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Joe, a SAT Winner, describes his preparation strategy
in his own words
SAT 1 Math
I think most of the books available In the market today do not offer you
enough ‘Tough’ problems In Quant, the kind you need to score In the high
nineties. This is especially so in the areas of Algebra II and Geometry,
topics that are New to the New SAT.
Also, the new SAT has more emphasis on Probability, a topic that most
of the standard books tend to ignore.
SAT 1 Critical Reading - Reading Comprehension
If you find RC as your weak area, I would recommend reading ‘How to
Read Faster and Better’ by Norman Lewis. (This is available at Amazon.
com)
The Reading Comprehension passages in the SAT are mostly on
different topics like Science, History, Arts, Society etc. Depending on you
background and interests, you will find at least 1 or 2 very easy.
It makes sense to get familiar with other topic that you do not normally
come across in your course work or recreational reading.
The SAT preparation strategy I used was to read the passage quickly to
get a rough idea of what the topic was about, and then to read bits
required to answer each question again.
You are likely to find at least one question about the ‘Central Idea’ of the
passage, so the first quick read helps here.
For the other questions, you are likely to know which bit of the passage to
read again, so this strategy usually works quite well.
SAT Sentence Completion
My core sat preparation strategy around this has been elimination.
What I studied for My SAT 1 Prep
My first step was with the Official Guide –This should really be the first
step In your SAT preparation. This contains the real ‘retired’ SAT
questions from past years.
In the first practice test I only got a 1700.
Did not lose heart though. Went through all the answers, right or wrong,
with a fine tooth comb to identify which areas I needed to focus on.
If you expect a score of 2100+, the questions here will seem to be easier
than the real SAT. The reason for that is this book has only a limited
number of ‘Tough’ questions compared to the actual SAT.
SAT Course / Books that I followed
The Official Guide –
If you have to read only one book for the SAT, this is the one!!
I used this to brush up the areas that I found myself weak In from the initial
Diagnostic test.
You should thoroughly read all explanations to understand why an
answer is correct and another one wrong.
Kaplan SAT verbal and Math Workbooks to go over some of the basic
material that I identified I needed brushing up.
Princeton review verbal work out.
This is supposedly good for Verbal prep, but I think the Kaplan book
offers better insights.
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My SAT 1 Exam
The D Day Experience
I did not study or take any tests on the penultimate day. Just went though
some quant formulae and Words that I had jotted down.
Do not know anyone who has not felt some pangs before the actual test.
Thankfully I was thoroughly familiar with the pattern of the test so was a
little more comfortable than I would have been otherwise!!
Remember, during those tense hours, any rest break is on your own
time!!! So it is best to take it if you finish one of your sections before time.
I was confident of getting 2200+ but did not exactly know how much I
would get till I got the score.
Most people who get In the 2200+ bracket would have had to take some
guesses, especially towards the end of a section. I did too and was quite
nervous.
In Reality when I finished the test I was wondering whether to cancel it, a
question that crosses many a mind!!
Fortunately I did not do that and was quite shocked when I got a
whopping score of 2340!!!
SAT Tutoring
Is it worth the money?
Introductory Courses
I am a staunch believer In Self Study. Most (though not all, especially
quant!!) of the concepts tested In SAT are around the High School level.
However, if you have been out of touch with basic Quant and English for
sometime, it does make sense to go In for an introductory two day course.
The important thing is to do serious sat preparation on your own after you
have done such a course.
Private Tutoring
This does help!!
However, In order to get the best out of your money (you won’t get too
much time with your tutor!!), it is best to clearly identify you weak areas
and inform your tutor about them so that he/she is sufficiently prepared.
I think Private Tutoring should be treated more as an exception for things
that you find too difficult to understand rather than for covering the whole
syllabus.
So, that was how Joe did it.
Joe was a student of my-sat and employed the exclusive SAT
preparation strategies to increase his score dramatically.
You can find detailed strategies for each of the SAT sections, and tips for
scoring 2200+ in the ebook Ways of the SAT Winners.
This guide was originally prepared exclusively for students who take
private coaching from my-sat.
Now it is being made available for anyone who is aiming at 2200+ score
in the SAT.
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