SAT: Reasoning Test

If you must have known everything there is about SAT, think again. What does SAT stands for?

Well SAT does not stand for anything. It used to be Scholastic Aptitude Test before becoming Scholastic Asessment Test before representing nothing. Just like KFC. Anywayyyyyyysss, the SAT is an admission test that people must take in order to enter US universities as freshmen (Transfer students uses credit transfer systems which is another story). It is offered 7 times a year and is administered by Collegeboard. Today we will be talking about the SAT 1, or the SAT reasoning test. There were 3 parts to it - the maths section, the writing section and the critical reading section. There was a penalty of .25 for every answer that was wrong and they were scored upon 2400 (800 per section) . I used all these "were" and "was" because there is a new SAT coming right up.

Most of the universities accept either SAT or ACT, its rival. In March 2016, SAT Reasoning Test changed into a different format, which will be explained below:

Old SAT Structure

Writing (800)

25 minutes essay question

35 minutes multiple choice section

Questions:

25 Improving Sentences questions

18 Identifying Sentence Error questions

6 Improving Paragraphs questions

Math (800)

3 sections of 80 minutes in total

Questions:

44 multiple choice questions and 

10 student-produced response questions (no penalty)

Critical Reading (800)

3 sections of 80 minutes in total

Questions:

25 Improving Sentences questions

18 Identifying Sentence Error questions

6 Improving Paragraphs questions

New SAT Structure

Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (800)

65-minute Reading section

35-minute Writing and Language section

Questions: 

52 Questions (Reading)

44 Questions (Writing and Language)

Math (800)

25-minute No Calculator section

55-minute Calculator section

Questions:

20 Questions (No Calculator)

38 Questions (Calculator)

The SAT has always been a pain in the ass due to its nature. Personally I think that there is a certain limit to the scores you are able to obtain there even if you study very hard. This is because SAT has been designed to test your English skills - something that you can't study or comprehend overnight. The ability to discern between good and bad English as well as the wide range of vocab one needs to ace the SAT needs months to be honed. To be honest, when I study for the SAT I took 3 whole months to do the 10 practice tests in the blue book. After all, the SAT used to be called the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Aptitude - a natural ability to do something.

In my time, I only studied from the Blue Book, which teaches you the theory of what the SAT is going to cover. As well as 10 free practice tests! 10 tests of 3 hours and 45 minutes each! Which will be roughly consuming 35 hours of your life. There are many SAT book publishers out there such as Kaplan, Princeton Review and Barron's which I find unnecessary. They are either too hard or too easy as compared to the actual test, and the Blue Book is already more than enough. If you still can't satisfy your lust for practices, you can actually try CrackSAT for 5 more free practices.

As I took the SAT in 2015, most of the tips that I learned from practicing the SAT most probably couldn't be applied now as the format is different, however, I still think some rule of thumb applies: you still have to be careful in Maths.

1. Study consistently. SAT is not something you can ace in a cramfest. You will need to be practicing one test under exam conditions every week at the bare minimum. One test is almost three hours mind you. By studying consistently, not only you can avoid the pressure of the incoming test, but also you will see improvements after your practices which you can measure. You can't really do that if you never practice that way.

2. Learn a new word everyday. In order to study for the SAT, you must equip yourself with the most sequestered and obscure words since antiquity. Whether it is by using flash cards or smartphone apps, learning a new word everyday is the only surefire way to master the SAT vocabulary. I downloaded an app on my phone with a quiz that tested every word that I have learnt for that day + all the words I have learnt before. That was my method in expanding my SAT vocab as well as my SAT scores.

3. Analyse. Each time you do a practice, don't just stop after finishing it. Go back to the questions that you answered wrongly and figure out the reasoning to the right answer. Often enough, you are making the same mistake over and over again. I did not analyze my answers in the writing session at that time and I paid dearly enough for my writing score were the lowest. Do not give up if you often hit a brick wall in your SAT scores. Chances are some mistakes you did in the practices lays undiscovered yet.

Well, that is my own take on acing the SAT test. Learn a new word daily, study consistently and analyse your answers. With all these steps, I still think that there is a physical limit to what a person can achieve on the SAT due to its heavy emphasis on the English Language. People from non-English speaking background are severely disadvantaged, don't you think? But remember in the end of the day, SAT is just a component of your "holistic" application credential, albeit an important part.

P/s: I did not comment on the essay section because there is a huge change in the format.