WHAT IT IS, HOW TO UNDERSTAND IT, & WHAT IT TAKES TO BEAT IT. The SAT 3 rd Quarter Tips

The SAT is… The SAT is a way for colleges to objectively look at the applying students’ abilities.

1/9 The SAT is… The SAT is a way for colleges to objectively look at the applying students’ abilities. Actually 2 different tests: the SAT I and the SAT II Subject Test.

1/10 What is On It & What Should I Know? 1. The “new” SAT I is 3 ½ hrs. long. But bet on spending 4 hrs. there anyway min. for the critical reading (2 sections 25 min. long & 1 section that’s 20 min.) min. math section (same time breakdown as above).

1/11 1. The “new” SAT I is 3 ½ hrs. long. But bet on spending 4 hrs. there anyway min. for the critical reading (2 sections 25 min. long & 1 section that’s 20 min.) min. math section (same time breakdown as above) min. writing section.

1/14 All 3 sections are worth between pts. Shoot for a combined score of 1800 & you’ll be looking good.

1/15 There are 3 sections to the test: 1. Critical reading (sentence completion and reading comprehension) 2. The writing section (essay and grammar identification) 3. Math (fractions, word problems, equations, geometry, relations, exponents, & some trigonometry)

1/16 The SAT II Subject Matter Test are tests that are subject specific. Here is the breakdown:

1/17 The SAT II Subject Matter Test is a test that is subject specific. Please note: it is NOT given every month like the SAT I. Please check dates for availability.

1/18 What Is the SAT II? 1. English Literature 2. U.S. History (formally American History & Social Studies) 3. World History

1/22 What Is the SAT II – Cont.? 4. Mathematics Level 1 (formally Mathematics IC) 5. Mathematics Level 2 (formally Mathematics IIC)

1/23 What Is the SAT II – Cont.? 6. Biology E/M 7. Chemistry 8. Physics

1/24 What Is the SAT II – Cont.? 9. Chinese w/ Listening 10. French & w/ Listening 11. German & w/ Listening 12. Spanish & w/ Listening 13. Modern Hebrew 14. Italian 15. Latin

1/25 What Is the SAT II – Cont.? 16. Japanese w/ Listening 17. Korean w/ Listening

1/29 Critical Reading Section has three parts to it: 1. Sentence completion 2. Short reading passages 3. Long reading passages

1/30 Basics There are 2 25 min. & 1 20 min. Reading Comprehension sections. The sentence completion and reading comprehension questions are worth the same amount of points.

1/31 Reading Comprehension Basics Simple vocabulary with 1 missing blank. Simple vocabulary with 2 missing blanks. Difficult vocabulary with 1 or 2 missing blanks.

2/1 Tips Read the entire sentence and see if you can guess the word that is missing. Look at the answers, if you see the word that you guessed, or a similar word, then pick it and then move on to the next question.

2/4 Tips If you cannot guess right away what word or words is/are missing, realize that sentence completions will fall into a particular pattern: Chronological Cause/effect Similarities Examples Compare/contrast

2/5 Tips After you decide which pattern the sentence falls under, look for context clues to help you figure out the missing word.

2/6 Tips – Cause/Effect So Because For Therefore Consequently As a result Ergo Hence Thus Accordingly

2/7 Tips – Compare/Contrast And Also Than Equally Like…as Similarly Similarly to Like On the other hand In contrast to However Despite In spite of Nevertheless Although Even though/though

2/8 Tips – Chronological After Then Once Before Since While During Still Yet Until Up until Later Earlier Finally In the end Originally

2/11 Tips Carefully read all of the sentence first. Don’t assume you know the answer since a clue word later on may make your guess wrong

2/12 Tips Check for word clues. Underline any words or phrases that will help you decipher what you are looking for.

2/13 Tips Decide what is being said. Look for clues to see if the word(s) is/are positive, negative, or neutral. In the blank(s), write “+” for a positive word, “-” for a negative word, and “n” for a neutral word.

2/14 Tips – Plug-and-chug Make up a word that you think would fit. Look at the answer choices. If you see that same word (or pair of words) it’s the answer. If you see a similar word, then it is the answer.

2/15 Tips – Plug-and-chug Make up a word that you think would fit. Look at the answer choices. If you see that same word (or pair of words) it’s the answer. If you see a similar word, then it is the answer.

2/19 Tips Eliminate answers by using context clues. For example, if you know you are looking for a noun and one choice is euphonious you can get rid of that since it’s an adj. (-ous).

2/20 Tips If there are difficult words in the answer section, remember to look at the prefix, suffix, or roots for clues.

2/21 Tips If there are difficult words in the answer section, remember to look at the prefix, suffix, or roots for clues.

2/22 Tips – Guessing? Question: Should you guess? Answer: It depends.

2/25 Tips – Guessing? Remember, you lose ¼ of a point for every wrong answer. If you cannot eliminate any choices, skip the question. You lose 0 points for questions left blank. If you can eliminate 2 or 3 possible answers, then definitely guess.

2/26 Tips – Guessing? Remember, you lose ¼ of a point for every wrong answer. If you cannot eliminate any choices, skip the question. You lose 0 points for questions left blank. If you can eliminate 2 or 3 possible answers, then definitely guess.

2/27 Critical Reading – Reading Comprehension Tips Never read the passage first. Read the questions first. Once you’ve read the questions, you know what you need to answer.

2/28 Critical Reading – Reading Comprehension Tips – Why? As soon as you see the answer to one of the questions, underline it so you know where to find it instead of breaking your concentration and going to the question.

3/1 Critical Reading – Reading Comprehension Tips – Why? If the questions refers to a specific line or paragraph, quickly mark it in your test booklet so you know what to look out for.

3/4 Critical Reading – Reading Comprehension Tips Somewhere in the passage you will read a few sentences that reflect the author’s main idea & facts that support it. As soon as you see that sentence, underline it.

3/5 Critical Reading – Reading Comprehension Tips One of the questions deals with what you, the reader, thinks the author is trying to convey. So as soon as you see it, mark it.

3/6 Critical Reading – Reading Comprehension Tips Underline the main sentence in each paragraph.

3/7 Critical Reading – Reading Comprehension Tips Remember, if you’re running out of time overall, and still have one giant reading section to do as well as the sentence completion, skip the reading comprehension since all the points are worth the same amount.

3/8 Critical Reading – Reading Comprehension Tips – What it Looks Like 4 to 5 long reading passages in the section. There will be between 5 & 13 questions on the long reading passages depending on its length.