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three part math, three part verbal, and one (large) part test-taking abilitiesJul 26 '01 (Updated Aug 27 '04) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line … Part of doing well on the SAT is having math and language skills. A much larger part of it is knowing how to take tests. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses have popped up promising better SAT scores. Not all of them are that good, so be careful. Take courses in the order they are given. The reason for this is that most school systems arrange courses with the SAT in mind. There are three math sections and three verbal sections guaranteed. Also, there will be one experimental section, either math or verbal, put in to each test. There's also the SAT II, which is given separately and tests other subjects. I never applied to a school that required them, so I never took any. Math The math section is more analytical than anything else. This section measure a student's ability to work numbers and also some knowledge of how to work them. Most of the questions are multiple choice, but about the time that I was in high school, a few free-response questions were put in. Verbal This section deals more with the subjective part of education. One part deals with synonyms, testing to see if the student knows the meaning of words. Some of them will be obvious, some will need a little work to figure out, and some will be a matter of guessing. The same can be said of the analogies, which is more a measure of word relationships. The one part I always hated was the reading comprehension. In it, the student has to read a passage and answer questions about it. Fortunately, the order of the questions correlates with the progress of the story. In General If you are having trouble with a section, skip it and come back later. There's no discrimination between easy and hard questions, so there's no point wasting valuable time. You are penalized for incorrect answers and rewarded for correct answers. Blank answers neither cost nor gain anything. I've heard conflicting stories on whether or not guessing will help. Most people I've talked to agree that if you can narrow down the selection, go for it. Totally random guesses will balance each other out, so anything you can do to tip the scale in your favor is worth it. If you're really worried about how you'll do, there are books containing practice tests. Get these because the more tests you take, the better you'll do. Likewise, expect to take the real SAT several times. Up until the third test, the best score in each section is sent to schools. (After the third test, all of your scores are averaged.) I want to end the editorial here, but I can't think of any graceful way out. I've always been told that beginning and ending are the hardest things to do, and I definitely agree with the ending part.  |
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