Helpful Hints on the SAT from a 1310 Scorer.
Jun 03 '00
First off I realize that 1310 isn't all that dominant. However, it is enough to qualify for MENSA, so it is better than 95% of the people that took it. (This was before score recentering, BTW.) Anyway, not only did I score that high, but I also finished the test before anyone else in the room. So, here are my helpful hints. The verbal section hints might not be as useful, but if you suck at math, my math section is guaranteed to increase your score, as it will give you guaranteed points.
Verbal Tips
Well, I have to thank my parents for teaching me English early on, and I ended up with a 700 on this part of the test. If you haven't read a lot in your youth, you're going to have a real problem with the analogy section. (I forget what it was called exactly but it's the Cat:Dog as Apple: <Blank>)
The best hint I can offer for those, and the vocabulary sections of the verbal test is that there are almost nearly two identical answers. One of them is more right than the other. If you can reduce your options to those two, you're in good guessing territory.
The Reading Section
Here's the method I used both on the SAT, and the AP English test. (I got a 5.) Go straight to the questions. Some of them won't require reading of the passage. Do those. Other questions will require you to go back and look at a certain part of the passage, line 35 or something similar. It's not like you memorized line 35 the first time you read it. You end up going back to read line 35 and the context again. So why double back? Read line 35 when it tells you to, and only then. Why spend all that time trying to absorb the whole passage the first time, when you're just going to have to go back and read it again? Get enough context to know the answer, and move on. The passage section is all about time. Given enough time you can figure out ALL of the answers. This method will save you lots of time that you can use to go back and figure out those inference questions later on.
Well, that should up your score by a 20-40 points if you do it right. Now on to the Math section.
The Math Section
Here's my most beneficial tip. Algebra is frickin' easy when you have 5 answers to choose from, and you know one of them is right. If you run into: X + 3Y + 4Z = 20, solve for Y, Y bother solving for it, when the SAT people are nice enough to provide you with the answer? Just plug all 5 answers into your calculator and figure out which one works! People who are pretty adept at math aren't going to save much time with this, but it'll save you another thing, effort. You don't want to be all mentally drained when you get to the more difficult sections of the test, like the fill in the blanks part. Plus, it will give you enough confidence to guess at other tougher questions inthe test, because you will KNOW for a fact that you got all of the algebra questions right. Also, nearly all of the problem solving questions are basically, verbose algebra equations. If you solve the algebra problems the way I told you to, and you don't guess at anything else, you'll probably have at least a 400 on the Math section alone.
General Tips
Don't arrive to the test site too early. Otherwise you sit around for awhile and get really bored. On top of that, you'll be really sleepy by the time you get there, and it'll be really bad for you once you get inside. Ideally, you probably want to show up a little late. (Like 2-3 minutes...not like 15-30.) This way, you'll be a bit stressed and have some adrenaline rushing through your body. It'll help you focus a bit more on the task at hand, and make sure you stay awake.
Be confident. If you jack up once, you've got 2 more tries. Take the piddling practice test they give you. It's a lot easier than the real test, but you learn the routine. It'll help you figure out what kinda of tactics you want to use, and which seem to throw you off. You can also develop your own strategies. Confidence is important though...there were a lot of people in my high school that thought they were smarter than me, but when the scores were released...who had the highest score in the High School? I did. Why? Because although they may have had better grasps of calculus than I did, they were jittery and scared, and they didn't understand the test the way I did. Confidence in yourself is probably worth at least 50-100 points over a scared you in a SAT testing situation.
Don't do anything drastic before the test. You generally want to be fairly clear of distraction. So don't break up with your signifacnt other the night before, or get in a fight with your parents, or cut your hair. SAT day is not the day to show off new threads or 'dos.
Well, I hope that was helpful...it helped me. Let me know if works for you...maybe I'll write a book, and put those Princeton Review guys out of business.
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Member: Clayton Chan
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Broke the 700 pound mark on my leg lifts.
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