So, finally after getting some time I managed to take out time to make a dummies-guide-to-SAT. I'll focus mainly on SAT-I in this post. Hopefully, this should reduce the PMs and threads like 'Hi, I don't know anything about it. Where do I begin'.
So, what is it?
SAT, literally, is Scholastic Aptitude test. Emphasis on the bold. I know this was not needed, but I hope you get why
I'm listing it down and bolding aptitude out of it. SATI comprises of English and Math while SATII focuses on specific subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Math II, Biology etc. This depends on which Uni you apply to and which course you apply for).
Do I need to give it?
Have you done O Levels? Are you in A Levels? Are you going to apply for A Levels? Do you have any plans for pursuing Bachelors, or are you a Malik Riaz in the making? If the answer to most of the questions is Yes, then YES! More than likely than you need it!
Jokes aside, most College students need it. It's validity is for two years, therefore you will have to give it near (within two years, DUH!) of applying. Almost all (all that I know of) uni's in the States need SATI. Many non-US uni's use SAT. SAT's not needed for England, but getting in there isn't easy anyway. Heck, many Pakistani uni's have started using SAT scores to assess you!
What does SATI comprise of?
English:
Reading
Total Marks: 800
Total Time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
19 Sentence Completions
48 Reading between the lines/comprehension type thing
Writing
Total Marks: 800
Total Time: 1 Hour
49 Grammer related questions
1 Essay
Math:
Total Marks: 800
Total Time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
44 MCQs
10 Grid Ins
___
Cumulative total marks : 2400. And yes, 2400/2400 IS obtainable. Personally know at least 9 people who got that, so please, ignore those who say 2250 say ooper. Impossible...
[HR][/HR]
Right. Now, for a newbie, where do you begin?
First step :
Decide when you want to take SATI
You can take it in October, November, December, January, March and May.
Personally, if you want my opinion, I would suggest IMMEDIATELY after giving your O Levels (i.e October) for it'll give you the highest cusion for a re-take possible.
ALWAYS plan ahead and see if it's viable. You don't want to, say, in Feb 2012 register for March 2012. That'd give you too little time to prepare. Ideally, I'd suggest choosing a month that is AT LEAST 90 to 120 days away from the said. Another thing, make sure you don't have any clashing Internals OR Externals during this period. Keep as little external 'tensions' on your head as possible.
Okay. Now that you've chosen when you're taking it, it's time to start preparing for it.
(Actually you can, and mostly will begin before Step 1, but oh well
)
You can choose from :
-> Official CollegeBoard books.
It contains official past papers plus is pretty good.
-> Princeton-Review
My personal favorite, narrowly taking it past College Board. Great tips on specific sections, and a nice way of presenting stuff.
-> Barrons
HATE this book, but it may end up the most useful. Toughest questions I've faced were in Barrons. HATED the book, but it gives the best practice, and hence I recommend this to most people alongside CB or PR.
It's entirely up to you as to which book you're going to pick. My favorite combo thus far has been reading through Collegeboard followed by the mindf*ck Barrons gives you to be prepared for the toughest questions. However, I shan't opinionate this thread further. I'll leave that choice to yourself.
___
That's pretty much about it. Let me know if I've missed anything and I'll add it. I'll add about SAT II later, although there's not much to add in that.
___
Tips to study for the SATI. (Credit must be given where it's due. Was advised so by my peers and seniors)
-> Go Section by section initally than the whole test. Say, Critical Reading first, followed by Math, then Writing. Up to you totally. Make sure you practice everything so that you're well prepared for the real deal.
Try and time yourself HERE and be honest with yourself.
-> Make a list of your scores versus section/question/xyz attempted daily so that you can see your progress.
-> Make a list of things you find most time consuming/difficult. And improve on them. Personally, I've found that CR takes up most of my time. Rectify your mistakes and places of difficulty and move on to whole tests.
-> Don't practice hastily. Weird choice of words, I know. I mean, don't just skim through the test in an attempt to solve what you're confident with quickly, and move on to places of difficulty with relatively more time left. Sure, this in theory is an awesome way, but in reality when you do this it's quite likely that you carelessly skim through them and make a silly mistake. In short, in this way, the probability of making a silly mistake is relatively higher.
-> Don't go the O Level MCQs way. Mark your answers as you go through them. You DO NOT want to leave it to the last few minutes!
-> Underline the important/keywords in questions. Easy questions in particular. In my experience, it makes you focus on the word.
-> Pay a lot of heed to the Vocab lists. These are bloody annoying and hard to deal with. Words you may have never heard of, and meanings you couldn't have guessed in the wildest of your dreams may show up. The best way is to get the Vocab banks (there are two volumes I think). The method of learning what most of them mean is up to you. I found the easiest way was by picture memory (it's usually sharper than mental memory). I mean, associate a picture with a word and use it to learn. The only way to go through is to LEARN what they mean. No shortcuts.
- Alternatively, make a list of the words you find hard.
- LEARN 10-15 of them DAILY and test yourselves as you go through to ensure that you even remember 90-95% of them.
-> Incase you don't TAKE A BREAK!. Take a day off the practice session. It's very strenuous, I know. If one doesn't seem enough, take two, or three or four, till you're mentally relaxed and fresh and then restart with a fresh mind. It's important to take it only when you absolutely need it. Time is your worst enemy in this. You have to be honest with yourself and see what's absolutely needed.
-> ALWAYS, ALWAYS and ALWAYS practice in pencil. You'll use a pencil at the final day. You don't want awkward situations when you practiced in pen, and on the final day it's a weird feeling altogether. During my O Levels, I used to do MCQs with pens, because I didn't feel like holding the thin pencils and sharpening them every x papers. On my first MCQ Olevel, I took longer and it felt absolutely weird solving it in pencil. Relevance? Not much. But you probably get what I'm trying to say.
-> Stay away from careless guessing. If you don't know the answer, LEAVE IT! You'll be negatively marked if it's wrong. This isn't the baby CIE stuff.
Taking a guess when you're 70% sure b/w two options is worth a shot. You lose 1/4th of a point for every incorrect answer.
-> Always best to take external help in getting your Essays checked and graded. SAT instructors at your Schools/Colleges should be competent enough to suffice.
-> Go berserk a week or two before the final day. Practice tests back to back and record your score at the end of each test. If done properly, I can ENSURE 100-150 points of improvement.
-> This should've been at the top, but I'm just too lazy now after typing all this for the past 30 minutes to proof read and fit it there, so make our of it what you can. Go to xtremepapers and take any practice diagnostics test to see where you stand. Time yourself and see what you get. It'll be low, alright. I began with a 1700 on this. Don't be demotivated, because at the end THIS is what will motivate you the most. Starting low and seeing your progress and evident improvements is always a great way to motivate yourself. Always good to see where you are at the begining and set your goals.
- KNOW what you want to achieve. Say, you need a 2100, eye a 2200 and prepare for a 2400.
___
I'm guessing you already know this, but registering for the test:
1- Go to College Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool and register for the date, city and center of your choice. (Payment is via a credit card)
2- MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOUR PASSPORT IS VALID BEYOND THE DATE OF THE TEST. An expired passport will mean no entry, and the money will be non-refundable.
And, that's about it!
Let me know if anything up there is wrong, or missing. Writing it up purely from my knowledge, so I may be wrong up there somewhere.
If anyone is willing to do a similar thing on SAT II, I'll be more than thankful to add in up there. Very tight on time these days!
So, what is it?
SAT, literally, is Scholastic Aptitude test. Emphasis on the bold. I know this was not needed, but I hope you get why
I'm listing it down and bolding aptitude out of it. SATI comprises of English and Math while SATII focuses on specific subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Math II, Biology etc. This depends on which Uni you apply to and which course you apply for).
Do I need to give it?
Have you done O Levels? Are you in A Levels? Are you going to apply for A Levels? Do you have any plans for pursuing Bachelors, or are you a Malik Riaz in the making? If the answer to most of the questions is Yes, then YES! More than likely than you need it!
Jokes aside, most College students need it. It's validity is for two years, therefore you will have to give it near (within two years, DUH!) of applying. Almost all (all that I know of) uni's in the States need SATI. Many non-US uni's use SAT. SAT's not needed for England, but getting in there isn't easy anyway. Heck, many Pakistani uni's have started using SAT scores to assess you!
What does SATI comprise of?
English:
Reading
Total Marks: 800
Total Time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
19 Sentence Completions
48 Reading between the lines/comprehension type thing
Writing
Total Marks: 800
Total Time: 1 Hour
49 Grammer related questions
1 Essay
Math:
Total Marks: 800
Total Time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
44 MCQs
10 Grid Ins
___
Cumulative total marks : 2400. And yes, 2400/2400 IS obtainable. Personally know at least 9 people who got that, so please, ignore those who say 2250 say ooper. Impossible...
[HR][/HR]
Right. Now, for a newbie, where do you begin?
First step :
Decide when you want to take SATI
You can take it in October, November, December, January, March and May.
Personally, if you want my opinion, I would suggest IMMEDIATELY after giving your O Levels (i.e October) for it'll give you the highest cusion for a re-take possible.
ALWAYS plan ahead and see if it's viable. You don't want to, say, in Feb 2012 register for March 2012. That'd give you too little time to prepare. Ideally, I'd suggest choosing a month that is AT LEAST 90 to 120 days away from the said. Another thing, make sure you don't have any clashing Internals OR Externals during this period. Keep as little external 'tensions' on your head as possible.
Okay. Now that you've chosen when you're taking it, it's time to start preparing for it.
(Actually you can, and mostly will begin before Step 1, but oh well
)You can choose from :
-> Official CollegeBoard books.
It contains official past papers plus is pretty good.
-> Princeton-Review
My personal favorite, narrowly taking it past College Board. Great tips on specific sections, and a nice way of presenting stuff.
-> Barrons
HATE this book, but it may end up the most useful. Toughest questions I've faced were in Barrons. HATED the book, but it gives the best practice, and hence I recommend this to most people alongside CB or PR.
It's entirely up to you as to which book you're going to pick. My favorite combo thus far has been reading through Collegeboard followed by the mindf*ck Barrons gives you to be prepared for the toughest questions. However, I shan't opinionate this thread further. I'll leave that choice to yourself.
___
That's pretty much about it. Let me know if I've missed anything and I'll add it. I'll add about SAT II later, although there's not much to add in that.
___
Tips to study for the SATI. (Credit must be given where it's due. Was advised so by my peers and seniors)
-> Go Section by section initally than the whole test. Say, Critical Reading first, followed by Math, then Writing. Up to you totally. Make sure you practice everything so that you're well prepared for the real deal.
Try and time yourself HERE and be honest with yourself.
-> Make a list of your scores versus section/question/xyz attempted daily so that you can see your progress.
-> Make a list of things you find most time consuming/difficult. And improve on them. Personally, I've found that CR takes up most of my time. Rectify your mistakes and places of difficulty and move on to whole tests.
-> Don't practice hastily. Weird choice of words, I know. I mean, don't just skim through the test in an attempt to solve what you're confident with quickly, and move on to places of difficulty with relatively more time left. Sure, this in theory is an awesome way, but in reality when you do this it's quite likely that you carelessly skim through them and make a silly mistake. In short, in this way, the probability of making a silly mistake is relatively higher.
-> Don't go the O Level MCQs way. Mark your answers as you go through them. You DO NOT want to leave it to the last few minutes!
-> Underline the important/keywords in questions. Easy questions in particular. In my experience, it makes you focus on the word.
-> Pay a lot of heed to the Vocab lists. These are bloody annoying and hard to deal with. Words you may have never heard of, and meanings you couldn't have guessed in the wildest of your dreams may show up. The best way is to get the Vocab banks (there are two volumes I think). The method of learning what most of them mean is up to you. I found the easiest way was by picture memory (it's usually sharper than mental memory). I mean, associate a picture with a word and use it to learn. The only way to go through is to LEARN what they mean. No shortcuts.
- Alternatively, make a list of the words you find hard.
- LEARN 10-15 of them DAILY and test yourselves as you go through to ensure that you even remember 90-95% of them.
-> Incase you don't TAKE A BREAK!. Take a day off the practice session. It's very strenuous, I know. If one doesn't seem enough, take two, or three or four, till you're mentally relaxed and fresh and then restart with a fresh mind. It's important to take it only when you absolutely need it. Time is your worst enemy in this. You have to be honest with yourself and see what's absolutely needed.
-> ALWAYS, ALWAYS and ALWAYS practice in pencil. You'll use a pencil at the final day. You don't want awkward situations when you practiced in pen, and on the final day it's a weird feeling altogether. During my O Levels, I used to do MCQs with pens, because I didn't feel like holding the thin pencils and sharpening them every x papers. On my first MCQ Olevel, I took longer and it felt absolutely weird solving it in pencil. Relevance? Not much. But you probably get what I'm trying to say.
-> Stay away from careless guessing. If you don't know the answer, LEAVE IT! You'll be negatively marked if it's wrong. This isn't the baby CIE stuff.
Taking a guess when you're 70% sure b/w two options is worth a shot. You lose 1/4th of a point for every incorrect answer.
-> Always best to take external help in getting your Essays checked and graded. SAT instructors at your Schools/Colleges should be competent enough to suffice.
-> Go berserk a week or two before the final day. Practice tests back to back and record your score at the end of each test. If done properly, I can ENSURE 100-150 points of improvement.
-> This should've been at the top, but I'm just too lazy now after typing all this for the past 30 minutes to proof read and fit it there, so make our of it what you can. Go to xtremepapers and take any practice diagnostics test to see where you stand. Time yourself and see what you get. It'll be low, alright. I began with a 1700 on this. Don't be demotivated, because at the end THIS is what will motivate you the most. Starting low and seeing your progress and evident improvements is always a great way to motivate yourself. Always good to see where you are at the begining and set your goals.
- KNOW what you want to achieve. Say, you need a 2100, eye a 2200 and prepare for a 2400.
___
I'm guessing you already know this, but registering for the test:
1- Go to College Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool and register for the date, city and center of your choice. (Payment is via a credit card)
2- MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOUR PASSPORT IS VALID BEYOND THE DATE OF THE TEST. An expired passport will mean no entry, and the money will be non-refundable.
And, that's about it!
Let me know if anything up there is wrong, or missing. Writing it up purely from my knowledge, so I may be wrong up there somewhere.
If anyone is willing to do a similar thing on SAT II, I'll be more than thankful to add in up there. Very tight on time these days!
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