Disclaimer: this article is not sponsored by the College Board.
For many Sentinel students hoping to apply to US schools, the SAT exam often comes to mind. There is an overwhelming amount of preparation that goes into this exam, but if you have an effective approach to test prep, the experience will be less overwhelming. Crafted by three unfortunate procrastinators with first-hand experience taking this lovely test, this article provides some tips and tricks to help you achieve your desired results on the SATs.
GENERAL TIPS:
1. Know the test structure & timing system
The SATs are fundamentally an aptitude test. In other words, it is not about your level of knowledge in Math and English, but rather your strategies and problem-solving skills. Therefore, being familiar with the structure of the test and time limits for each section is crucial. You can also take a look at the overall structure of the test here.
2. Take notes after each practice test
Many students make the mistake of taking as many practice tests as humanly possible, then hoping for the best. It’s pointless to take a bunch of tests if you don’t reflect on how you can improve, so we recommend that you note down the kinds of questions and/or topics you struggle with after taking a practice test, and focus your studying on those. This will allow you to improve over time and increase your score.
3. Never leave answer choices blank
Even if you don’t know the answer to a question, you won't be penalized for wrong answers, so if you really can’t figure out a question, why not take the chance? Always fill in an answer, even if you’re guessing, because there’s a chance you’ll get it right.
SPECIFIC TIPS
Reading:
1. Choose your own adventure!
There are 5 types of reading passages on the SAT: double passage, science passage, history, social science, and literary; it is common for some students to be more accustomed to a given type over another. You can use this to your advantage when taking the test: instead of doing the passages in the order they’re presented in the test package, you can start with the type of passage you find most challenging, and finish it while you’re still clear-headed. Choosing your own adventure through the reading passages can get you through all the questions unpanicked, even with a time crunch.
2. Annotate, annotate, annotate
You’ve probably heard this one before, but annotating the passages can save you a lot of time and help you better keep track of what you’re reading, especially when you have to come back to the passage to answer the questions.
Writing:
1. Context!
First off, it is important that you read the whole text instead of skipping through the passages by only looking at the sentence or section the question refers to. Knowing the context is what will help you choose the correct answer, even in cases where you may not remember the writing conventions alluded to by the question.
2. Tense-Related Questions
If the question is tense-related, separate the sentences into clauses. This helps you distinguish the parts of the text that relate to that question by separating that part from the lengthy passage of the text by underlining. Here is an example (this sentence is made up by us):
He had been appreciating the beauty of the flower for a while, but never did he notice the odd hue enhancing the flower’s pulchritudinous petals.
Clause #1: He had been appreciating the beauty of the flower for a while,
Clause #2: but never did he notice the odd hue enhancing the flower’s pulchritudinous petals.
You can now underline the tenses and identify that the first part of the sentence is in past perfect continuous tense, and the second part is in past simple. Not to say that you need to know what each tense is called, but you do have to know how to identify them.
3. Punctuation
Do not underestimate the power of punctuation! If this means digging up old notes from that Pre-AP English class, do it. We can not stress the importance of punctuation enough – expect a good fraction of the writing questions to be based on punctuation. The use of dashes and semicolons is especially prominent in these types of questions, as they are the ones that students tend to have the most difficulty with.
4. Grammar
Grammar is a classic topic that comes to mind when discussing anything writing-related. Feel free to take a look at this cheat sheet for a shortcut on some key grammar elements you should consider:
Math:
1. Practice!
Do practice tests and figure out what kind of questions need the most work, and focus on doing those specific types of questions while timing yourself. While it might seem counterintuitive, don’t skip and come back to the question later. Instead, spend a reasonable amount of time on it then move on, if you can’t do it, you’re probably better off working on the rest of the questions. You can find official practice questions for all the sections on Khan Academy.
2. Timestamps
Time yourself after every full test so you know how long it takes you to do each question. This will get you used to finishing everything with time to spare. It also helps you keep track of how much time you are allowed to spend on a question if you get stuck.
3. READ THE QUESTIONS CAREFULLY
A lot of our mistakes came from not reading the question fully and not answering what the question asked. If you only scan through the question, you might also miss important unit conversions, which can cause many silly mistakes. You might even find the answer of the question in the question itself if you read through it diligently!
4. Don’t overthink! (please)
Sometimes the questions that seem to require at least 30 steps are the ones that can be easily solved in one or two steps. This is especially true with algebraic questions. It might ask you for the answer to an equation that has already been embedded into the bigger equation. Remember, the SAT Math section focuses on fundamental concepts, so you shouldn’t expect to spend too much time on each question.
Finally: Plan Ahead!
It should be quite obvious by now that cramming information into your brain a week before the exam is never going to help (note to self as well). Good planning ALWAYS leads to good results, but of course, take this statement with a grain of salt.
If you are still hesitant to take the SAT, don’t know if you are applying to the US, or find yourself intimidated by the idea of taking it, shoot your shot! Choose the tips that work best for you. Everyone moves at a different pace and has different studying habits, so do what prepares you the most. Good luck!
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