Verbal SAT Prep Tricks Coach Mihoulides

SAT Basics – The Ins and Outs Scoring – Critical Reading – 800 -- Math --800 -- Writing --800

Points Correct – 1 point Incorrect – 0 points Blank – 0 points Should I guess? Letter Of The Day

What is the National Average? The current national average is around 993 for the first round of the new SAT (Verbal/Math combined)

SAMPLE SAT SCORES USC Aiken – 860 USC Columbia- 1280 Clemson – 1210 C of Charleston – 1030 -1200 University of Georgia- 1140 Duke University – 1440 Harvard - 1480

Reading Passages Type of passage – 5 passages total - 1 literature - 2 science - 2 history Topic of Passage – Read the italics. Types of questions - Time wasters, line numbers, no line numbers

Reading Comprehension (cont.) Tackling the Passages Read the italics Decipher the question. Read what you need – Questions go in order of the passage. Predict POE – Process of elimination. Two always.

Reading Comprehension (cont.) Imply, suggest, infer Vocabulary – Don’t skip- Plug it in Question types - Paired sets - Main Idea/ General ?’s save - Hard questions – Skip 4. Dual Passages

Writing Essay – Optional Make sure it is legible and at least three paragraphs. Grammar – 35 minutes with 44 questions Rules covered – subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, possession, correct pronoun and preposition usage, misplaced and dangling modifiers, punctuation marks. Paragraph with underlined portions.

Writing (cont.) Tackling grammar questions: Check what is changing in the answer choices. Use POE The best answers are - Consistent with the rest of the passage. - Precise – to the point - Concise – less is more (one word)

Preparation Go to sleep at your usual time. The night before, lay out all of the materials you will need (pencils, calculator, peppermints, snack, paperwork, and id). Try to arrive thirty minutes before the test. Eat a good breakfast – Nothing high in sugar or greasy. (examples- eggs, turkey bacon, oatmeal, yogurt)

College Options: 2 year (Genreal Education classes, transfer) 4 year (Are you ready? Time management) Life Scholarship –(3.0, 1,100 SAT, 24 ACT, Top 30%) Hope Scholarship – (3.0 GPA) High school resume (9-12 activities) Travel abroad Intramural sports

Test Dates October 1st November 5th Suggestions: December 3rd January 28th March 11th May 6th June 3rd Suggestions: Sophomores – Take the PSAT and SAT at least once. Juniors – Take the SAT in December and June

Test Prep Learn new words each day. Take practice tests. Be honest. Time yourself. Read often. Classics (ie. The Great Gatsby)