How to Ace the SAT
Originally posted on facebook.com on Friday, June 22, 2007 at 9:33 PM
I scored well on the June SAT (not a 2400, but around there), so I thought I’d write some spicy tips for you all to do the same. :)
First of all
**Note: If you’re already signed up for SAT classes, just skip this section and make the most of your classes. There’s still a lot of (hopefully) useful stuff in here, though!**
SAT group classes are worthless. You would improve just as much by taking practice tests on your own. Sure, classes might “force” you to study, but it actually may be wasting your time because instead of reading a book and thinking things through (active learning) you are able to just sit there for an hour and tune out while the teacher drones on and on (passive learning). For the most part, $1000 franchise SAT classes à la Princeton Review or Kaplan are simply reiterating what is widely available in their $30 books. The difference between their group classes and their books? Let’s see…
$1000.00
- 30.00
$970.00
Not 200 more points on the SAT. Not 50. $970.00.
…
THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU COULD DO WITH ALL THAT MONEY!! This is a good way to inspire yourself. Do you really need to pay $1000+ for motivation? No. Avoid this organized torture!! And f you must take an SAT class, choose a smaller, private company with references, or even better, a private tutor.
Required Supplies
Note: Only use the CB materials for the tests. The rest of it is full of mostly generic and vapid advice that you don’t need to spend time reading.
Optional Materials
There are a few other Real SAT books, but they’re not as widely available. These books all go for less than $5 including shipping, so they’re a great investment if you need extra practice. Why use fake questions by companies like Princeton Review when you can get the real thing? Obviously, drop the Quant Comp questions and analogies, but the rest is still great for practice.
One Last Thing
Find people who took the October or January SATs, because these people might have copies of their tests you can borrow and take. These tests are as real as they get. :) Oh, and give the generous souls that lent you tests a nice present or two. (Thank you Justin & Peter) You could also use old PSAT tests for practice. Note: The pretest on the CB online course is the October 2005 test.
Steps to a Pretty SAT Score
The material on the SAT isn’t high-level at all, so for the most part all of you will just be brushing up on stuff you’re hazy on. Thus, you don’t really need to read SAT books from cover to cover. Use them more as references, like how you would use a dictionary.
- If you haven’t already, do some type of diagnostic with no prep. This isn’t absolutely necessary, but it’s nice to see where you are. The free practice tests given by Kaplan or Princeton Review are great for this step. I improved about 300 points from my PR practice test in January, so (maybe) that’s what you can expect as well. I suppose you could use a PSAT score for this as well; however, by the time you are getting ready to take the SAT, you have probably improved naturally from your sophomore PSAT. Personally, I thought taking the PSAT in sophomore year was a waste of money so I didn’t bother taking it, but do what you want. :)
- Take 1-2 tests without time limits and with open books/answers. Take your time: basically, you’re just getting to know how the test is built and becoming familiar with random topics you’ve forgotten.
- Take tests with closed books. You’re allowed to go overtime at first, but be within the time limit by the third or fourth test. Review any incorrect answers and also any ‘weird’ questions that you barely got right or that you took a lot of time on.
Note: You don’t need to take the entire test at once. In fact, it’s better to take it one section at a time so you can review the section you just took before you forget it. It’s not necessary at all to take a full-length test more than two or three times to build up your stamina. You’ll have adrenaline on test day anyway. Lots of it. :) If you are really worried about your concentration, try this website.
Critical Reading
Read, read, read. It’s hard to make up for a lifetime of not reading, but you can at least make a significant dent. If you think it won’t contribute enough to be worth your time, think of it as preparation for the GRE or LSAT (grad school standardized tests). Reading will improve your vocabulary and critical reading skills. Try to read “critically;” think about tone, voice, style, where the author is leading, themes, and so on. Then, practice on SAT questions, also paying attention to the rhetoric as much as you can. Do a section a day (or week; whatever), and you’ll start to see patterns and the way CB thinks.
Also, don’t think too much into a question. The obvious answer is usually the right one; if you have to twist an answer so it’ll fit, it’s not right. This is one of the things you’ll ‘get’ after you see a lot of questions.
Vocabulary: Maximum SAT has an awesome vocabulary list in the back about 400 words long: memorize it first, then go on to other lists. Also, when you take practice tests (by CB!), take note of which words you weren’t completely sure about and learn those as well. Depending on how much you read and how much vocab you already know, you can spend more or less time on this section. I stuck with the Maximum SAT list and random words on practice tests and that was all I needed. You might need more. Or less! :)
If you want to improve your CR scores, spend most of your energy understanding the techniques to recognize the patterns of Sentence Completion, and especially Critical Reading. This is more important than mindlessly memorizing thousands of random vocab words. Seriously, that 3500 Barron’s Vocab List hecka scares me. Does anyone actually attempt to memorize the entire thing??
Math
Maximum SAT’s math section is very concise. If you are pretty good at math, you don’t really need to read through all of it, but use it when you encounter a question you don’t know how to do or find something you need to brush up on. Others will have to read all of it; it really depends where you are in regards to math. If you see a weird question that you have no idea what to do with, the solution is simply to ask a friend. :D
Once you’re scoring around 700 in the math section, concentrate on gaining speed and accuracy on level 1-4 questions. Brush up on Algebra 2 if needed, as many hard questions lie in that area. After a while you can simply skip all the easier math questions and go directly to the level 5 questions.
Writing
Again, Maximum SAT has a great writing section. Use it just like you use the math section, but read through at least Writing Lesson 2 and the first half of Writing Lesson 3, because these parts cover the errors that appear the most.
The essay really isn’t that important. If you get perfect on the multiple choice, for example, you can get a 9/10 (depending on the curve) on the essay and still receive an 800. Concentrate on improving the MC before you work on the essay. Also, after a few practice tests, make a list of the grammar stuff (or any stuff actually) that you tend to mess up on. For me, that meant random error ID questions where I read too fast and assumed there was no error instead of seeing the subject-verb error.
The Essay [12 Steps to a 12]
Note: I will update/adjust this section once I get to read my actual essay.
- CB is looking for an essay that makes an exceptional argument, not a masterpiece. Do not waste time trying to think of good vocab during the first run. It is the form, argument, support, and details that gain you points.
- Read wikipedia! Seriously, it’ll teach you lots of stuff that you can put in your essay. Choose a few topics and learn all about them. Here are some examples to get you started. There are lots of examples outside of history/lit that you can use, though. Read sparknotes if you haven’t read a certain book in a while and need to refresh your memory.
History: French/American/Any Revolution; Activists; Civil Rights movement; George Washington/King Louis 16th & his wife; Gilded Age/Progressive era; WWI, WWII, Germany after WWI
Literature: 1984; Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Brave New World; Catcher in the Rye; Fahrenheit 451; Frankenstein; The Crucible; The Grapes of Wrath; The Great Gatsby; To Kill a Mockingbird; Les Miserables; Lord of the Flies; Macbeth; The Merchant of Venice; Spoon River Anthology; The Scarlet Letter
Philosophy (courtesy of JueYan Zhang): John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism; John Locke/Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Social Contract; Immanuel Kant’s Principle of Truth and Choice; Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Huge List of Good Things to Know (also courtesy of JueYan Zhang)
- Read the Quote and the Question. The quote sets the tone for the question, so don’t skip it! I must note however that some people think it’s a good idea to skip the quote entirely. Write a few essays and decide which way works better for you. I find the quote helps me think of examples, but some may think that it actually tends to confuse them. Subsequently, make sure to actually directly answer the question, and not go off on a tangent about the quote.
- Immediately after comprehending the question, begin your first sentence! Jot a few LETTERS down to refresh your memory, but that’s it! The ideal situation is to spend just a minute or two on the quote and question, dive into writing, and have a minute to spare at the end to search for grammatical errors or to upgrade your word choice in a few areas.
- You need to keep thinking of examples as you write. Solid examples that carry at least partial academic weight (well-known person, historical/current event, movie, philosophical concept, etc.) are better than personal anecdotes, but if you can’t think of solid examples immediately, just write a really nice essay on a good personal example. Time is not on your side, so do not hesitate to make up, errr use, personal examples.You could also use a paragraph to refute an argument against your essay.
- Another way to approach the essay is to use one example and explore different aspects of it. Here is an example of an essay from the collegeboard online course that did this and received a perfect score:
Often, people are judged by their accomplishments. Different groups look at what an individual has done, & judge that person from only what they see whether this person is fit for this job, or that specialty track. This is the ever-basic competition. It is all around us. Jobs, schools, & wars depend on it.
The strong survive for one reason. They are able to adapt & overcome. They will run headfirst into a problem, then back up and look at it from a different angle. The weak will run into the problem the same way, but after backing up, will run into the problem again & again until they get too frustrated to continue or ask a stronger individual for help. The stronger, however, will be long past that problem and onto a more challenging one. This point was displayed during World War II & the development of the jet engine. The US & Great Britan were having great problems getting all the bugs worked out from uncontrollable thrust amounts & out of control speeds, to complete & total engine detonation. However, the German Luftwaffe had already perfected the engine & had put it to work in the Me 262. The allies were being destroyed by an enemy that they had nothing to match with. Allied planes were being shot down in massive numbers, & there was nothing anybody could do, because the US jet engine was far from finished. In response, new tactics were developed. Instead of just hoping to get a lucky shot & running into that wall, the Allies found a way around the wall. The idea was that during takeoff & landing, the 262 was extremely vulnerable, because it had to slow down dramatically to be able to land. Because of this, the Allied planes could now not only catch, but destroy many 262s that would have otherwise been impossible to destroy. This new tactic won the air war over the skies of Europe.
Ever since man has been around, they have been making tools. From the most primitive spear, little more than a sharp stick, to the most technologically advanced military fighter, the F-22 Raptor, man has been making devices to help them for millions of years. It is the strong who in the first place develop these tools. The weak will be quickly killed off in attacks, while the strong & agile will quickly improvise something, then revise it later to make it better.
- Stay Focused. In each paragraph, re-read the question to tie it all together. You don’t want to write two whole pages only to realize that you digressed and went off on a tangent. You can easily lengthen your essay by continuing to mention how your examples fit with the topic.
- Content is King; length helps, but it isn’t everything. Two pages of mindless BS will do nothing for your score. The people that do fill up the entire two pages and receive 12s have a lot to write about, not random stuff. Myself, I wrote 1.5 pages and received an 11, sigh. I edited the essay instead of writing more because I couldn’t really think of a way to write more and have the essay still flow. Also, I suck at writing fast soo that’s also a reason I couldn’t get to a whole 2 pages haha. Maybe you don’t have that problem. Do have at least 1.5 pages..
- There are no rules, so let it Flow. If your ideas require one continuous paragraph for the whole essay, so be it. This probably isn’t a great idea, but the point is don’t stress out about having three main examples fit perfectly into three main body paragraphs. You are allowed to make a new paragraph just for one or two sentences if you so desire. It doesn’t even matter if your thesis is the most prominent line – so don’t spend time crafting a perfect thesis.
- Have a point of view. If possible, go for a nonconformist view. Go for the point of view that somehow embraces the beauty of life, succeeding, and progress (it sounds corny, but it works). Don’t depress the reader…impress him or her with a new and innovative direction on the prompt. BUT ONLY if you can think of good examples for this, fast. Otherwise, just go for the point of view/argument you can support better. This is just something to keep in mind when you first read the question.
- Write legibly. Also, these hand exercises would be a good daily addition to your SAT studies. :) OK, it’ll probably help more for preventing “computer related injury,” but if you’re reading this on a computer right now, you probably need it.
- Regarding the Intro & Conclusion:
- Summarize and grab attention. They don’t have to be long; the body counts for the most points.
- You don’t need to focus too much on the conclusion; it’s OK if your introduction and/or body are very long and your conclusion is short. Think of the SAT essay as more of an inverted triangle structure (like a news article). Tie the thesis to an adequate conclusion and you’ll do fine. Having two pages is much more important than having a conclusion. If you can think of one, try ending with a thoughtful statement, either your own or a proverb/quote. Just something to keep in mind IF you can think one up for the prompt.
Lastly
Visualize! The following is your goal. Or whatever it may be. :)
Retaking the SAT
Hopefully you won’t even have to think about this, but if you do, there are a lot of factors to consider. What are your SAT Subject Test scores? What would you have to sacrifice, time wise, in order to retake? (Are you supposed to be preparing for other exams? Are you really busy with extracurriculars that you would have to give up or cut back on? Or are you finished with everything and basically relaxing?) Did you prepare a lot for your earlier SAT or not? Have you already retaken the SAT? A lot of people say taking the SAT more than 3 times looks bad. I don’t agree or disagree with the statement that it looks bad to retake a fourth time, but do remember the law of diminishing returns. In the end, this is your own decision: whatever you decide, follow through with it and don’t do it half-assedly. :D
A Note on the SAT
The SAT isn’t everything in admissions: it matters, but not THAT much. A 2400 doesn’t guarantee you admissions anywhere, and a 2000 doesn’t keep you out of everywhere (a 600 might, though). Instead of obsessing over that perfect score, it’s better to just live and enjoy your life. You are not a hook for Harvard. You’re a person. There’s a reason why universities look for vibrant, happy people who do interesting things for themselves and others. Scores can only get you so far in life.
You are what matters. The real question remains: Are you a number?
