SAT Test Prep
Lesson #1 – Introduction
Source: AVID Coordinator’s Training on February 6, 2014 by Study Smart Tutors http://studysmarttutors.com/
“To succeed, we must first
believe that we can.”
-Michael Korda
SAT Quick Facts
• Three parts that take 3 hours and 45
minutes
• Writing (worth 200-800 points)
• Mathematics up to Algebra II (worth 200800 points)
• Critical Reading (worth 200-800 points)
• Each section is curved so the national
average is approximately 500 points
SAT Changes Effective March 2016
• The overall score will return to 1600
• The essay will be optional
• Vocabulary will come form words used in
college courses
• Reading passages will come from on of the
nation’s founding documents
• Administration format will be available in
both paper and digital formats
SAT or ACT
• SAT is tricky, but not conceptually
advanced
• ACT is difficult but straight forward
• Student will do better on one or the other.
The only way to know is to take both.
• Waivers for both test are available to
those who qualify
SAT vs. ACT
SAT vs. ACT
How many times should students
take the SAT?
• Almost every college will combine a
student’s best scores regardless of test
date
• A new policy called “Score Choice” allows
students to completely omit an entire test
from their records
• Students have nothing to lose by taking
the SAT multiple times (except the cost of
the tests)
When Should You Guess on SAT
Questions?
• Generally speaking, if you can eliminate at
least one of five multiple choice answers,
you should guess
• If you leave a question blank, you get 0
points.
• If you get a wrong answer, there is ¼ point
penalty
• Unanswered questions do not affect your
raw score
Example
Question: What is the capital of North Dakota?
Testing Tip: By eliminating wrong answers, you can
improve your success rate with guessing.
(A) Billings
(B) Dallas (this is obviously in Texas)
(C) Bismarck
(D) Fargo
(E) Boston (this is obviously in Massachusetts)
Now that you’ve narrowed the question down to only
three answer choices, it benefits you to guess.
Recommended SAT Scores
UC Stats
Campus
Admit Rate
Average G.P.A.
Average
ACT Score
Average
SAT Score
Berkely
23%
4.20
29.4
2035
Davis
45%
4.06
27.6
1893
Irvine
38%
4.07
26.3
1831
Los Angeles
19%
4.20
28.9
2008
Merced
78%
3.56
22.1
1586
Riverside
62%
3.71
24.1
1701
San Diego
32%
4.15
29.0
1988
Santa Barbara
42%
4.00
27.6
1892
Santa Cruz
62%
3.79
24.9
1734
Data From Fall 2012
Every Little Bit Helps
• How many points on the SAT do you think
make the difference between a student
being accepted or rejected from a given
university?
• The Wall Street Journal found that 30
points is all it takes to differentiate certain
students from the competition
• 30 points is 2-4 questions!
Process of Elimination
• Every multiple choice question on the SAT
has four wrong answers and only one
correct answer.
• By eliminating the wrong answers, you will
be left with less answer choices to make
an educated guess from.
• Remember, you may write on your test
booklet.
Be Quick, But Don’t Hurry
• Every question is worth the same amount
• There are approximately 1/3 easy
questions, 1/3 medium questions, and 1/3
hard questions
• Spend time on easy and medium
questions and leave hard questions blank
• Students who wish to earn above a 700 on
each section should answer every
question
Raw vs. Scaled Points
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.
The SAT and Family Income
Order of Difficulty
• Some sections get increasingly difficult as
you move to the end of the section.
• Other sections have challenging and easy
problems mixed throughout
• Always answer the easy questions for easy
points
• Sections that increase in difficulty include
all math questions, error IDs, improving
sentences