An SAT Study Skills Prep Interview with a Student – PART 1
In Part 1 of this two-part series on study skills preparing for the SAT college entrance exam, I interview 18-year-old Nick, a freshman at a prominent Florida university who recently took the SAT test. . His SAT prep recollections are below in a typical question-and-answer format. Enjoy!
Elise Phillips: What’s on the SAT test?
Nick: The SAT consists of three subjects divided into several sections. The three subjects are math, verbal, and writing. There is a writing section. The first section is a long essay that must be written in 35 minutes. The next ten sections are math and verbal. Both last between 20 and 35 minutes and are different for each person. One of the sections is a sample that doesn’t count toward your score, but you don’t know which one.
EP: Any advice that you would give to someone who is about to take it?
N: Study, study, study vocabulary!
EP: What did you bring to the SAT?
N: Bring some sharp, College Board-approved No. 2 pencils (non-mechanical), an SAT-approved calculator (no graphing calculators, calculators that require an external power source, or calculators with a screen larger than two vertical inches ), some sort of snack (although eating is not allowed in the testing room, there is a ten minute break during which a granola bar or something comes in handy), and most importantly, your SAT ticket that you printed out when you registered for the SAT. This will be verified by your proctor prior to the test. Make sure you have a photo ID to compare.
EP: What study skills or subject matter should prepare you for the SAT?
N: Vocabulary is the most important thing to study as there are many fill-in-the-blank questions that require a decent knowledge of vocabulary. One important thing to remember is not to pick a word that you know doesn’t fit simply because you know it. If, of the five answers, you know four and they don’t fit, choose the one you don’t know. It’s easy to ignore the words you don’t know and focus on the ones you do know, but it’s important not to.
EP: What did you do on the SAT yourself, if you don’t mind my asking?
N: I got a perfect score of 800 in the verbal section, 750 in math, and 740 in writing.
EP: Is there anything special that you did the night before taking the test?
N: I slept!
EP: How is the Mathematics exam going?
N: The highest level of math tested on the SAT is geometry, so anything beyond that is superfluous. There are always some questions that puzzle you, but try not to focus on them for too long. Go ahead and work on the ones you know, then go back to the ones you don’t know.
EP: Had you taken math and writing tutoring for it?
N: I hadn’t taken private math or writing classes, but I know kids who have. They seemed to do quite well.
EP: How long did it take to finish the test?
N: The test takes about three hours to complete.
As you read, Nicholas did pretty well on the SATs. If he thinks he’s not fully prepared for the SATs, he’ll consider a college entrance exam prep home tutor or a math or reading tutoring program service like Huntington Learning Center. Huntington Learning Center has been open since 1977 and focuses on preparing students for the types of questions they will see on tests like the SAT. Both an in-home tutor and a tutoring service incorporate working one-on-one with a student to provide individual attention to mastering test-taking skills. With a tutoring center like Huntington Learning Center, a diagnostic assessment is available to help discover a student’s strengths and weaknesses.
TIP FOR PARENTS: Diagnostic Evaluation Vouchers are available for the Boca Raton, Florida Huntington Learning Center location (and other locations)!
A tutoring program of some sort is a great place to start thinking about the importance of excelling on the SATs. Get ready for Part 2 of this series on preparing for the SAT, when we’ll talk about the SAT test experience.