Introduction to the SAT

The SAT is…

THE MOST IMPORTANT TEST OF YOUR LIFE!

Setting Goals Know what you’re getting yourself into before

you start

Saying to yourself, “I want to do well on the SAT” is RECIPE FOR FAILURE!

Instead, define what “Well” means for YOU!

Do your Homework! The UC’s tend to go with students that score in the

1900-2000 range CSUs go with scores ranging in the 1650+ range….

Score requirements depend on GPA

The average score (1500) equates to a 50% SAT has 1/3 easy, 1/3 medium, & 1/3 hard If you get all easy and medium and zero hards, you will

score 1750-1800

Figure out what schools you are interested in an research last year’s numbers. Look at the range of scores that were accepted to see if that is attainable for you. Is it realistic? You want to set yourself up for SUCCESS!

CSU average SAT Scores (Math/Reading) Bakersfield – 950 Cal Poly SLO – 1220 Channel Islands – 970 Chico State – 1030 Fresno – 940 Fullerton – 1000 Long Beach – 1020 Northridge – 930 San Diego State – 1090 San Francisco State - 1010

UC average SAT Score Berkeley - 2040 Davis - 1810 Irvine - 1770 UCLA - 1950 Merced – 1520 Riverside - 1570 San Diego - 1910 Santa Barbara - 1820 Santa Cruz - 1700

Raw ScoreCritical

Reading(67 Questions)

Math(54 Questions)

Writing(49 questions + essay)

67 80065 740-80060 660-76055 630-71054 620-700 80050 600-660 690-77049 590-650 680-740 78-8045 560-620 630-690 70-8040 530-590 580-660 64-7435 500-560 540-620 59-6930 470-530 510-570 54-6425 440-500 470-530 49-5920 410-470 430-490 45-5515 380-440 400-460 40-5010 340-400 340-420 35-455 270-370 280-380 30-400 200-290 210-310 24-34-5 200-210 200-210 20-23

Setting Specific Goals Look for the “scaled score” that corresponds

with your chosen colleges Note the corresponding “raw” score Use the raw score formula to determine how

many questions you need to answer correctly in each section in order to achieve your goals

How is the SAT Scored?

The SAT is not scored in the same way that most tests.

For every question you answer correctly you will receive 1 raw point.

For each question that you answer incorrectly, you will lose ¼ of a raw point.

Every question that you leave blank will not count towards your score.

Scaled vs. Raw Scores Raw scores are what you want to worry about Raw simply means (# correct)-(# wrong(.25))

Scaled scores are the scores out 800 that colleges will look at

Once you figure out what scaled scores you will need to reach your goals, then you’ll be able to see what raw score you’ll need to get there!

Section I: SAT Basics

SAT Introduction:

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”-John Wooden

Before we can succeed on the SAT, we need to understand what will be tested and how the questions will be asked

Question

How many points do you think make the difference

between being accepted to a college/university and being rejected from that

college/ university?

Answer

The Wall Street Journal found that 30 points is all it takes to separate you from your competition.

This is roughly 3-4 questions on the SAT.

What does the SAT measure?

SAT Questions include:

Math (Algebra, Geometry, Fundamentals)Reading (Vocabulary, Reading

Comprehension)Writing (Grammar, Essay)

What Does this mean for you?The SAT claims to measure your reasoning

ability in these subject areas…but really the SAT simply measures your

knowledge of the SAT itself.

Who writes the SAT?

You may think that a bunch of college presidents get together each year to write the SAT.

Just because they are the ones who use the test doesn’t mean that they write it!

The SAT is written by the Educational Testing Service, (ETS) who also write many other standardized tests.

Why did the SAT change?

In 2005, ETS added an essay, took away analogies and made the exam almost an hour longer than before, why?

The University of California became growingly concerned that the SAT did not provide an accurate measurement for a student’s success in college.

When is the Test Offered?

The 2012-2013 test dates and registration deadlines can be found by visiting the College Board’s website

SAT Exams Offered in…1. October 62. November 33. December 14. January 265. March 96. May 47. June 1

How is the SAT scored?

Each subject area of the test, math, reading and writing, is scored on a scale between 200 and 800.

The three sub-scores are then added together for a total score of between 600 and 2400.

The SAT is graded on a curve and each section is scaled so that the average score is approximately 500.

Section II: Test Taking Tips

The Test Booklet:

Your answer sheet will be the old thing that will be graded.

Make sure to mark up your test booklet. Physically cross out wrong answers, draw diagrams and don’t be afraid to show your work.

Process of Elimination:

Every multiple choice question on the SAT has four wrong answers and only one correct answer.

By looking for the wrong answers instead of the correct ones, you will often be left with just a few answer choices to make an educated guess from.

The Guessing Penalty & Basic Strategy:

Think about a new way of playing blackjack.

What if every time you win a hand that you win $1 and that every time you lose a hand, you lose a quarter.

Would this be a game that you would want to play?

Here’s an Example:

What is the capital of North Dakota?

(A) Billings(B) Dallas(C) Bismarck (D) Fargo(E) Boston

Order of Difficulty?

Order of Difficulty: Sentence completions, All math questions Error ID’s Improving sentences

No Order of Difficulty: The essay All reading comprehension improving paragraphs

Be Quick But Don’t Hurry Part I:

On the SAT, every question is worth the same amount.

How does this help you?

Don’t rush through the easy and medium questions to get to the hard ones.

Be Quick But Don’t Hurry Part II:

Most test-takers hurt their scores by trying to answer every question.

The ONLY people who should make sure to try to answer every question are those looking to score over 700 in each section.

Section III: Outsmarting ETS

John Q. Public:

Think about the type of student that ETS, the test writers, want you to be.

Throughout our lessons, we will refer to the average student as John Q. Public.

John is the average student in both test scores and high school grades.

John is the type of student who will fall for all of ETS’s traps.

Example

19. Cindy walked to work at an average speed of 6 miles an hour and biked back

along the same route at 10 miles per hour. If her total traveling time was 2 hours, how

many miles were in the round trip?(A) 6(B) 6.25(C) 7.5(D) 8(E) 10

John Q. Public Summary:

On EASY questions, John trusts his hunches, and he gets those problems right.

On MEDIUM questions, John trusts his hunches, and they are sometimes right and sometimes wrong.

On DIFFICULT questions, John trusts his hunches and they are never correct!