SAT Tips That Will Tip The Scales In Your Favor
Here's an SAT formula to keep in mind: High scores add up to college acceptances, which eventually equal great career opportunities down the road. Janet Xu, 18, a freshman at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and a guest editor for the SAT guide Up Your Score (Workman,$10.95, www.workman.com), shares her pointers for handling the test. Xu used Up Your Score as her study guide in high school and scored a perfect 1600.
- Register online. Not only does it save you time and postage, but it also lets you see your scores the day that they come out. Think of how much your mother will save on therapy.
- In the math section, the questions get harder as you go. Yeah, I know, that's a fact, not a tip, but it WILL help you so much. It means that the obvious answer in the beginning is the right one, and the obvious answer towards the end will be the wrong one. Also, if you're not particularly strong in math, you can just skip the last few altogether and concentrate on the ones you do know how to do.
- Since most of the math section is multiple-choice, you can get a few answers just by plugging the choices into the problem. To save time, you should ALWAYS start with choice (C) when plugging in. Why? Because the SAT lists its choices in numerical order. That means that you'll always have the smallest number first and the biggest number last. If choice (C) turns out to be too big, all you have to do is look at choices (A) and (B), and that will save you a lot of time.
- The best way to learn vocab is to make it (gasp!) fun. Learn it with your friends. Make up the weirdest sentences you can think of. Draw cartoons. The more ridiculous, the better.
- In your Critical Reading questions, they'll sometimes give you a line reference. Always read the line above and below the referenced lines to give you a better idea of what they want.
- In the grammar section of Writing, always choose the clearest and shortest answer. They're trying to get you to write like a CEO, not Shakespeare.
- If you're really stuck for an essay topic in the writing section, make up any facts you need. Or a personal story, for that matter. The FBI's not going to come after you, I promise.
- Bring one calculator and a backup. If you don't bring an extra one, the one you have WILL break down in the middle of your first math section. I call this "Janet's Law of SAT Trauma."
- Get a good night's sleep. No amount of cramming will be more effective than that.
- Smile at your proctor. They might be a pain in the neck for three hours, but imagine if you were in their shoes.
Article provided by Spark Notes - http://www.sparknotes.com/.
Article by Janet Xu and courtesy of www.careersandcolleges.com
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