SAT Advice for a Foreign Student?

An anonymous reader asks: "I am a student from the UK who is currently in the process of applying to a university in the US. This means that I need to take the SAT Reasoning Test. I have read study guides and seen sample questions, but the more I look around the more I seem to be seeing general 'study skills' information aimed primarily at explaining how to learn rather than what to learn, which results in a lot of pages to work through for seemingly little data. What would help me immensely is any kind of resource aimed at an audience unfamiliar with the tests. Does anyone have a link to a list of exactly what I am expected to know and in what detail I need to know it, as well as anything else that can help me prepare for the exams?"

Comments

Online SAT prep

[frenetic3]

Here's a comprehensive online course for the new SAT by Harvard & MIT grads and a perfect 2400 scorer:

http://www.accoladeprep.com/

(Full disclosure: This post is on-topic, but also a shameless plug -- I'm one of the co-creators of the course.)

Contact us (contact at accoladeprep.com) and we'll get you set up.

Alright, end shameless plug :)

-fren

Don't worry about.

[BKX]

You speak English and are apparently somewhat intelligent (while the American eductation system in general sucks ass, if you're bothering to come here from abroad, I'm going to assume you're going to go to one of the better schools.), so you'll do fine. Besides, you can always take it again.

In case, you wonder, it just has general logic, reading, math, and scientific deduction questions. The only thing to worry about are the analogies, but they're easier on the actual test than they are on the practice tests. Anyway, this test is nothing that any high school freshman in the US shouldn't be able to do at least half-way decently, which means an average high school student of any other industrialized nation should pass with flying colors. If it tells you anything, I flunked out of college three semesters in a row and got a 2.0 GPA in high school and yet I got a 1492 composite (out of 1600) on the SAT I.

If you're still worried, order one of those SAT I practice trainers from Amazon.

Re:Don't worry about.

[frenetic3]

Just a few corrections (sorry if this is pedantic, but these are common misconceptions): There are no longer analogies on the SAT; the test is now out of 2400; there are no scientific deduction questions per se (although critical reading passage questions somewhat resemble "logic" questions); there is also now an essay (it's no longer just multiple choice.)

The only thing I can suggest is that preparation gives you a huge leg up -- there is only a finite number of kinds of questions you will encounter, and if you get accustomed to the format of the exam and the typical traps while taking *practice* tests you'll do much better on the real thing.

-fren

Re:Hmm...

[kfg]

A prep course isn't absolutely necessary. I didn't take one and did just fine.

Neither are the SATs if it comes to that. I didn't take them and I did just fine. It depends on who you are and the quality of the school. In fact, the better the school, the less necessary they are.

KFG

My advice

[antifoidulus]

is to do your undergrad in the UK(where tuition is insanely cheap comparatively and for undergrad the quality is about the same) and then do grad work in the US(where outside of Cambridge and Oxford, the quality is generally better). Just my 2 cents.

Re:My advice

[kninja]

I agree completely. And you can take a year abroad in the U.S. (wait until you're 21) and do some research for professors who will want to bring you back for graduate school.

Get familiar with the test

[Jazzer_Techie]

I took my SAT's in 2004, which was the last year of the old 2 section, 1600 format. Let me first of all say, that while I understand the necessity of the "standardized test", I don't think the old SAT was all that good of an evaluator; I'd imagine the new one probably isn't much better.

Assuming you've received a decent high school education, you probably know how to do pretty much anything they're going to throw at you. I don't think studying specific topics is going to do you any good. What you do need is a good working knowledge of the test. You need to be used to the way that questions are posed, and you need to be able to quickly identify what you need to do to respond.

The ridiculous SAT-prep culture in the US bothers me to no end, I think it's just one big feeding frenzy on student-parent pride and insecurity, so I never bought any books or took any SAT classes. What I did was just take it twice. The first time I went in completely cold, having basically no idea about the test other than its length and that there was a math and verbal section. I fully intended this to be nothing more than a dry run, and thus didn't have those scores sent anywhere. This got me familiar with the test format and testing conditions. That way, when I took it the next time, I could concentrate fully on answering the questions.

This exact approach may not be ideal for you, but I can't underestimate the importance of familiarizing yourself with the exam enough so that you can focus exclusively on responding. Just being familiar with what was happening boosted my score 150 pts. (1450 -> 1600)

Are you kidding me?

[Loki_1929]

It's a logic test - says so right on the thing. What do you need to know? 9th grade math and a decent array of English language words. Beyond that, it's completely up to your brain. The guides you're seeing aren't telling you how to learn; they're telling you how to read and understand the questions, and how to beat the test's tricks. Understanding what the SAT is and knowing how to handle its questions is about 80% of the test. The rest is general knowledge they're expecting most people to have. Honestly, if you're a bright kid, there should be nothing holding you back from scoring a near-perfect SAT score if you have a solid 8th grade education.

The SAT isn't testing your math or language skills; it's testing your ability to reason. As such, it's testing something that's innate (re: ability vs training). The prep classes, study guides, and sample questions are geared toward teaching you how to approach the test itself and the questions. They teach you about how the test is scored, how to pick apart the wording of the questions, and what kind of attitude to take with it. Frankly, if you need help with the knowledge end of things, no prep class on Earth is going to save you. Without the basic knowledge (and we really are talking about basic - 8th grade - knowledge), no amount of reasoning or test taking skills is going to save you.

Re:Are you kidding me?

[frenetic3]

I agree with the spirit of this post, but frankly there are a lot of incorrect points.

First, you need more than "9th grade math" or "8th grade education"; among other topics there's geometry (10th grade for most kids) and some probability/data analysis. (You're correct though that vocab is critically important.)

Second, it's not really a reasoning test in the way that, for example, an IQ test is. It *does* test math and language skills, albeit in a rather shallow and limited way. It also tests *specific* skills, such as identifying the tone of a literary passage or using the formula for the circumference of a circle, not just "basic knowledge".

Third, preparation provably helps, often leading to multiple-hundred point increases. The test is engineered to trick students, and knowing these traps (there aren't that many), and taking practice tests (to establish comfort with the layout of the exam, and to avoid wasting time reading the directions which never change) can boost your score significantly.

-fren

Re:Are you kidding me?

[Loki_1929]

"First, you need more than "9th grade math" or "8th grade education"; among other topics there's geometry (10th grade for most kids) and some probability/data analysis."

For a lot of people, Algebra I is 8th grade. For the vast majority of the rest, it's 9th grade. You may see a small number of very basic geo/trig based questions, but they're generally dirt-simple if you read the question properly. Give a 20-minute overview of geo/trig to a 9th grader and they'll have no problems as long as they understand the question. Now I've watched a high school teacher take an Algebra I SAT question and turn in into a high-end calculus problem. She got the right answer doing some very time-consuming math that would send most high schoolers running for the hills, but was completely confused as to why such an incredibly difficult question would be put on the SAT. Someone else then pointed out that if she'd read the question more carefully, she'd have noticed critical information sitting right there that narrowed the answer down immediately for anyone with a basic Algebra background.

And that's where they get you on those damned things: trying to answer the question you can't answer instead of answering the question they actually asked. The AP exams are no different in that regard.

"Second, it's not really a reasoning test in the way that, for example, an IQ test is."

It's not an IQ test; it's a logic test. At least when I took it, the SAT I was labeled precisely that: "SAT I: Logic Test". That's what gets the totally unprepared kids. They come into it thinking they're taking a math and vocabulary test. No, you're taking a test-taking test. The underlying assumption is that if they just asked you the questions in their most basic form, you'd have no problem getting a near-perfect score every time.

"It *does* test math and language skills, albeit in a rather shallow and limited way."

It does in the sense that without those basic math skills and without the vocabulary, the questions become impossible. You may as well be looking to a first-grader to do logs. That kid could be a towering intellectual giant with superb reasoning abilities and an immense learning capacity, but if he doesn't know what the heck a log is, all that intellect is utterly useless. If you don't know how to do the math required for the most basic form of the question and you don't have a clue what the words mean, then it becomes impossible to work with them at all.

"It also tests *specific* skills, such as identifying the tone of a literary passage or using the formula for the circumference of a circle"

I would argue that identifying the tone of a passage is one of those things where you can work on it in a prep course, but it still comes down to logic ability. The passages are there primarily to dump a bunch of useless garbage into your head, coupled with a few pieces of key information. The questions must then be unraveled, the data processed, and the key pieces identified and reassembled in such a way that the question becomes answerable. I do believe this is one area where prep courses can help students with this, but not so much by enhancing their logic as teaching them the basic methodology to apply to yield usable information. That goes hand-in-hand with instruction within the prep course on how to approach and unravel the questions themselves.

As far as using a formula, that's essentially the foundation of all math. Everything from addition on up is simply applying formulae. The fact that they give you formulae right on the test itself shows they don't care whether you know (pi)r^2 so much as whether you can then use it to yield correct results for their mangled question.

"Third, preparation provably helps, often leading to multiple-hundred point increases."

The preparation classes, more than anything else from my understanding, help with SAT scores. Typically, a student can expect to raise their score by a hundred points or so. Score

Find an Indian/chinese friend..

[tanveer1979]

Seriously.
Go to Orkut or something.
I am from India, and one of the reasons there are so many GRE/SAT cracking students there is focussed coaching. There are specialized coaching academies etc., etc.,
Its a big business.
A GRE score of 99 is common. No wonder you see so many Indian students there.
So ask them. They will be more clued.
Check out the books from India on sites like firstandsecond.com which have the type of questions.

These fellows register for SAT/GRE. Send 10-15 people with each person to memorize 5-10 questions.
So you actually have last 5 years papers etc., etc.,

These books cost something like 5-10 Euro atmost.

I tutor for SAT

[SetupWeasel]

Math

SAT is not supposed to require Trigonometry. I feel it is helpful, but you don't really need it. The key to the math is to know the tricks. It is easiest to get practice tests and see the tricks for yourself. Most mistakes I see (from people who know the math) result from not reading the questions carefully enough and not knowing what to do with a given figure.

- Beware the words "figure not drawn to scale." In many cases, you will want to draw your own, more accurate figure.

- Know basic math terms like: mean, median, mode, prime factor, prime number, midpoint, bisect, etc.

- I know the test gives them to you, but know the area of simple shapes and the special triangles (45-45-90, 30-60-90, 3-4-5, 5-12-13) by heart.

- Look for the special triangles. They will pop up when you don't expect them.

- Any side of a triangle must be greater than the difference of the other two sides and less than the sum of the other two sides. (Seems like common sense, but people cramp on this on under pressure.)

- Remember that finding xy or (x + y) does not necessarily require you to find x or y individually. Additionally, remember that (x + y)^2 has a 2xy term.

- If you get an answer you are sure is right but does not show up in the choices, look to see if there is a way to simplify it or combine terms.

- 1 is not a prime number.

- Grid-In questions have no penalty for guesses. Grid 0 if you don't know.

- The grid-in grid only handles 4 digits. A "." or "/" takes one of those spaces.

- Read carefully!

- Mark the test up!

This isn't exhaustive by any means, and I'm just writing these from the top of my head. Math is what I know best, and I have to catch a bus this morning, but I will post some tips for the rest in this thread if I have time.

I second that

[Sycraft-fu]

Study the test, don't study for the test. Learn how it's written, how it's graded, what kinds of things they are likely to ask you, etc. These tests are predictable and thus you can study them, and in doing so you can do better than otherwise. Unless the quality has gone down, I recommend the Princeton Review books on the topic. That's what I used (though it was 10 years ago).

My testimonial: I took the SAT, got a 1270. According to ETS (the people who make the SAT) I was unlikely to gain any score on a retake, in fact they claimed statistically I was likely to lose a couple points. They were correct in that there really wasn't anything I could think to study more of. I knew how to do everything on the test in general, it's not like there was some math I hadn't learned yet or anything, I just screwed some things up, mostly in the English section.

So what'd I do? Got a Princeton Review book ans studied the test, rather than studying for the test. 9 months later, I took it again, having learned really nothing more that was applicable to the test in school. That time I got a 1380, the big improvement being in the English section. Wasn't because I got smarter, wasn't because I learned more for the test, it was because I studied the test itself.

As an example something I made big gains in was vocabulary. I had a good vocabulary prior to the SAT, but just not in the kinds of words they liked in general. Well the book identified a hitlist of 275 words that ETS just loves to use on that damn test. So I learned those (275 words sounds like a lot but it really isn't). Sure enough, over half the words on the test came from that list, mostly the hard ones.

Also it gave valuable insights about test construction, like that they order the questions by difficulty and one of the ways they make hard questions is with "idiot attractor" answers. They'll put an answer down that looks intuitively right, but is wrong. So on the first questions, the intuitive answer is the one to go for, and the last few, you don't.

Now you'll want to get a current book as they could have changed it and there's at least one major new part: The writing test, which we didn't have. However I think you'll find that provided you have a good, pre university education (in the case meaning good math education through algebra and some trig and good English skills) your time is best spent studying the test itself rather than the material they claim it'll be covering.

Learn the rules of the game, and you'll find it much easier.

I third that.

[Goeland86]

I agree with both parent and grandparent posts. I graduated high school in France, only to move to the US 3 weeks later, and having to go through yet another senior year of high school. Took the SATs unprepared. Assuming the UK high schools are decent, which they should be, you don't need to study anything extra, you already know much of what you're going to have to deal with. I took the test not knowing how it was graded, nor much of what was going to happen on it, and ended up at 1250, because my written english basically sucked (gotten better since!), but I was fresh off the boat from a country where the language isn't the same. Now, watch out, because some words have radically different meanings in this country.
That's just a friendly reminder that it wasn't just tea leaves we dunked in Boston, but also most grammar books!

Knowing how the test works is all you need to know, the rest your instructors have done a very fine job of hammering down to your brain, usually.
So don't worry about what to study, just know HOW THE TEST WORKS! That's what matters.

Try the ACT also

[pip-PPC]

My advice: find out if your targeted universities will accept the ACT (http://www.actstudent.org/). Almost all big and small schools will, sometimes with a conversion table to turn it into an SAT score. I took both the ACT and the "old" SAT (the 1600pt one) in Fall 2004, and my ACT score, once converted to a SAT score, gained 280 points (to the 1500s).

The ACT and SAT are really quite different, and I much preferred the ACT. While the SAT tended to test on things you *knew* (analogies, vocabulary, etc.), the ACT seemed to test your *ability* to learn. For example, the ACT had a "science" section, where you would be presented with some kind of science-y report, complete with graphs and fairly dense language. You would then be given some questions requiring you to interpret the graphs and draw some kind of conclusions from the report. The reports were real, but about things like DNA traits and river pollution, and were far beyond the knowledge level of most high schoolers, so the test was on how well you could interpret a subject that was completely foreign (but in a familiar format).

So--if at all possible, try taking the ACT. You might not do any better, but if the SAT seems evil beyond your taste, it might be a nice break regardless.

**--All of my experiences are based on the SAT and ACT as of two years ago. While the SAT has changed substantially, I don't believe that the ACT has changed much, except for the (mostly) required addition of a writing portion. Also, I've had a pretty eventful two years, so my memory may be hazy and not fully correct.

Re:Hmm...

[Bogtha]

You seem to have totally missed the point. The SAT is an American standard. The person asking the question is from the UK. Despite Tony Blair's efforts, the UK is still not part of the USA.

Exactly why do you think that a person from the UK would know the content of American tests, and how many prep classes for American tests do you think that there are in the UK?