If you get your SAT score and the results aren’t pretty, does that mean you're doomed to having a low score on your college application, and no school will take you, and you'll therefore spend the rest of your life at your current grocery-bagging job? Not by a long shot. Here's how you can recover from bombing the SAT:
We received this email from a Sparkler who needs some advice on how to study for the SAT and ACT:
I am in eleventh grade and have taken the ACT and SAT at least once each. I did not know until a week or so ago that people studied for these tests! I was always told that you couldn't study for them. (My counselor is not so good and my parents don't know much about this sort of thing.) I have gone onto the respective websites and done practice questions/tests, but I don't know what else I should be doing to prepare. My friend was memorizing formulas and looking at definitions for words and I have a working knowledge of formulas, but should I be committing certain graphs/triangles/formulas/sciencey stuff to memory? My weak points are Science/Math for the ACT and Math on the SAT. Another thing, I am not at liberty to just go out and buy fancy cards and test prep books ( which is what my friend was using). HELP! I just want to go to college!
The following email came from a test-crazed Sparkler who is really feeling the heat:
Hi, my name is Anna. Recently, I found out that one of our family friends' son just got a 32 on the ACT. That doesn't sound too bad, does it? Well...he's in the 7th grade and was doing that for the Duke Talent Identification Program. When I was his age, I did the same thing and only scored a 20.
I am miffed and a smidge jealous, but now my parents are breathing down my neck because they want me to beat his score since I am now in the 10th grade and going to take my first ACT in April. They keep pressuring me to practice and when I did take the practice test for English and scored a 27, my father called me a failure and said I'd never amount to anything. Yes indeed, that hurt very much. We aren't on much speaking terms at the moment; so how do I tell them to stop pressuring me and let me study at my own pace?
In a recent post, we took a look at a classic SAT algebraic word problem and explained how to solve it with an algebraic equation—the approach that all of your math teachers encouraged in class. But on the SAT, working a problem out algebraically isn't always the best strategy. Maybe the equation presents some concept that you’re not comfortable with. Or maybe your mind is just blanking. When you find yourself in this situation, it's time to try plugging in.
If you've spent even a little bit of time prepping for The Test, you're probably familiar with the “plug in” approach. Basically, you take the given answers and stick them into the problem to see which one works. But with a little method, you can use plugging in to shave some time off your test. The key is to always start with C. Let’s work through an example:
We've been discussing SAT critical reading quite a bit around here lately, and our posts have prompted some great questions. Here's one:
Hi, my name is Tiffany. I've been reading your SAT critical reading tips and they've been very helpful. I am struggling with the reading section the most on the SAT. Here's what I do: I read first then I answer the questions. When I get to a question, I read the questions then the answers. Then if I do not know the answer, I go back and read parts of the passage then look at the answers and pick. Is that a smart thing to do or is it better for me to read the question first and if I don't know it, go back and read parts of the passage firs,t then when I know the answer go back and read the answers and choose the right one? Also for questions that have line references, is it better for me to read the answers first then go back and read some parts of the passage or go back to the lines, read around, then answer the question?
A recent post about SAT reading passages prompted the following comment from loyal Test Prep reader AP_Nerd:
How do you force yourself to be focused while taking the SAT, or just any test in general? I actually enjoy the math section, and cruise through English, but I'm never in the mood for reading. Advice?
We hear you loud and clear! On any readings-based test, especially the SAT or ACT, it can be difficult to enjoy digging into some of the most boring reading passages known to humankind. But successful test takers get past this fact by using a strategy known as active reading. Active reading won't make the passages any more fun to work on, but it will keep your on track.
Okay, so the big bad ACT is coming up on Saturday. You're still trying to get back into the swing of things after winter break, and it's hard to prepare for the test when you're busy acclimating yourself to a new semester: new schedule, new classes, new teachers, new groups, new rehearsal times, new crush, new everything.
With just a couple of days to go before the big test day, it's time for a little status check. Here are some last minute relax-and-don't-study-before-the-test tips to get you geared up for this Saturday's test:
Today, we're wrapping up our discussion of the seven types of SAT reading comprehension questions by taking a look at words-in-context questions. These questions test your ability to determine how a word is being used in a specific sentence. A typical context question might ask you "which of the following is closest in meaning to the word" or say "this word could best be replaced by..."
Let's suppose you just finished reading a passage about the modernist writer Gertrude Stein. A sentence in the passage reads, "Stein's early poems were an attempt to put the principles of modernist painting into concrete form." The question regarding that sentence might look like this:
Let me guess: Ever since you woke up this morning, all you've been able to think about is algebraic equation solving involving money. Am I right? Well, you're in luck! That's exactly what we're going to look at today.
Here's a question:
The cost of renting a car from company A is $850 for up to and including 86 miles and $0.50 per mile thereafter. The cost of renting a car from company B is $3.50 per mile for any amount of miles. For a trip that lasts h miles, the cost of renting from company A is the same as the cost of renting from company B. If h is a positive integer greater than 86, what is the value of h?
