up with evidence? anyway, what i do for those is read the first question, and then, without looking at the answer choices, skip to the second question and select the evidence that answers it. only then do i answer the first question.
learn the arc length formulas. tattoo them on your forehead. they WILL be on the math section.
skip hard questions. they’re worth as many points as easy questions. bubble a random answer in and come back to them if you have time.
remember there’s no guessing penalty, so it’s in your best interest to bubble all the questions. you’re better off guessing one letter for all your unknown questions rather than “christmas-treeing” it. the right answer is not always b or c, contrary to popular opinion so guess a or d if you’re bad ;)
for english, the simplest answer is usually the best.
