 |
Shopping Cart 
Checkout
|
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
The New SAT FAQ
Over the years at SparkNotes, we’ve read thousands of
questions from students about the SAT. In the last few months, a
flood of questions about the new SAT has overwhelmed us and threatened
to drown the entire staff. To put a stop to this madness, we’ve
compiled the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions students
have about the new SAT.
Why do I have to take the SAT at all?
Admit it. You’ve asked yourself this question. Everyone
has. Well, there’s a quick and easy answer to that one:
Colleges make you.
If you want to go to college, you pretty much have to
take the SAT (or the ACT; we cover that in this FAQ too).
But why do colleges put you through this
ordeal? Why do they require you to take the SAT? Two reasons:
- Colleges consider the SAT a standard by which they can evaluate students from high schools across the country. Imagine you’re a university admissions officer considering the applications of two students, Justin and Ben. Both of these students have A averages, but Justin goes to Grade-Inflation High, whereas Ben goes to Impossible Polytechnic. How are you, the admissions officer, supposed to know that Ben’s A is so much better than Justin’s? That’s where the SAT comes in. Ben and Justin may go to different high schools, but when they take the SAT, they’re taking the same standardized test. So colleges can use the SAT as a tool to measure all students against each other without worrying about differences in their schools.
- Colleges have considered SAT scores valuable in predicting how students will perform in the first semester of college. This reason is much more controversial. A ton of data has been thrown back and forth over the years about whether the SAT can effectively predict first semester grades, but the truth is, nobody knows. What we can’t understand is why anyone cares so much about predicting first semester grades. Sure, they’re important, but shouldn’t the focus be on grades throughout all four years of college? And nobody claimed that the old SAT could (or that the new SAT will) predict college grades over all four years.
Why did they change the SAT?
The official line is that the College Board, the organization
behind the SAT, made the change to the new SAT for three reasons:
- To better align the SAT to the curricula of high schools.
- To provide a third measure—writing skills—that will help colleges make better admissions decisions.
- To reinforce the importance of writing in education.
Okay, beautiful. Now, there’s a fourth reason why the
College Board switched from the old SAT to the new SAT:
- They had to.
Here’s what happened: The University of California system
of schools began to criticize the old SAT because it focused more
on memorization of vocabulary than on actual writing or reading
skills. The University of California is the biggest client of the
College Board. If the University of California had switched to another
test, say the ACT, the SAT and all the money it brings in to the
College Board might have slowly disappeared. Well, you know what
happened next. The old SAT became the new SAT, which does indeed
focus much more on reading and writing skills.
What’s the ACT?
We’ve mentioned the ACT a couple of times now, but haven’t
discussed it in detail. Here’s the detail. The ACT is a competitor
of the SAT. Many people have argued that the ACT is actually a better
test than the SAT, and, in fact, most of the changes made to create
the new SAT actually made the SAT more like the ACT.
While the SAT dominates the national discussion of standardized
tests for college admission, only slightly fewer students take the
ACT each year than take the SAT. An increasing number of colleges
around the country have begun to accept ACT scores from applicants,
either in addition to SAT scores or instead of them. In general,
colleges on the east and west coasts accept the SAT, while colleges
in the middle of the country accept just the ACT, or both tests.
But don’t just assume the colleges you’re applying to fit the general
mold. Be certain which schools you’re considering applying to require
(or prefer) the SAT or the ACT.
To decide which test is right for you, you should do two
things:
- Find out whether the colleges to which you’re applying require one test rather than the other test. Confirm this by speaking to representatives from the college.
- If it doesn’t matter which test you take, decide which test is better suited to your skills and will likely result in a better score. To do this, take one SAT practice test and one ACT practice test, and compare the results both in terms of how well you score and how suited you feel to the skills that the test tests.
If you’d like more information on the ACT, check out SparkNotes:
The New ACT.
What’s a good score on the new SAT?
There’s no one “good” score on the SAT. A good score is
different for different people. Think back to why you take the SAT.
Because colleges make you. So a good score is a score that gets
you into the college of your choice. Want to go to Yale? You have
to shoot for at least a 2100. Interested in UCLA? You’re
probably looking for a 1900 or higher. Only concerned about athletic
eligibility? You’re looking to score more in the 1200 to 1300 range.
An average score on the new SAT is somewhere around a 1520.
Having score goals and sticking to them is crucial for
the new SAT. Why? Because your strategy for taking the test will
differ depending on what score you need. So do some research. Check
out the projected average new SAT scores of the schools you want
to attend. Talk to a guidance counselor at your school. Get a clear
sense of what your goals are, and then use this book to go after
them.
Should I take the old SAT or the new SAT? Or both?
New things make people nervous. And the new SAT makes
some people really nervous. In fact, in order to avoid taking the
new SAT, many students in the class of 2006 are considering jumping
the gun and taking the SAT in the first semester of their junior
year instead of waiting for the spring of 2005.
We understand the temptation. On the old SAT, students
know what to expect. They know what the curve is like, what the
questions are like, and above all, they don’t have to spend extra
time worrying about the Writing section and the essay.
But while we understand the allure of the old SAT, we
still wouldn’t recommend taking the SAT in your junior year just
to avoid the new SAT. Here’s why:
- Colleges may require the new SAT. Colleges will want to see your writing scores. Also, admissions offices will crave a standard, and it’ll be the new standard. They’ll probably want to see your score on a scale of 2400, not the outdated 1600.
- Colleges may secretly, even subconsciously, prefer the new SAT. Here’s the message you’re sending if your application includes an old SAT score instead of a new one: I chickened out. Maybe the school has no official or even unofficial policy about requiring you to take the new SAT, but why risk looking like a wuss?
- You may not know all the math in time. Some schools don’t teach all the math covered even by the old SAT until the end of junior year. So it’s possible if you take the test in the first semester, you’ll be dealing with some concepts you haven’t learned yet.
Will the new SAT give some students an unfair advantage?
This one’s tough to answer. The new SAT’s changes are
so significant that it’s difficult for anyone to map out all of
the new test’s ramifications. The changes may have unintended consequences,
and people won’t even agree on what they are for years, if ever.
That we guarantee.
For now, here’s a stab at what we think might happen and
who might benefit:
- Math Whizzes vs. Literary Stars: Since the new SAT includes a new Writing section, it’s likely that students with stronger verbal skills will score proportionally higher than they would have on the old SAT. Meet Kid Math. She’s the fastest number-slinger this side of the Mississippi but a bit of a bumbler when it comes to words. She got a 400 Verbal, 800 Math on the old SAT. On the new SAT, she will likely get roughly a 400 Critical Reading, 400 Writing, and 800 Math, for a total score of 1600. (We’re assuming Verbal scores will translate similarly to Writing and Critical Reading scores.) Now imagine Kid Verbal, who got an 800 Verbal and 400 Math on the old SAT. He could anticipate an 800 Critical Reading, 800 Writing, and 400 Math on the new SAT, for a total of 2000. A huge difference in total score, right? True, but these big differences look much bigger than they really are. Most college admission officers look at your individual scores on each test section. If they’re looking for a math whiz, Kid Math still has the advantage. To sum it all up: If anyone gains an advantage from the new SAT, it’ll be the literary stars, but we don’t think that advantage will have much impact on actual college admissions. The lit stars might have higher SAT scores to brag about at college, but that’ll just make them bigger losers.
- Guys vs. Girls: The SAT has almost always failed to predict accurately how women will do in college. Girls generally perform better than guys in their first year at college, but guys generally outperform girls on the SAT. The new SAT may begin to turn the tables. Girls have generally outperformed boys on the SAT II Writing test, so the inclusion of a Writing section on the new SAT may balance out overall scores. This may have some very slight effect on college admissions. It’s possible that evening out the gender gap will help a few more girls get into colleges, but once again, we don’t think this is going to change the admissions landscape very much.
- Socioeconomic and Racial Issues: The SAT was meant to purely test aptitude, or at least that was the intention from the start. It was intended to be unbiased with regard to background or education. Then they started using words like regatta, which nobody in the world knew except a bunch of rich kids in yacht clubs. Test-takers from poorer families and from African-American and Latino families have generally underperformed on the SAT. We just can’t see how the new SAT could possibly resolve this problem. Its two most significant changes—the addition of the Writing section and tougher math—look like they’ll only exacerbate the scoring gap. The SAT II Writing test has the second largest score gap between whites and Asians, and African-Americans and Latinos. And many schools in underprivileged communities in which African-Americans and Latinos make up the majority may not have the funding or the resources to teach high school juniors the algebra II math material that the new SAT covers.
These are just our predictions. We’ve thought long and
hard about these issues, but we’ll be the first to admit that we
can’t imagine all of the consequences of the new SAT. And since
all of these predictions are so speculative, there’s no use worrying
too much about any of this. Why? Two reasons:
- There’s not much you can do about it.
- You can definitely still prepare for the test and boost your score.
When should I take the new SAT?
Most students take the SAT for the first time in the spring
of their junior year—that means either in March or in May. Depending
on their scores, many students then decide to take the test again
in the first semester of their senior year. If you’re planning to
take the test a second time, make sure you take
it early enough so that your scores will reach colleges before the
application deadline passes. If you’re taking the test senior year,
you should take it in either October or November to be certain nothing
goes awry. The December date is often too late.
So check with the schools to which you are applying and
make sure that you’re on track to take the test by the correct date.
Will the new SAT cost more?
As much as it pains us to say it, yes. It cost $28.50
to register for the old SAT. For the new SAT, it’ll cost about 12
bucks more. Why the rise in cost? To cover the expenses of hiring
all those teachers to grade all the new SAT essays.
The SAT does offer a fee waiver program to help students
who might have difficulty meeting the fee requirements for the SAT.
To find out if you’re eligible for the fee waiver program, talk
to your high school counselor.
How do I register?
There are two ways to register for the test: online or
by mail. To register online, go to the website www.collegeboard.com
and follow the directions there. Just know that you can’t register
online if you’re under 13 years old, if you want to take the test
on a Sunday (as opposed to a Saturday), or if you’re planning on
taking the test in Kenya. We’re not making this up.
To register by mail, you’ll first have to pick up an SAT Registration
Bulletin from your school counselor’s office. In this packet
you’ll find a registration form and a return envelope. Complete
the form and send it in the return envelope along with the proper
payment (in check or money order).
How can I raise my score on the new SAT?
Now that’s a helluva question. Here’s a helluva answer:
Use this book.
 |
||||||||
Message Boards
|
||||||||
Test Prep Centers
|
||||||||
SAT Vocab Novels
|
||||||||
|
SAT Power Tactics
|
||||||||
Spuzzles
|
||||||||
SparkCharts
|
||||||||
SparkCollege
|
 |
||
Your Account
|
||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
SAT and PSAT are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination Board
which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.
which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.
©2006 SparkNotes LLC, All Rights Reserved.