Chapter 1

Introduction to the SAT

The pursuit of a perfect or near-perfect SAT score is an impressive goal. Achieving that goal requires a thorough command of the material and strategies specific to the SAT. To begin your quest, learn everything you can about the test. This chapter presents an overview of the SAT, advice about when to take it, and a guide to reporting your scores.

WELCOME

So you think you can score a 1450 or better? We’re all for it. The Princeton Review supports all students who want to do their best. We’ve written this book specifically for students who are in a position to score at the very highest levels. We believe that to achieve a perfect or near-perfect score, you have to know as much as possible about the test itself and, more importantly, know yourself.

You may know all of the basic facts about the SAT already, but even if you think you do, we encourage you to read through this chapter to be sure you know every single thing you can about the test you’re going to conquer.

FUN FACTS ABOUT THE SAT

All of the content review and strategies we teach in the following lessons are based on the specific structure and format of the SAT. Before you can beat the test, you have to know how it’s built.

Structure

The SAT consists of three main sections: Reading, Writing & Language, and Math. The Math is broken into two sub-sections, the first of which must be completed without the use of a calculator.

There is also an optional essay section, for which you are given fifty minutes. This may seem like fewer sections than the previous SAT, but if you add it all up, you’re looking at at least three hours of test-taking, and almost four if you complete the essay. Whew!

Scoring

The Reading and Writing sections are scored together on a scale from 200–800, and added to the total from the two Math sections (also on a scale from 200–800) for a total score between 400 to 1600. There are are also a series of sub-scores that point out how you did on specific types of questions, such as math problems that require data analysis or reading questions that focus on understanding words in context. All that really matters, however, is the overall score, which has a maximum of 1600.

Content

In Parts II–IV, we’ll thoroughly review the content and strategies you need for each of the three main sections. Here is a brief overview of each section.

Reading

The Reading section contains five passages, for which there will be 52 multiple-choice questions (10 or 11 per passage). These passages can be anywhere from 500 to 750 words, may include associated data to be interpreted along with the text, and range from literature to social studies and science. One of the five passages will actually have two shorter, paired passages. Passage-based questions are never presented in order of difficulty; the order of questions tends to be chronological.

Writing

The Writing section consists of four passages, each with 11 associated questions, for a total of 44 multiple-choice questions. These tend to be shorter passages, somewhere between 400 and 450 words, but otherwise cover the same topics as the Reading section, as well as some career-oriented topics.

Math

The Math section features 58 questions, split between a no-calculator section (20 questions) and a calculator section (38 questions). There is no specific order of difficulty, but both sections feature grid-in questions at the end (5 and 8, respectively), and some students find the lack of multiple-choice options to be tricky.

Content on the Math section is drawn from arithmetic, pre-algebra, elementary algebra, intermediate algebra, plane geometry, and coordinate geometry. Some advanced topics, such as trigonometric ratios and radian measure are tested, but make up only a small percentage of all questions.

THE SAT SCHEDULE

In the United States, the SAT is offered seven times a year: October, November, December, January, March, May, and June. The March test is not offered in international locations.

Take the SAT when your schedule best allows. Many high scorers take their first SAT in the fall of their junior year. If you have more commitments in the fall from sports, plays, or clubs, then plan to take your first SAT in the winter or spring.

Many high school counselors advise waiting to take the SAT until spring because students may be unfamiliar with some of the more difficult material before then. Students in an honors track, however, will have covered all of the content by the end of sophomore year at the latest. Even if you aren’t in an honors track, there are relatively few concepts that will be unfamiliar to you. We recommend taking your first SAT as early as your schedule allows.

REGISTERING FOR THE SAT

Go to collegeboard.org and create a student account. At collegeboard.org, you can view test dates, fees, and registration deadlines. You can research the requirements and processes to apply for extended time or other accommodations, register for the test, view your scores, and order score reports.

You can contact College Board customer service by phone at 866-756-7346 (or 212-713-7789 for international callers), but you cannot sign up for the test by phone if you are taking it for the first time.

Test Security

As part of the registration process, you have to upload or mail a photograph that will be printed on your admissions ticket. On test day, you have to take the ticket and acceptable photo identification with you.

Registration Tips

You have options for obtaining SAT score reports, copies of your test, and cancellation. We have recommendations on each.

Score Reports

When you register, supply the codes for any schools on your application list. If you want to add more schools to your list later, you certainly can. Since colleges are interested only in your highest scores, there is no benefit to withholding any scores from prospective colleges.

Test Information Release

If you take the SAT in October, January, or May, we recommend you sign up for the Question and Answer Service when you register. Six to eight weeks after the test, you’ll receive a copy of the test and your answers. This service costs an additional fee and is available only for the dates above. You can order the Question and Answer Service up to five months after the test date, but it’s easier to order at the time you register. It’s a great tool to help you prepare for your next SAT.

How Many Times Should You Take the SAT?

We will be thrilled if you review the content in this book, take the SAT for the first time, and earn the score you seek. If you don’t hit your target score the first time, take it again. In fact, we recommend that you enter the process planning to take the SAT two or three times. Nerves and anxiety can be unpredictable catalysts, and for many students, the first experience can seem harder than what you’ve seen in practice. Perception is reality, so we won’t waste your time explaining that it only seems harder and different. That’s why we recommend taking your first SAT as soon as your schedule allows. Get that first experience with a real test over with as soon as possible, and leave yourself enough time to take the test again. Subsequent administrations won’t seem nearly as hard and daunting as the first.

While no one wants to take the SAT more than three times, it’s not out of the question if you haven’t reached the score you need. Just make sure you consider what you will do differently before taking the test again. Dedicate yourself to trying new strategies that you initially thought you wouldn’t need.

Score Cancellation

You have the option to cancel your scores, either immediately (at the testing center) or soon after the exam. Usually, you should use this option only under extreme circumstances—you were violently ill, there was a punk band rehearsing in the next classroom, or something equally dramatic. Don’t cancel your scores just because you feel like you had a bad day; you can always take the test again, and it’s good to have a starting point to compare subsequent tests to. If you really feel you must cancel your scores, you have until 11:59 P.M. (EST) on the Wednesday after the exam. See the College Board website for more information.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE SAT

The following lessons cover the content and strategies for the Math, Reading, and Writing sections. Review all lessons, even in the subjects that you think you already have targeted as your strengths. We want to make sure you’re thoroughly prepared, and we’ll risk boring you a tad to cover content you may know. But we won’t waste your time. All of the content and strategies we cover are necessary.

As we noted above, the easiest path to your best score is to maximize your strengths. Earn every point that you can from your strengths even as you acquire new skills and strategies to improve your weaknesses.

Practice, Practice, Practice

To achieve a great SAT score, you have to practice a lot! We recommend that you practice with both real SAT tests and Princeton Review practice tests.

You can also pick up a copy of the College Board’s The Official SAT Study Guide, 2016 Edition, which contains four real tests, answer explanations, and scoring guides. That said, this same content can also be printed out for free from the College Board website at collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice/full-length-practice-tests.

For more practice materials, The Princeton Review publishes Cracking the New SAT and 500+ Practice Questions for the New SAT. In addition, we recommend contacting your local Princeton Review office to investigate free practice test dates and follow up sessions. Visit princetonreview.com for more information, including a comprehensive list of all other available titles.

TEST TAKER, KNOW THYSELF

To earn a perfect or near-perfect score on the SAT, it’s not enough to know everything about the test. You also need to know yourself. Identify your own strengths and weaknesses. Don’t try to make yourself something you’re not. You do not need to be a master of every subject to earn a top score on the SAT. You do need to be a master test taker. Stop the part of your brain that wants to do the question the right way. All that matters is that you get it right. How you get the question right doesn’t matter. So don’t waste time trying to make yourself into the math or reading genius you thought you needed to be.

Read more in the next chapter about the overall strategies, and read through all the lessons in individual subjects that follow. Be willing to tweak what you already do well, and be willing to try entirely new approaches for what you don’t do well.

Summary

◦   Knowing the structure of the SAT is the first step to mastering the test.

◦   Take your first SAT as soon as your schedule allows.

◦   Order the Question and Answer Service if it’s available for your test date.

◦   Plan to take the SAT 2–3 times.

◦   Take the SAT again if you do not achieve the best score you’ve hit in practice.

◦   Know your options about score reporting and cancellation.

◦   Practice on real SATs as much as possible.

◦   Use Princeton Review practice materials to supplement your preparation.