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Tips for the SAT

Jean Wee

Note: The SAT recently underwent some changes that will be in effect starting Spring (March) 2016.
Please refer to this article for more information. If you are taking the SAT before that date, do continue to
refer to the tips below.
The SAT is a standardized test used in the US for college admissions, but is also increasingly being used in many
courses in Singapore (e.g. for SMU admissions). Previously it used to stand for Scholastic Aptitude Test, but now
it doesnt stand for anything anymore.
The test seeks to test students for their readiness for college in three areas: Critical Reading, Mathematics, and
Writing. Each section scores on a scale of 200-800, and the total score is added up to give you your SAT score.
The total test takes 3 hours and 45 minutes.
The questions range from easy, medium, and hard, with the easier questions typically closer to the beginning of
the section while harder questions are towards the end in certain sections. This is not true for every section for
example it doesnt apply to the Critical Reading section but generally you cant go too wrong if you do your best
for the first two-thirds of each section, and score for the easy to medium questions.

Critical Reading
This section is made up of three scored sections: two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section. It seeks to
test your vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure and organization, as well as your understanding of
reading passages. You will need to be able to understand short paragraphs on social sciences, humanities,
physical sciences, or personal narratives and answer questions based on the passage. As pointed out earlier,
questions do not go in the order of difficulty but according to the order of the passage.

Mathematics
This section consists of three scored sections: two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section. Most of the
questions will be multiple choices, but there will be 10 grid-in questions in one of the 25-minute sections. For
grid-in questions, test-takers write the answers inside a grid on the answer sheet. You must remember that there
is a penalty (deduct 1/4 point) for wrong answers for the multiple choice questions, to penalize guessing, but for
grid-in questions, there is no penalty for wrong answers.
For this section, calculators are allowed. However, calculators with QWERTY keyboards, phone calculators,
portable computers and personal organizers (e.g PDAs and smartphones) cannot be used.

Writing
This section comprises of an essay question (first part of the Writing section) and multiple-choice questions
(second part) on error identification, sentence improvement, paragraph improvement. The essay part is 25
minutes long, and essays must be in response to a given prompt (i.e. question or statement asking for your
opinion). The questions are broad and often philosophical and are designed so that all students, regardless of
their educational and social backgrounds, would be able to answer. Remember that a zero score will be given for
essays that are blank, off-topic, non-English, not written with a Number 2 pencil, or considered illegible after
several attempts at reading.

SAT coaching schools in Singapore (EduTrust certified)

There are many schools in Singapore that provide SAT coaching, but we have listed below the 3 with EduTrust
certification:
FIS Institute
IDY Academy
Spring College International

General SAT tips

Below are also some links to SAT tips for those of you doing it on your own:
http://www.sat-coach.com/tips.html
http://sat.collegeboard.org/register/sat-test-day-tips
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/sat-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html
http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/sat-tips.html

Critical Reading Tips

http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-practice-questions/reading-tips
http://www.satsuccesssecrets.com/the-most-important-sat-critical-reading-tip/
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-19/sat-tip-critical-reading-shortcuts
http://testprep.about.com/od/sat/a/SAT_PassageBase.htm

Math Tips
http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-practice-questions/math-tips
http://www.examiner.com/article/top-tips-for-sat-math
http://testprep.about.com/od/sat/a/SAT_Math.htm
http://blog.perfect800.com/2010/07/11/perfect800-tricks-to-high-scores-on-the-sat-math/

Essay Tips
http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-practice-questions/writing-tips
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-02/sat-tip-pointers-for-a-perfect-essay
http://homeworktips.about.com/od/satwritingsection/a/SATessay.htm
http://ultimatesatverbal.blogspot.sg/p/how-to-write-sat-essay.html
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