the SAT test…….??
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As for advice, oh! I could talk for days! I’m a weirdo who LIKES standardized tests… I’m almost sad that I’m out of high school now, lol! 🙂
The main thing about doing well on the SAT is to KNOW the test… poke around that website, they have all sorts of information about it. I suggest taking the real test once early on, because nothing can tell you about it—the setup, the time limit, how you’ll respond to it—like the thing itself can. And only your best score really matters, so it can’t hurt. If you feel like you need to study for it (some people do well without studying!) then practice is the key:
Get a review book—any review book, really. Different people like different books for different reasons, so no single book can be said to be the best. I’d go with one of the major names—Kaplan, Princeton Review, or the one by College Board, the makers of the test, even Peterson’s—something with a long history of proven results and credibility. I like the Princeton review books myself, and used them for all the AP tests I took. You might check at your local library for a review book, so you can check one out—then, if it isn’t working for you, you can take it back and get a different one. Again, everyone its different, so some people like one more than the others. The important thing is that you are studying. 🙂
Study smart: take a practice test as one of the first things you do, so you can identify what you need help on and find information specifically for those areas. The SAT covers a very specific range of math topics, for example, so it’s important that you’re well versed in the right KIND of math. It’s mostly Algebra and Geometry. For the critical reading and writing (multiple choice), go over the grammar concepts given in a review book, and any vocabulary material it has. Start reading a few harder books, if you don’t already—the type of thing you read for school (I recommend The Scarlet Letter, 1984, or Crime and Punishment)—this type of reading increases your reading comprehension, your vocabulary, and your understanding of grammar all at the same time, and can be even more helpful in the long run than just memorizing things from a review book (it works even better if you do BOTH the reading and the review book, though!). For the essay, the only way you can really study is to practice, practice, practice. It’s harder to grade yourself on that while practicing, but as long as you get used to pumping out a semi-organized thesis and essay in the time limit, you should do well! There are good tips for all of that in any review book you get!
There’s a question of the day on College Board, so even if you don’t want to study all the time, you can still take a few minutes each day to answer a question and think about the test: http://apps.collegeboard.com/qotd/question.do .
Have fun, don’t stress, and good luck!
What you do depends on how motivated you are. What I always suggest is that you sign out a practice book that offers preparation and sample tests for the new SAT. The old SAT did not have the writing section. Take a sample test so you are familiar with the directions. Then score your test and see whether your sample score is high enough to get into the colleges you’d like to attend. If not either keep working your way through a few test prep books or take a course.
For SAT test preparation, I recommend the Princeton Review’s Cracking the SAT for general strategies and The Official SAT Study Guide for the New SAT for indispensable real practice and more specific information on the test form and test question types. If you only want to get one book, the latter one is the one to get. You can also check out www.sparknotes.com for test prep.
The idea is to become as familiar with the test as possible. It’s not something that you study per se; it’s something that you learn and figure out. Once you know how it works and what kind of response is expected from a certain wording of a question, you’ll find that it’s much easier. Just continue to expose yourself to the SAT as much as you can.
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/prep_one/prep_one.html
