SAT Subject Test-My First

Hello everybody! Gonna do a quick post on my first SAT Subject Test experience.

Before the test
1. Consider the content.
You want to make sure that you have learnt everything in school before. I took the Mathematics Level 2 test. Now by the end of Year 5, we have covered almost everything tested in this test except for complex numbers. So what I had to consider was whether I had enough time to revise all the past years' work before the test (+ learn a little bit of complex numbers).

From CollegeBoard website:
Anticipated Skills
You're not expected to have studied every topic on the test, but you should anticipate the following:
Number and Operations
Algebra and Functions
Geometry and Measurement (coordinate, three dimensional, and trigonometry)
Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability

For Math Level 2, be very very familiar with the content of the Functions and Graphs and Coordinate Geometry modules! And also Trigo!

More details on the subtopics can be found in the CollegeBoard guide books in our school library.

Interesting subtopics: Some of the more interesting subtopics I encountered on my test are polar coordinates, graphs of complex numbers and z-score. As you will find out through doing the various practice tests, the subtopics tested in each test are really different e.g. one practice test contained a vector question, and another contained a matrices question.
We're not supposed to be worried about special topics if we don't have enough time for revision but I recommend you start your revision early, make sure the functions, coordinate geometry and algebra materials are at your finger tips, then learn up all these special topics. I mean, since we've learnt them before, why not try to get those marks?

2. Test date
Taking my test yesterday was definitely not a wise choice. I barely ended my exams and am taking olympiads=> not good to take SAT now.

Really, check your dates very carefully. Like Ying Zhen mentioned in one of the earlier posts, try to take SAT Subject Tests together with your corresponding APs i.e. for most people, June of Year 6 is good for taking Bio, Chem, Phys.

3. Search for your study materials
I have not found the perfect SAT Math 2 guidebook. The one by McGraw Hill was loaned by someone else so I couldn't get my hands on it. I studied using Kaplan's 2006-2007 Edition of Mathematics Level 2. It covered the main topics pretty well but it did not cover enough ground in the special topics. I still pulled out my old math notes to look through, though I didn't revise as much as I would have liked to.

Please study and do not underestimate the difficulty of the Level 2 Test. There are many things that we may have forgotten so.. study! =)

4. Love your calculator
Self-explanatory. Shouldn't be a problem since we would have been using our GC for 4+ years by the time we take our SAT.

During the test
I flew through the first 20+ questions. Then I thought I had a lot of time so I slackened my pace. Turns out to be a bad choice because there were some difficult questions ahead. Guidebooks will always tell you to "work fast without losing accuracy" but that is easier said than done. Familiarity with your calculator will help you.

There is negative marking on the SAT i.e. for multiple choice questions, a fraction of a mark will be deducted for every wrong answer. For Math 2, it's a quarter of a mark. Guess if you can eliminate choices. I am a little embarrassed to say this but I left two questions blank because 1. I had totally no idea what the geometrical term meant 2. I could get nowhere close to any particular answer.

I was a little surprised at the liberty with which testing took place. Not to say that they allowed people to cheat and all that; no they kept really high standards of integrity. But if we registered for two or three tests, we could do the tests in any order that we want. All the tests are in the same book and all the answers are written in the same mark sheet. Of course, once you've started on a particular test in a particular hour, you can't flip to another test until that hour of testing is up.

Also, if you decide on the day itself that you want to take another test but didn't register for it beforehand, you can just continue sitting through the next testing hour. CollegeBoard will bill you accordingly later.

I only took one test. So after the first testing hour, invigilator said "those who are not taking any other test, please leave now" and I left.

My test centre
I would like to talk more about my test centre. I tested at Hwa Chong Institution (College) because NUSH doesn't offer SAT in Nov. It took a little bit of searching to find the signs that led me to the "Reading Room".

For my SAT 1 and now this SAT Math 2, the venues have both been air-conditioned. So bring a jacket if you think you'll get cold.

When I entered, they had an "outer room" where we could sit around to wait. There was also a whiteboard on which I found my name and my seating position. There were a couple of people who didn't register beforehand so they had to inform the "chief tester" (I think there is a term for this person but I've forgotten it) that their names are not in the list but they want to take the test. Success of these kinda "last min registrations" is subject to availability of test booklets.

Testing took place in an "inner room" (that is exactly what they called it!), which is a nice long room with large tables. The tables are like twice the size of those examination tables that we use at NUSH, so they are a luxury in that sense. Because the room was long, they had two clocks so those sitting nearer the back can still keep time.

Overall, testing at HCI was pretty comfortable. And because I did not know that the gates could be opened by pressing a button from the inside, I explored the campus more thoroughly than I needed to and can tell you that the campus is very nice ;) And big.

Chui Yi