Guide to the SATs (1/2)

An Overview to the SAT tests

Disclaimer: This is by no means a score-booster, prep-course or official SAT information.

In this relatively short series, I will give a short overview of what the SATs are (yes, there is more than one), what they stand for and why you should take them. I will then go on to give some suggestions about which to take and when to take them.

More colloquially known as the test-that-you-have-to-take-to-go-study-in-the-US, the SATs are required for most colleges in the US that NUS High School students will be looking to apply for. Conversely, they are not required by universities in the UK, Singapore or Australia although a perfect score definitely won’t hurt your chances.

However, what most people know as the SAT is actually the SAT Reasoning Test, one that consists of three main sections, Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing, all of which are multiple choice except for a 25 minute essay in the Writing section.

SAT Reasoning

Test takers receive a score upon 2400, where a score above 2000 is said to be good, a score above 2200 is excellent, a score above 2300 is fantastic, and 2400 (just meant you studied your butt off) is a crazily awesome score.

This test is said to measure literacy and writing skills that are needed for academic success in college as well assessing how well the test takers analyze and solve problems.

The Critical Reading section tests your vocabulary (hence the term SAT vocabulary) as well as your grasp of sentence structure and various other nuances of the English Language. Critical Reading would be SAT Reasoning’s equivalent to English Comprehension. Read the passage and answer the questions. (Except in multiple choice.)

SAT Reasoning’s equivalent to the Essay would be the Writing section which requires students to first complete a 25 minute essay. (This author would like to gripe about the lack of time to complete a proper essay as well as other personal biases, but this is neither the place nor time.) The remaining sections of Writing call upon your inner editor (and Grammar Nazi) to help spot errors in short paragraphs.

The Mathematics section tests well… math. However, the only possible shortcomings most NUS High School students will have with this section are carelessness, carelessness and carelessness.

The following is a joke. Please do not take it seriously. It has not yet been properly validated, but every component of the following equation has some basis in truth.

NUS High School Students have Mathematics section scores as calculated by this formula.

(800)(1-Carelessness)(Skill in Math)0 where Carelessness is graded from a scale of 0 to 0.15.

/joke.

No, seriously. As long as you checks your answers, remembers basic trigonometry and statistics as complicated as mean and mode, one will be fine. Your TI-89 will watch over you.

Now then, the very interesting question.

Is SAT Reasoning hard?

Yes, SAT Reasoning (in both senses of the phrase) is hard for the average NUS High School student. Although the Mathematics section is easy-peasy, some will still lose 30 points (or more) out of a possible 800 from this section as the SAT is graded on a curve and most good students get all the answers correct.

But surely 770 out of 800 is high, you might say, and rightfully so. 770 out of 800 is a very respectable score indeed. Not for NUS High School students and not for the Mathematics section.

If you should wish to apply to the big-name colleges of the US (which is normally why most people take the SAT anyway), or even the not-so-big name colleges that are still relatively competitive, a 770 score for math is not something to be incredibly proud of.

[Edit from Vanessa: I would like to add that one will get a 770 simply by leaving one math question blank. You don't even need to get any questions wrong. Yes, this is from personal experience. The question I left blank was classified "hard"; I shudder to think of the points you will lose from not answering an "easy" or "medium" question.]

In fact, nice statistics from collegeboard.com, the administrator of the SATs and APs will tell you that a score of 800 (not 770) means that you scored higher than 99% of last year’s graduating class who took the SAT.

However, the US Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences’ National Center for Education Statistics will also tell you that 3,328,000 high school students are expected to graduate in the 2008-2009 year. Assuming less than half of them apply for college (which is a severe underestimation but let’s go with that anyway), this means that 1% of those is a whopping 16640 students.

Got full marks for math? Guess what? So did 16639 other students.

Thus, the Mathematics section is hardly a good representation of your actual academic skill so there is no need to fret about it. But do not blow it off as nothing. Just play safe, check your answers and get your 800.

The most challenging part of SAT Reasoning for most NUS High School students would be the other two parts that test things that most NUS High School students did not enter NUS High School to specialize in.

Critical Reading and Writing

Basically, the spread of Critical Reading and Writing scores is somewhat representative of one’s actual English Language capability. I say somewhat because there are always exceptions to the rule. Yes, there are people who get 2400 just by mugging their butts off. Yes, that is possible, and No, I do not recommend it although you can do that if you reeeeallly want to.

Want to do well in the Critical Reading and Writing sections? Study English properly. Take time and effort to explore and attempt to understand the language. Investing in a good prep book will most probably also help you.

However, I do not recommend attempting to improve your English by using the prep books. The fundamentals are definitely not wrong in the books, but it is my personal opinion that they don’t teach you, only drill you.

I am not a terribly large fan of the Writing section as it has been shown to be relatively subjective, but the 25 min essay section is basically proof that SAT Reasoning is very muggable. There are techniques to answering the essay, most of which I choose not to mention here. (Google is your best friend.)

Besides the essay section, the MCQs of the Critical Reading section and Writing section are, in my humble opinion, relatively good indicators of your English standard. However, they can also be mugged, so if you were despairing at the thought of never getting that 2000 or 2200, despair no more. You can “hardwork” your way into a good score.

And good score on the Critical Reading and Writing sections is truly a good score, unlike the Mathematics section, so here’s to you improving your chances to look good. :)

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Wait, you say. I mentioned that there was more than one SAT test in the first bracket of the article, didn’t I? (Yes, you can go back and check if you really want to.)

And yes, there is more than one SAT test. In fact, the second group of tests are known as the SAT IIs, or the SAT Subject Tests.

SAT Subject Tests

These are 20 1-hour multiple choice tests, the full list of which can be found here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAT_Subject_Tests) Different subjects have tests with different numbers of MCQs.

SAT Subject Tests are not optional, and most colleges that require an SAT Reasoning score also require at least 2 SAT II scores.

Normally, students take these tests to score well and show off to the college they are applying to. (That’s the idea behind it, at least.) Most colleges only require students to submit 2 SAT II scores. However, Harvard College requires students to submit 3 SAT II scores, so most people end up taking 3 anyway. (We can’t all get into Harvard, but we can always try?)

These tests are of average standard and revision with the help of numerous prep books (just choose 1 or 2) is highly recommended as the topics tested cover a very wide range of those learnt in the NUS High School syllabus.

Some colleges do recommend their students to take specific SAT Subject Tests should they want to apply to specific fields. For example, most science/engineering applicants will want to take Math Level 2 and a Science, depending on their area of interest.

The SAT Subject Tests must be taken seriously, (Puns amuse me, can you tell?), as they are not trivial in difficulty and careless mistakes, conceptual errors and temporary blanking out will definitely cost you marks.

They are much easier than our school exams, just covering more content at once, so worry not, fellow NUS High School student. Study and you will be fine.

So, Why?

Indeed, why then, should you burden yourself with even more tests that you will need to study for? It’s not like we don’t study enough…

Why should you take the SAT? Why do people take the SAT?

People take the SAT because colleges require it.

Colleges require it because it gives them a relatively good standard upon which to get a grasp of the applicant’s academic strength.

Simply put, an A in a high school in State X might not be equivalent to an A in a high school in States W, Y or Z, thus the need for a common standard.

Thus, the SAT.

However, as only US colleges require the SAT set, you should only take the SAT if you are considering going to the US for college. Other than that, there is pretty much no point.

So there you have it.

A more in depth guide to SAT Reasoning and the SAT IIs will follow shortly, so keep your eyes peeled! :)