How to Prepare for SAT?

Exam: SAT Test - Scholastic Assessment Test: Reading, Writing and Language, Mathematics

Like any other test you have taken in your life, you need to prepare for the SAT test in order to pass. You need to gain confidence so that you do not panic on the test day. The following are tips on how to prepare for the test.

Do a lot of Practice.

As the wise saying goes, “practice makes perfect”. You only learn the tricks of the test by sitting for similar tests. In order to gain from the practice, you should assume that you are sitting for the actual test. Strive to follow the rules of an actual SAT test and complete it in the same time that you would an actual SAT test. How do you go about this? Plan to take the test for at least after every 1-2 weeks. By doing this, you will develop the courage an endurance required for the actual test. It will familiarize you with the experience of sitting for a paper that takes more than three hours to finish. While taking practicing, learn how to manage your time. Once, you complete your test; mark your paper to get your score. After evaluating yourself, work on your weakest areas to improve the score the next time that you sit for a similar test. Practicing also enables you to know the phrasing of questions as well as the instructions for the different sections. When the day for the actual SAT test comes, you will spend a little time understanding the rules and structure of the paper. You will have enough time to answer the test.

Familiarize Yourself with the Structure of the Test.

During the practice, analyze as many papers as you can. You will realize that all the tests begin with simple questions and end with difficult questions. The complexity of the questions increases as you move from the first question to the last question. For this reason, you will learn that you will have to spend a little time on the beginning questions and more time on the last questions. In other words, you should not spend the same amount of time on all questions.

Nonetheless, a critical reading section may not consist of questions arranged in the order of complexity. All the same, you need to master the art of answering these questions. You will realize that it is prudent to answer questions that require you to analyze specific words or phrase rather than beginning with the general questions. If you begin with the former questions, you will have to go back to the passage and hence understand the passage more; answering the more general questions will be easier because you have grasped a lot from re-reading the passage.

Read Extensively and Indiscriminately.

You should read a lot of text regardless of its contents. The more you read, the more you come about different words and phrases. When it is time for you to sit for the SAT, you will have come across many words such that you will be familiar with almost all the words in the phrase or test. Reading any content you come across also prepares you for the test because the passage you will find in the test may come from any field. If you are not used to reading articles beyond your area of interest, you might have a problem concentrating to read the test’s passage.

Learn New Vocabulary

You will be required to know some vocabulary used in most SAT tests. You can do this by accessing as many past SAT papers as you can. Study the vocabulary used in this papers and look them up in the dictionary. Whenever you are reading and you across a word that you are not familiar with, look it up in the dictionary. Be keen on learning how to use this word, learn its synonym, antonym, past tense, present tense and other derivatives of the word. Studying vocabulary will not only help you in completing the test’s sentences but also, it will help you in understanding the comprehension.

Practice Writing Essays

You should keep writing essays and make sure that you take 25 minutes to do this—the SAT essay section requires you to organize your thoughts, write them down and proof read the essay in 25 minutes. Some of the common topics are about honesty, justice, failure and success. You should write several essays to develop the required style—a strong introduction and thesis, good body that supports your argument and a conclusion that restates your thesis.

Find a Good Calculator

The Math section of the SAT will require you to use a calculator. Find a scientific one and familiarize yourself with the different functions of the calculator. Learn the different formulas from the calculator’s menu. You should do this because different calculators have different functions. The more practice you do with your calculator, the faster you will be able to solve Math problems on the test day.

Keep Formulas and Rules at your Fingertips.

Although the SAT will provide a formula sheet, you should have learnt the formulas and rules by heart. You will have more time to work out problems you will not have to look up formulas.

Learn the Trick to Solve Multiple-choice Questions

Analyze the error that questions seem to be testing. If you do identify the error, all you have to do is look for the correct one. With perfect grammar, you will not have to read all the sentences if the first choice is correct. You will also not have to read the whole sentence once you identify an error in the sentences.

Know Questions that you can answer and which you cannot

You should know that it is better to continue with questions you can comfortably answer than stick on one questions trying to find an answer. You will save yourself time and marks if you do what you can effortlessly.

Concisely, following the above steps should get you ready for that SAT test. You will not panic because you will be aware of exactly what to do!

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