What Is The SAT?
The SAT is a multiple-choice exam that consists of 4 sections: Reading, Writing, Non-Calculator Math, and Calculator Math. Your SAT score is used by many universities to assess your readiness for the certain college you applied to along with checking your high school exam scores, GPA, etc. For more general information about the SAT, check out the College Board website as they administer the SAT.
Many people have the goal to score high on the SAT and so I’m going to share tips I learned from all my SAT training and preparation for each section of the SAT back in the days so that you can achieve a score of 1400 or above to get into top colleges!
Reading Section Strategies
The Outline
When working on the reading section, I highly recommend following this outline: When reading the passage, underline words that you think are essential in answering the questions. After reading, start working on the questions by eliminating certain words that make an answer choice wrong until you find the right answer. All the time, you will find the answer through context clues from the keywords you underlined and by crossing out what makes an answer choice wrong.
Why It Works
Following this outline has shown significant improvement in my SAT score when I was preparing for it. It has helped me to remember what the passage was about by underlining keywords. To clarify, what I mean by underlining keywords is underlining key nouns and verbs that are essential to the meaning of the passage. I recommend not underlining too much as you have very limited time on the test. Then eliminating answer choices by eliminating the wrong word has significantly helped me get questions done faster as I didn’t have to ponder about it and keep repeatedly looking at the passage as I also have underlined key information for answering the questions. I highly insist that you follow this outline as reading is one of the hardest sections in the SAT and being able to do it efficiently is key in scoring high on the SAT.
Writing Section Strategies
When it comes to the writing section, the answers most commonly match the style and tone of the passage. Since the writing section of the SAT gives you little time to answer tons of questions, being able to quickly understand the passage’s style and tone is crucial. When answering the questions, I recommend looking for similarities and differences in the grammar choices. Then mark out what mistakes you find in the question and eliminate other answer choices with the mistake you found. This will efficiently help you narrow down your answer quickly. Overall, always make sure whether the answer choice fits the style of the passage and eliminate answer choices with the same mistake. Just trust your gut because mostly you will need to follow your instincts to get the question correct as this section is quick-timed.
More Strategies For Reading & Writing Section
Overall, when it comes to the English section of the SAT, practice a lot and try implementing my tips for increased improvement. Another thing I recommend in succeeding in the English section is reading tons of books. Online, there are tons of reading lists for the SAT and this is the Reading List I used to read more books.
Math Non-Calculator & Calculator Strategies
Understanding The Math Section
When it comes to Math, both of the sections are similar except for the fact that one lets you use a calculator and one doesn’t. Since that is the only difference, I’ll be giving tips as a whole for the Math section. When solving a Math question, first understand the questions, then solve for it. In this particular section, there are a variety of math topics that you need to practice to solve and understand the question so I recommend using SAT Khan Academy as a resource to practice all the maths topics there will possible on the SAT. In addition to Math, you can also practice all the English topics that are there on the SAT at Khan Academy.
Math Strategies
Now let's get back on track, so when answering the problem, underline or circle what the problem is asking. Then solve the question and when it comes to solving it, there are three ways: Use the answers, plugin, or do the math. Using the answers is one strategy in getting the questions done efficiently, all you have to do is use the answer choices to your advantage to get the answer. The second one you can use is plugging in random values like 0, 1, or 2 and make sure it is suitable for that question. Lastly, do the math, which means that use formulas or strategies you learned from a certain topic in the question and apply it to solve the question. Following these simple math strategies will surely help you quickly and efficiently solve math questions.
Conclusion
To conclude, use all the outlines and strategies I mentioned for each section and try applying them when you practice. Also, continually practice for the SAT because practice makes you perfect. Trust me on this because my first score on the SAT was an 860 which is extremely lame, especially living in an Asian family. But after practicing and following these strategies, I went from an 860 to 1440 in just two years.
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