06/09/2019
Its only about 4 weeks from the October SAT date, October 5th, 2019. While we wish all candidates well, we believe the guides below will aid you prepare better.
Focus on Your Weak Spots
It’s tempting to just “study” by taking a bunch of practice tests, but that can only help your scores so much. Now is the time to drill down into your mistakes, analyze and learn the reasons why you made such. Strive to understand the route to the correct answer and why your answer choice was incorrect. I guarantee you should start seeing major improvements in your skill.
Be Time-Conscious
Consciously experiment with estimating how much time you’re spending on each practice test. This will help you get a sense of how long 30 seconds or a minute feels so you'll know when you need to skip questions on the real test.
Specifically, you shouldn't be spending more than a minute on SAT Reading questions or more than 30-45 seconds on SAT Writing questions; on the Math section, spending less time on the initial questions, and quickly brushing through is advised. This is so that you will have more time to deal with the more demanding questions. You technically have more time per question on the calculator part than on the no calculator part, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
Use Evidence in Your Essay
For those taking the essay portion of the new SAT, you'll have to read a passage and analyze the author's argument. Make sure that you use direct evidence from the passage to back up your points and show the validity of your analysis. When reading the passage, underline any sentences or phrases that you think you might use in your essay to explain how the author builds an argument. This is highly important.
Using Everything and taking Shortcuts
If you think you couldn’t possibly figure out the answer to a question, make sure you engage all resources at your disposal before guessing. Remember that this isn’t like a normal test. No one cares if you show your work or use the “right” method to solve a problem, so take shortcuts to solutions if you can find them. This applies to all sections of the SAT except the Essay of course.
Reading
On reading, don’t be intimidated by an unknown word. Especially on the new version of the SAT, you can almost always use context clues to approximate its definition. Save time by skimming the passages in the reading section when you first get to them. If you need to, you can read certain sections more closely later-on to answer specific questions. If the answer isn’t directly supported by what you read in the passage, please don’t choose it.
Writing and trap-answers
Trap-answers are recurring features on the SAT. Watch out for the “no change” answers. If you notice you’re getting a lot of them (if more than a quarter of your answers to questions that have "no change" as an option), check those questions again to make sure you didn’t miss something. Study the grammar rules that are on the SAT, follow them, and don’t overthink it.
Math
Sometimes math problems will give you a diagram of a shape, and you're required to find an area, angle measurement, or other dimension. Usually, the most logical answer based on what you see is correct. For example, if you're trying to find the measurement of a tiny-looking acute angle, you can rule out 80 degrees as an answer; that’s common sense!
Be smart about when you need the calculator and when it's faster to just do things the old-fashioned way. You should also review the list of formulas you should know for the SAT as you approach your test day.
If you start to do something crazy and complicated for a math problem, you’re probably going down the wrong path! The SAT tests simple concepts that are sometimes presented in weird formats. Do not forget this!
Hope this helps you as you prepare. Hit like and tag some of your friends who are SAT candidates and consequently need this information.
We are now admitting candidates interested in the next SAT schedule being December 7th, 2019.
For more inquiries CALL: 0808 770 3709.
