SAT Intro Workbook
Getting Ready for College Conference
Fall 2013
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Setting Goals
SAT Course Goal Sheet
Colleges that I want to apply to:
1. ____________________ Average 2012 Freshman SAT Score: ____________________
Math________________Reading___________________Writing___________________
2. ____________________ Average 2012 Freshman SAT Score: ____________________
Math________________Reading___________________Writing___________________
3. ____________________ Average 2012 Freshman SAT Score: ___________________
Math________________Reading___________________Writing___________________
4. ____________________ Average 2012 Freshman SAT Score: ____________________
Math________________Reading___________________Writing___________________
5. ____________________ Average 2012 SAT Score: ___________________
Math________________Reading___________________Writing___________________
Math Raw Score Target:________
Reading Raw Score Target:________
Writing Raw Score Target:________
Why are you preparing for the SAT?
______________________________________________________________________________
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Goals for SAT Prep
1._____________________________________________________________________________
2._____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
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Scaled vs. Raw
The following table outlines how the SAT converts from “raw scores” in each section to
scaled scores (out of 800). Take note of the scaled scores in each section that you need
to receive to achieve their goals, and then work backwards to figure out the “Raw
Score” equivalents. Circle the approximate Raw Score that you will be striving to achieve
in each section.
Raw Score
67
65
60
55
54
50
49
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
-5
Critical Reading
(67 Questions)
800
740-800
660-760
630-710
620-700
600-660
590-650
560-620
530-590
500-560
470-530
440-500
410-470
380-440
340-400
270-370
200-290
200-210
Math
(54 Questions)
800
690-770
680-740
630-690
580-660
540-620
510-570
470-530
430-490
400-460
340-420
280-380
210-310
200-210
Writing
(49 questions
+ essay)
780-800
700-800
640-740
590-690
540-640
490-590
450-550
400-500
350-450
300-400
240-340
200-230
Definition of Raw Scores:
The SAT is not scored in the same way as most tests. For every question you answer correctly
you will receive 1 raw point. For each question that you answer incorrectly, you will lose ¼ of a
raw point. Every question that you leave blank will not count towards your score. To compute
your raw scores, add the total number of correct answers and subtract a ¼ point for every
incorrect answer.
Example: If my target math score is around 600, then my raw score goal is somewhere between
45 and 50. To get that raw score, I would need to answer about 48 correct and miss 6, assuming
that I leave no questions blanks. (48-(.25(6)) = 46.5. However, depending on the number of
questions that I leave blank, different combinations of correct and incorrect answers can yield
the same raw score.
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SAT Basics
SAT Introduction:
Before we get into any specifics of how to prepare for the SAT, it’s important to
understand exactly what the SAT is, what material will be tested and so on. Take a few
minutes and try to digest these facts about the SAT, because some of them may be
surprising.
What does the SAT measure?
The SAT features many types of questions including math, writing and vocabulary.
However, you could be the best writer in the world or have received A+’s on all of your
high school math tests and not do well on the SAT. The SAT claims to measure your
reasoning ability in these subject areas, but really the SAT simply measures your
knowledge of the SAT itself. Sound silly? It is!
What’s on the SAT?
The SAT will be divided into 10 sections and will take a total of 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Only 9 of these 10 sections will be counted to your score, one section will be used as an
experimental section and will be used to collect data for future tests.
The 25-minute essay question will always come first and the 10-minute writing section
always comes last. The other seven sections and the experimental section can come in
any order.
Sections
Writing
Math
Critical Reading
Writing
Math
Experimental
Critical Reading
Math
Critical Reading
Writing
Time
25 minutes
25 minutes
25 minutes
25 minutes
25 minutes
25 minutes
25 minutes
20 minutes
20 minutes
10 minutes
Number of Questions
1 essay
20 multiple choice
24 multiple choice
35 multiple choice
8 multiple choice/10 grid in
???
24 multiple choice
16 multiple choice
19 multiple choice
14 multiple choice
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Test-Taking Tips
How to think about the SAT:
Here’s the big secret to learn for standardized tests. They are standardized! This means
that they are basically the same each year and that they always test certain concepts in the
same way. If you can learn and begin to understand the way that ETS expects you to
think, you can begin to outsmart them and spot the traps that will be laid for you.
How is the SAT scored?
The SAT is not scored in the same way as most tests. For every question you answer
correctly you will receive 1 raw point. For each question that you answer incorrectly,
you will lose ¼ of a raw point. Every question that you leave blank will not count
towards your score.
Scaled vs. Raw
The following table outlines how the SAT converts from “raw scores” in each section to
scaled scores (out of 800). Take note of the scaled scores in each section that you need to
receive to achieve your goals, then work backwards to figure out how many questions
you need to get correct in order to achieve your goal!
Raw
Score
Critical
Reading
(67
Questions)
67
65
60
55
54
50
49
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
-5
800
740-800
660-760
630-710
620-700
600-660
590-650
560-620
530-590
500-560
470-530
440-500
410-470
380-440
340-400
270-370
200-290
200-210
Math
(54
Questions)
Writing
(49 questions +
essay)
800
690-770
680-740
630-690
580-660
540-620
510-570
470-530
430-490
400-460
340-420
280-380
210-310
200-210
78-80
70-80
64-74
59-69
54-64
49-59
45-55
40-50
35-45
30-40
24-34
20-23
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The Test Booklet:
Your answer sheet will be the only thing that will be graded. Make sure to mark up your
test booklet. Physically cross out wrong answers, draw diagrams, and don’t be afraid to
show your work. On the reading sections, underline key parts of the passages and make
notes in the margins as you go.
Process of Elimination:
Every multiple choice question on the SAT has four wrong answers and only one correct
answer. By looking for the wrong answers instead of the correct ones, you will often be
left with just a few answer choices from which you can make an educated guess.
The Guessing Penalty:
To compute your raw score on each section, the SAT takes the number of questions that
you get right and subtracts a fourth of a point for each question that you get wrong. This
penalty exists to supposedly prevent blind guessing. Let’s think a little bit more about
how this penalty actually works.
Think about a new way of playing blackjack. What if every time you win a hand that you
win $1 and that every time you lose a hand, you lose a quarter. If you assume that you
have equal chances of winning and losing each hand, would this be a game that you
would want to play?
This essentially means that if you can eliminate one answer choice that you know is
incorrect, it is always in your best interest to guess.
Try to use process of elimination to solve the following question. Don’t worry, there
won’t be any questions like this on the actual SAT.
What is the capital of North Dakota?
(A) Billings
(B) Dallas
(C) Bismarck
(D) Fargo
(E) Boston
Which answers can you eliminate? Probably (B) and (E). If you have no idea from there,
should you guess or leave it blank?
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Order of Difficulty:
ETS orders most sections from easy to difficult. Why do they do this? ETS orders the
sections this way partially to give you a false sense of security so that when they start
throwing traps at you, you will already be lulled to sleep.
Also, ETS puts hard questions at the end in hopes that you will run out of time or feel
pressured by the time and make careless errors. Further, they hope that you will rush
through the easy questions to get to the hard ones.
Which Sections have a specific order of difficulty?
Question types with order of difficulty:
1. Sentence completions
2. All math questions
3. Error IDs
4. Improving sentences
Question types with NO order of difficulty:
1. Essay
2. Reading comprehension questions
3. Improving paragraphs
Be quick but don’t hurry:
Famous UCLA basketball coach John Wooden told this to his players on the basketball
court, but it applies to the SAT as well. The SAT isn’t scored like a typical test where the
hard questions are worth more points than the easy ones. On the SAT, every question is
worth the same amount.
How does this help you? Since all the questions are worth the same amount, don’t rush
through the easy and medium questions to get to the hard ones. Concentrate on the easy
and medium questions so that you won’t lose points on questions that you know the
answer to.
Most test-takers hurt their scores by trying to answer every question. The only people
who should make sure to try to answer every question are those looking to score over 700
in each section. Since this is rare, focus your attention on easy and medium questions
and don’t worry too much about the hard ones.
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John Q. Public
What number question is
this?
What type of student does the
SAT want to answer this
question correctly?
Where are the trap answers?
Why are the answers that
John will likely pick be
wrong?
John Q. Public
Think about the type of student that ETS, the test writers,
want you to be. In this guide, we will refer to the average
student as John Q. Public. John is the average student in both
test scores and high school grades. He surely isn’t brilliant,
but he isn’t completely dumb either. John is the type of
student who will fall for all of ETS’s traps.
Take a look at the following question. The goal for now is not
to solve this question correctly but to look for the trap
answers.
Ex:
Cindy walked to work at an average speed
of 6 miles an hour and biked back along the
same route at 10 miles per hour. If her total
traveling time was 2 hours, how many miles
is it from her house to work?
(A) 6
(B) 6.25
(C) 7.5
(D) 8
(E) 10
Remember, John can only do very simple math and he does not
understand difficult math concepts. He trusts his hunch and
chooses the answer that jumps out at him. Are these types of
answers going to be correct on difficult questions?
John Q. Public Summary:
On easy questions, John trusts his hunches, and he gets those problems right.
On medium questions, John trusts his hunches, and they are sometimes right and sometimes
wrong.
On difficult questions, John trusts his hunches and they are never correct!
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SAT Math
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SAT Math Intro
General Strategies, Information, and Tips
The Math portion of the SAT Contains Three Sections:
o 18 Questions Multiple Choice/Grid-Ins…25 Minutes
o 20 Questions Multiple Choice…25 Minutes
o 16 Questions Multiple Choice…20 Minutes
The SAT Math sections are composed of:
 Basic Arithmetic (Fundamentals)
 Ratios and proportions
 Percents
 Averages
 Probability
 Permutations
 Other little things
 Algebra I
 Algebra II
 Geometry
 Other Little Things
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What about Formulas?
 The formulas that you will need for the SAT Math test are given to you at the
beginning of each section. Do not hesitate to flip back to these formulas
throughout the test.

Students often make silly mistakes on problems that include "special right
triangles" Why are these mistakes silly? Because the formulas for special right
triangles are GIVEN to you!
To Guess or not to Guess?

If you can eliminate ONE answer, it pays to guess!

You don’t have to answer every question to get a good score!

There is NO PENALTY for guessing on GRID-INS!
Quick facts:
1. __________________________________________________________________
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2. __________________________________________________________________
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Calculator Quick Facts:
o Make sure to bring a calculator to the test!
o Your calculator doesn’t need to be fancy. Just make sure that it doesn’t beep or
have a keyboard.
o Be careful when putting numbers in the calculator. Check each number as you
input it. Always clear your work after you finish a problem or a step.
o Your calculator only does what you tell it. Use the calculator as a tool, not a
crutch.
o Make sure you are performing equations in the proper order, whether you are
using pencil and paper or a calculator.
o Make sure your calculator has fresh batteries. It’s always a good idea to bring
extras, just in case.
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POE (Process of Elimination):
Remember, every question will have four WRONG answers and only one
CORRECT answer!
Use Order of Difficulty to eliminate “trap” answers
Don’t Forget: Easy questions = Easy answers
Hard Questions = Hard Answers
Take a look at tough problem…
A shirt is selling for $100 after a
20% discount. What is the original price?
(A) $200
(B) $125
(C) $120
(D) $80
(E) $75
Step 1- Identify the difficulty level of the problem. What type of problem is this one?
Step 2-What would John Q. Public do? (Where are the seemingly obvious answers)
Step 3- Are John’s answers “trap” answers?
Step 4- What else can we eliminate? Why?
Step 5- Getting the answer. At this point, you should have eliminated everything except
for the correct answer.
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Key Terms in Math
Avoiding Algebra on the SAT
BEST MATH TACTIC EVER
PLUG IN THE ANSWER Choices!
This tactic allows us to work the problem backwards to solve easy questions quickly
and to turn difficult questions into easy ones!
When do I use the Answer Choices to solve the problem
backwards?
When there are numbers in the answer choices or you
feel the strong urge to write out a long algebraic
expression! (Ex: age problems)
Step 1_____________________________________________________________________
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Step 2_____________________________________________________________________
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Step 3_____________________________________________________________________
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Step 4_____________________________________________________________________
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1. Marc is half as old as
Tony and three times as old
as Ben. If the sum of their
ages is 40, how old is Marc?
(A) 3
(B) 6
(C) 12
(D) 18
(E) 24
Step 1-Label the answer choices: What are the answers telling us?
Step 2-How many columns will we need to label?
Step 3-Where should we start? With (C) of course!
Marc’s Age:
Sum
(A) 3
(B) 6
(C) 12
(D) 18
(E) 24
Tony’s Age (marc*__):
___
Ben’s Age(marc/___)
___
____
Unlike when Plugging-In, when we use PITA we DO NOT need to test all the answers
after we have found one that satisfies all the conditions.
Remember, when you find the CORRECT ANSWER, then STOP and move on!
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More Practice with Plugging in the Answer Choices
2. Serena gives her butler a satin suit and her
driver a diamond necklace. If the suit is worth
one-fifth of what the necklace is worth, and if
the two items together are worth $4800,
how much is the necklace worth?
(A) $800
(B) $960
(C) $3840
(D) $4000
(E) $4250
3. Jason has twice as many baseballs as Matt. If
Jason gives Matt three baseballs, Jason would
have one baseball less than Matt. How many
baseballs does Jason currently have?
(A) 4
(B) 5
(C) 7
(D) 8
(E) 10
4. A private plane pilot flies her plane for two days.
The distance she flew on the first day was 150 km less
than twice the distance she flew on the second day.
If she flew a total of 600 km, what was the distance she
flew, in km that she flew on the second day?
(A) 250
(B) 275
(C) 350
(D) 375
(E) 450
5. If (q-6)(q-6) = 169, then one Possible value of q is?
(A) √7
(B) √13
(C) 7
(D) 19
(E) 49
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Name:_____________________________________
What were your goals for this SAT course, and what did YOU do to meet them?
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How valuable an experience did you have during this course?
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How hard did you work both inside and outside of class during this course?
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Three Most Valuable SAT Lessons/Tricks
1._____________________________________________________________________________
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3. ____________________________________________________________________________
How satisfied were you with the Study Smart Tutors teachers?
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How satisfied were you with the timing and length of the lessons?
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What areas of the SAT would like to practice further?
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What further information would you like to have?
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Other comments and suggestions
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