Teens, it's the end of August! School's starting around the world. And with school, comes dreaded tests, exams, and studying. As high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors prepare for college applications, the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) is a great way to demonstrate academic ability to top colleges and universities.
For those who don't know what the SAT is: in a nutshell, the SAT is a timed, multiple-choice (occasionally fill-in-the-blank for Math) style exam with a ‘Reading and Writing’ part and a ‘Math’ part. It is scored out of 1600, with 800 for English and another 800 for Math. In detail, the SAT assesses a student's ability on several topics, including command of evidence, words in context, expression of ideas, and standard English conventions for the English section, while also assessing Math skills, including the heart of algebra, problem-solving and data analysis, and passport to advanced math. (All of these terms were invented by College Board, not me).
Since the SAT is usually taken in junior year, the difficulty of the English part is similar to that of a junior year English class, while the Math level is everything from Algebra I up through Geometry and Algebra II (plus maybe a little bit more of statistics and trigonometry).
Let's stop stressing about the exam and get to work! This article will explain the major changes that has happened to the SAT, studying resources, as well as tips and tricks to get you started!
Image Credits: College Board via Wikimedia Commons
Major Changes to the Old SAT
Before 2024, the SAT has always been administered as a paper and pencil test. However, in 2024, College Board completely changed its format into an adaptable digital test. In the digital test, students use a computer (personal laptop, Chromebook, iPad, etc.) to select their answers.
The test was also largely shortened, adjusted from 3 hours to 2 hours and 14 minutes. While the overall time is shortened, you're actually given more time per question than before. Specifically, each section is divided into two modules; for the English part, you get 32 minutes for 27 questions per module and 35 minutes for 22 questions per module for the Math part.
Now, you might ask, isn't the SAT way easier than before? To some extent, the content may be just a tad easier, but it's way harder to score those top, top scores (some also say that the Math section is actually harder than previously). But, why?
Isn't there more time to solve every question? It's because, along with the time, the margin of error has very much shrunk. Now, in order to score exceptionally high (1550+), you have to make very few mistakes and only mistakes on difficult questions. For example, for Math, if you get one hard question wrong and another easy question wrong, you might only score 760 on the Math section, whereas you would receive 780 or 790 on the paper SAT.
Something interesting to note is that the Digital SAT is also adaptable. This means that if you do well on the first module, you will advance onto a more difficult second module and vice versa. In addition, many students have noticed that, as opposed to the paper SAT, there are multiple different (sometimes 3 or 4) sets of questions you might encounter. That means pretty much everyone will have somewhat different questions on the exam.
How and Where to Study?
For free resources, Khan Academy is definitely the top pick! Khan Academy has partnered with College Board to provide free learning material for both the English and Math sections. You can choose from a series of topics, ranging from foundation, medium, and advanced levels. You can even challenge yourself with a course challenge after you finish studying!
Recently, Khan Academy also kickstarted a virtual SAT tutoring software called Schoolhouse. Founded by Sal Khan (also the founder of Khan Academy), Schoolhouse provides free 4-week SAT boot camps to prepare students for the upcoming SAT. These boot camps are taught by certified high school tutors who already scored above 700 while targeting students whose Math and R&W scores are within the 400-690 range.
Image Credits: Sissi Ma
2. YouTube
When in doubt, turn to YouTube! There are so many high-quality SAT YouTubers that talk about everything ranging from test-taking strategies to specific topics and even reviewing some practice tests. For the Math section, I would recommend the Organic Chemistry Tutor (I know, I know…but trust me on this one) and most test prep channels you find should be pretty credible.
And for shorter tips and tricks videos, SupertutorTV is pretty credible! A lot of the time, many college YouTubers also love to share their SAT prep journey and studying technique/schedule, which could be worth a watch too!
I would recommend YouTube for specific questions or topics you're unsure about, instead of using it as a complete curriculum to study for the SAT.
3. Bluebook Practice Tests
What else could better prepare you for the SAT than College Board itself? Bluebook is the online test-taking software (you can download it from the App Store or the College Board website) for the SAT. On there, every student with a College Board account has access to six full-length Digital SAT practice tests.
These are amazing for practicing as they simulate what a real DSAT may look like, including what functions you have access to (eg. Desmos, formulas, flagging questions, etc.) and time limitations.
Before starting your SAT studying journey, it's always recommended to complete a practice test to see what areas you need to work on. Start with the first practice test because the last two are indeed a little bit harder than the first four!
4. Textbooks
Last but not least, the classic textbook! If you love textbooks, this one's for you. Before, purchasing one though, you should definitely look up the textbook's reviews to see if it prepares you the best for a DSAT. Many recommend Erica Meltzer for English and College Panda for Math.
Still, it's important to take others' recommendations with a grain of salt since different textbooks may work differently for different people (and some can be quite pricey!). The Princeton Review is also a super popular option on the market, but its practice tests specifically may not simulate the real SAT as well as College Board itself.
There are also many PDFs of these textbooks online; so if you're unable to get one, do some research, and you'll probably stumble upon a free one to download!
Tips & Tricks
Now, it's time for some tips and tricks!
- Desmos!
Desmos is definitely top of the list as of tips and tricks. For those who don't know, Desmos is a graphing calculator that is programmed into the SAT Math section. On Desmos, you can graph anything function, as well as calculate any equations.
This function can be especially helpful for systems of equations, vertex and intercept problems, quadratic, circles, and more! You can even graph points, find a trig value, or calculate the standard deviation on it.
It's important to learn how to properly use Desmos for suitable questions before you take the exam. While you practice on Bluebook or Khan Academy or even just on a PDF, you can open up Desmos and practice graphing graphs or just entering calculations.
Image Credits: Sissi Ma
2. Grammar Odd One Out
A crazy trick for the grammar part (the second part of both English modules) is to find the “odd one out”. This might not work every single time so take it with a grain of salt! But, when you see three singular verbs versus one plural verb in the choices, the odd one out, aka the plural verb, is always correct. Also, when you encounter a punctuation problem and see a semicolon and a period are two different choices, both choices can be eliminated because a period and the semicolon connotate the same thing in the SAT.
These are probably the most widely known grammar tricks that work, but it's still super important to really learn the material and rules so that you don't have to rely on tricks to score high!
That's it! Just trust the process and I'm sure you'll do amazing. Good luck with your Digital SATs! (The next ones in 2024 are on October 5th, November 2nd, and December 7th).
