The Scholastic Aptitude Test or SAT is a
four-hour long test that most high school students dread. The SAT has a
profound impact on your college application and is the test that all your years
of schooling have prepared you for. There’s no substitute for hard work here and
you will have to study many long hours to get the best results, but knowing how
to navigate the SAT test and how best to prepare for it will help you to
succeed.
The
technicalities
The SAT consists of 170 questions divided
into three components: writing, critical reading, and math.
Writing: This consists of a 25-minute essay and 49 multiple choice
questions.
Critical
Reading: This section is testing your ability to
understand and analyse text and consists of 67 questions.
Math: 44 Questions are multiple choice with 10 additional questions.
SAT
Test Preparation
The first thing you should do is to decide
if you actually want to take the SAT test. Find out if the colleges you wish to
apply to accept the ACT test. These two tests are both designed to test your
aptitude, but are very differently formulated. Take a practice test for both to
see which one fits your style best.
Vivian Kerr from Bloomberg
Business Week: “In general, the SAT is the preferred test for schools on
the East and West coasts, while the ACT remains popular with schools in the
Midwest and the South. Many schools accept both, however.”
If you like books and are an avid reader,
then the SAT is definitely for you. The SAT is for students with excellent
language, reading and vocabulary skills and the math components are said to be
easier than those found in the ACT.
Under
Pressure
The SAT is divided into 9 sections and each section has a time limit. So you will go through nine iterations of “Five more minutes” and “Pencils down!” This places enormous pressure on you during the test. The ACT test also has time constraints but here students who work quickly may have time to go back and answer questions that they didn’t get to or check that their answers are correct.
READ
the questions
Read all questions really carefully. If you
don’t know the answer, don’t guess, leave it blank and try to come back if you
have time at the end of the section. There is a penalty (1/4 of a point) for
incorrect answers, so it’s best to be safe.
Trick questions may try to catch you off
guard, so ensure that you read the questions slowly and carefully before you
begin.
Eat,
drink and be ready
Your brain needs fuel to function
optimally. Avoid living on a diet of candy, fast food and coffee in the
weeks leading up to the SATs; it’s time to give your brain the right fuel to
get it firing on all cylinders. Eat brain-building foods in the weeks and
months leading up to your SATs. These include wild salmon, acai berries, leafy
green veggies, seeds and nuts and whole grains. Get a healthy balance of
proteins, omega-3 and carbohydrates on the day of your exam and drink lots of
water so that you are properly hydrated.
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