SAT is the standardised test which is required by any international student who is willing to continue their undergraduate education in the USA, UK, Australia, Canada and quite a few other western countries.
This test is mostly attended by students who have just completed their highschool (HSC or A levels according to the perspective of Bangladesh).
This test is often deemed as the gateway to abroad for higher education which is why it can evoke feelings of stress and anxiety in a student.
A little bit of strategic preparation is enough to overcome the test.
So all those students who are overwhelmed with the test can stop panicking, sit back and relax because here is the ultimate roadmap which will help you get a exam day triumph.
- Latest SAT test pattern
In order to ace a test, one needs to know exactly what topics and grounds they need to study for the exam.
One cannot just go around beating the bush and expect to do better in the exam. This way a student will keep doing hard work but not receive any fruitful result in the end.
In case of these competitive tests, students need to be strategic. They have to find the latest test pattern and the syllabus and only practise on that.
The latest SAT pattern has been more simplified and brought to a standard for all the international students.
The test has two sections: Reading & Writing and Mathematical, both of them are scored between 200 to 800 marks.
So the total score of the SAT stands at 1600 marks. The question pattern is mostly objective in nature, that is one question and four options to choose the answer from.
The exam is administered for 2 hours and 14 minutes with an additional break for 10 minutes in between.
The following table will make it easier to understand :-
| Sections | Number of questions tested | Duration
(minutes) |
Question type | Score |
| Reading & Writing | 54 | 64 | Discrete; MCQs with four options | 800 |
| Break | 10 minutes | |||
| Mathematics | 44 | 70 | MCQ (75%) and student-produced response (SPR)(25%) | 800 |
| Total | 98 | 134 | MCQ+SPR | 1600 |
- Master the Sections
Now that we know what the sections of the tests are, we can dive into mastering all of them.
A strategic implication is: while preparing we will not divert from these sections and only focus on the specific question pattern and topics which are specified for the test.
The separate goals for each section is given below:
Reading & Writing : The topics tested in this section are Literature, History / Social Studies, Humanities and Science. In order to ace the reading section:
- Expansion of vocabulary: Students can improve their vocabulary by reading challenging materials like newspapers, classic novels, books and literature. Students can create their personalised flashcards for vocabulary.
- Active reading: Students should not read meaninglessly; they should point out the basic summary, important points and main ideas from the passages.
- Time management: Students should not waste a big chunk of time on a single paragraph. If the paragraph deems to be challenging, they should keep it on hold and practise some other passages in the meantime. But they should always remember to return to the parts they skipped due to difficulty from time to time.
For the writing part they can take the following steps:
- Grammar basics: They should focus on the fundamentals of grammar to avoid silly mistakes and to also identify the mistakes.
- Clarity: They should write their essays with clear and persuasive language. They should totally avoid using too many words and only use the specific words which are required.
Mathematics : The mathematics section seems daunting for a lot of students.
But with these easy to follow steps anyone can ace that part of the test:
- Form the base: Students should first focus on their fundamental abilities before jumping to the complex problems. This will require understanding of core mathematical concepts like algebra, geometry, and statistics.
- Master the tricks: There are various strategies and tricks to ace the maths section of the exam. Students have to master them and apply all those to gain maximum efficient results.
Lastly, what all the students need to do is practice, practice and practice. They can join study groups, online support teams and also seek help from professionals. After all these acing SATs will be a piece of cake for them.
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Writer
Rifah Zakiah
Intern, Content Writing Department
YSSE