Quick Note for the January 23, 2016 SAT

Hi there, students and other blog readers! We’ve just gotten done with one SAT, and the next SAT date’s coming soon! This will be the last date before the “new SAT” goes into effect in March, so it’s a good idea to take this one, just in case you’re better at the old format than the new, more ACT-like one (which I personally dislike).

First of all, make sure you’re registered for the test (I know, it’s obvious, but people can forget even the most obvious things). The deadline is literally TODAY, at midnight Eastern time (so that’s 9 pm Pacific time, so if you’re in California, which you likely are if you’re reading this, get this done by 9!). See https://sat.collegeboard.org/register for details.

Secondly, use your winter break time to STUDY. Look at the vocabulary lists and flash cards in the Barron’s SAT book or whatever SAT prep book you have. If you don’t have a book with such lists and/or flash cards, go buy one or get one from the public library near you. Study the writing questions, especially the idiom questions (e.g., we say “ability to” not “ability for” – these are tricky because there’s no rhyme or reason to them, so you just have to memorize them), comparison error questions (e.g., “John’s bike is cooler than Fred”), and the idea that the use of “they” or “their” as gender-neutral singular pronouns doesn’t work in SAT Land (you have to use “his or her” or “him or her,” even though we’ve all been using “them” and “their” for a long time – it’s also what Facebook does).

Go through the math section of your review book – don’t skip over or “blow off” the “basic arithmetic,” geometry, probability, counting, or “logical reasoning” questions – even if you think “Oh, that’s easy, I totally rocked that back in ninth grade,” the point is, YOU WERE IN NINTH GRADE. That was long enough ago for you to forget important concepts.

Make sure you:

      *Review the geometry of lines, circles, triangles, cubes, and cylinders.

      *Know how to handle addition and multiplication problems like “In the correctly worked-out multiplication problem ABA * ACA = BBA, each letter is substituted for a different number. Find the value of A.”

      *Know how to answer questions such as “Jack and Jill are the 121st and 357th people in line for the new Star Wars movie. How many people are between them?” You may have to do more than just subtract 121 from 357 (okay, you DO – try it with Jack as the 2nd and Jill as the fourth. How many are between Jack and Jill now? Is that equal to 4 – 2? Extrapolate from that result.)

      *Know what negative and fractional exponents do – that is, what they are in terms of normal exponents and square roots (Personally, I forgot this stuff until I needed to relearn it, and I’m guessing you did too). Remember that multiplication is just repeated addition, and exponents are repeated multiplication, so, for example 3+3+3 = 3 *3, and 3*3*3 = 33.  These facts will help with some trick SAT questions, as will remembering that when you multiply two powers of the same base, you just add the exponents, and you subtract when you divide. For example, 33 * 32 is 35, and  33/32 is 31, which is just 3 (oh yeah, anything to the first power is itself, and anything to the zero power is 1). However, (33)2 = 36, and the square root of 36 = 33. Review my previous blog entries on how to write an essay, and review that section in your SAT prep book. 

      *Take at LEAST one complete practice SAT test under timed conditions- the official SAT practice test is available at https://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-practice-test , and you can find a truckload of other free practice SAT tests simply by using a search engine to find “free SAT practice test.”

It’s also a great idea to get in some time with an actual SAT tutor like me (yes, this is a shameless plug ;-) ). It’s easier to sit down and do the work when someone is there with you to explain things and keep you on point, especially when you’re working on a subject you DON’T like (e.g., the reading if you’re a math person; the math if you’re more of a verbal person). Again, the sooner you do this, the better, since cram studying doesn’t work (science has proven this, as I’ve noted in one of my earliest blog entries), and tutor availability declines greatly as test dates near (supply and demand), so you’re paying the same or more money for results (and possibly tutors!) that won’t be as good.
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In any event – good luck on the SAT, and feel free contact me with any questions you may have.  I’ll be posting more blogs soon. :-)