Get Through SAT with Clever Strategies

Practice makes perfect! The only foolproof way to ace anything in your life is practice. SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) is no exception. One must start preparing for SAT , an year prior. If you have not done so, start now!

As you may be aware, to get into your dreamed college or University for higher education, you would have to clear the SAT. Although, SAT score is not mandatory for admissions at all US colleges, most of the accredited US colleges and Universities require students to clear the test. Along with the score, your high school record, performance in extracurricular activities, and recommendations from your teacher is also considered during the admission process. The test dates for SAT have been announced already for the academic year 2013-14. Hence, make sure you prepare for these tests in advance and be ready with your scores while applying for the college of your dream.

Let us briefly, get to know about the SAT. Also, we will discuss about how to prepare for the tests and use different strategies to perform during the tests to achieve best results and scores.

What is SAT?

SAT or the Scholastic Aptitude Test is a national standardized test conducted throughout the US to evaluate students for undergraduate school admissions. These tests are conducted as SAT Reasoning tests and SAT Subject tests with objectives of their own.

What is SAT Reasoning Test?

SAT Reasoning tests are conducted to test your reasoning and verbal ability in the subject areas namely, Mathematics, Critical Reading, and Writing. It usually takes almost 4 hours to complete the tests. It, for sure can turn out to be a grueling session, if it happens to be your first test for the first time on the examination day.

What is SAT Subject test?

SAT Subject tests are content-based tests on the subject that a student chooses. The duration of the test is one hour and it consists of multiple choice questions. For each correct answer, you are awarded one point and for each wrong answer, you lose a fraction of a point.
These tests are conducted in 20 subjects categorized under five general subjects namely English, History, Languages, Mathematics, and Science.
The Subject test acts as an opportunity for you to showcase your talent in a particular subject area to a college or a University. SAT subject scores can enhance the chances of your application and can place you in the college as a freshman or in higher-level courses.

How to Prepare?

To prepare for SAT Reasoning and Subject tests, you can use resources like SAT preparation books including practice tests and online tests. You can also enroll yourself in a coaching class, if required. Additionally, the following points can be useful in your preparation:

• Be familiar with the structure of the question paper


• Be aware that the questions would be asked in the ascending order of difficulty hence, make sure you spend less time in the initial stage of the test. This would allow you to have more time to at the later stage with tougher problems on the paper



• To prepare for Reading & Comprehension, be aware of the current affairs, read articles of various subjects every day, and exercise your comprehension abilities with them


• Improve your vocabulary day-by-day. Make it as a habit to look up to the dictionary whenever you come across a new word


• Get enough practice in essay writing


• Get to know how to use various features in your calculator to solve different math problems using formulas. Make sure you use the same calculator in your exam hall


• Memorize and remember all the formulas and theorems correctly


• Use the time cleverly when you answer multiple choice questions. Do not stress out, if you do not know the answer for any of the questions, try to guess or move on to the next


• Thoroughly understand all the key concepts in your favorite subject area to give proper structure and body to your essays


• Make sure that your essays do not deviate from the main points to be discussed in the body


• Try to avoid grammatical and punctuation errors


• Concentrate on sentence phrasing and flow of the article between paragraphs

Accredited US Universities and Colleges that accept SAT scores

Following are some of the US Universities and colleges that accept the test scores of Scholastic Aptitude Test:

• Concordia University, Portland


• Graceland University


• Grand Canyon University


• Liberty University


• North Central University


• Stephen F. Austin State University


• University of Southern California

SAT tests can be written well if you are aware of the above stated key strategies. Prepare for the test with these key points in mind and you would stand great chances to outsmart the rest of the crowd.

Most importantly, get enough rest and maintain a healthy diet before the test day.

This article is the first part of the Standardized Tests for US College Admissions series. In the next part, we will learn about ACT tests and its preparation methods.

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