By Tom Kowalski
NFL Continuing Education Consultant
The mere mention of the SAT test usually sends high school students into a sweaty palm, accelerated heart-beating tizzy. While college admission officers also take grades, course selection, leadership roles, work experience, and community service into consideration for each applicant, the SAT is often the factor that students worry about most since it is the one they have least control over.
In order to gain some control over the test, it is best to do all you can to prior to walking into the classroom to take the SAT. As a former college admissions professional, I am often asked by students if they should study for the SAT. My answer is not so much to study – your school work and preparation should take care of what knowledge you need to possess – but rather my suggestion is to prepare for the SAT.
Here are some suggestions for students who hope to score well:
1. It is always best for students to set a score goal.
By this time, future collegians probably have researched colleges that they are interested in attending and know the institution’s median score. Is that score achievable? If so, write down that score, tape it to the bathroom mirror so you can see it every morning, and don’t stop taking practice tests until that score is consistently achieved.
2. Review the SAT materials.
The College Board (www.collegeboard.org), designers of the SAT, offers anything from a free sample question a day to an official online course ($69.95). Take the free practice test and, at the least, take advantage of the Study Guide ($31.99) with its 11 practice tests included on a DVD.
3. Set a study plan.
The website offers a study plan, but the best strategy is to block out time to take practice tests, review the Study Guide, and answer as many potential test questions as you can identify. Always track your progress. Procrastinators beware – when you make an appointment with yourself, never break it.
There are many reasons to take practice tests prior to taking the SAT. First, you will want to familiarize yourself with the directions for each section. The directions never change, so students should memorize them prior to taking the test in order not to waste valuable time during the exam. Second, most practice tests contain questions that have appeared on previous versions of the SAT. Understanding how the questions are structured and devising strategies to arrive at answers will help on the real test. Finally, understanding how much time should be allotted for each question and each section will help you better manage the test.
It is also important to realize that each subsection of the test gets progressively more difficult. When you are answering questions earlier in the subsection, the obvious answer is usually the correct answer. The middle subsections will likely contain a mix of obvious and not so obvious answers. Beware the latter sections – you may be tempted to answer with the obvious response, but it will likely be incorrect.
In the book “Up Your Score; The Underground Guide to the SAT,” the authors, who all scored extremely well on their own SATs, suggest that the test designers tend to be politically correct. So, if you see a sentence that speaks to women or minorities or mentions a specific ethnicity, the answer is probably something good about them.
Finally, it pays to take educated guesses on the SAT when you don’t know the answer. Rules for guessing include:
- Which answer looks most like the others? This strategy works because the test designers will try and make a number of choices appealing. Choose the one that has the most in common with the others.
- Again, problems will be harder the further you delve into each section.
- The test-designers do not like runs. There are few times in the test where the same answer is offered three times in a row, and very rarely are there ever four consecutive questions that have the same answer.
- Pick non-answers at the beginning, not so much at the end. The Princeton Review suggests that if “none of the above” is offered as an answer early in the section, there is a 50% chance that it is the right answer. If it is offered at the end or harder part of the section, it is likely incorrect.
- In the reading section, beware of answering questions that are absolute in nature or make too strong a statement.
There are a number of resources available to help students prepare for the SAT. Since students can take the test more than once and colleges usually take the highest score, becoming more familiar with the test will reduce anxiety, and familiarization with the structure often will improve with time. Take a deep breath, relax, and stop sweating. This is your test to conquer.