This post will contain some important facts related directly or indirectly to the test. Most of you would have already known much of the things below, but it doesn’t hurt to read anyway. =P
How to Register for the SAT?
In order to register for the SAT, you have to make an account at College Board. First, click the link I provided. Then click the “Sign Up” button on the left part of the website (in the My Organizer box). Afterwards, just fill in your information. Some schools outside the United States won’t have a high school code, so just ignore it if your school doesn’t have one.
The Official SAT Question of the Day may aid you in preparing for the test. It sends you an email containing a typical problem of an SAT in Writing, CR, or Math.
After successfully signing up for your account, you have to fill in your mailing address later on. Just sign in and click “Update My Account”, and fill in your address. It is important that you fill in your mailing address because the scores will be sent via mail to the mailing address you specified, although you can also see your scores online.
To register for the test, just click on the “My Tests” tab, and then click “Start a new registration”, and then “Register for a Test”. Anyway, you get the idea. Just follow the links and they will lead you to a new test registration form. Then you can choose which test (Reasoning/Subject) you want to take, your preferred test center, and your test date.
How to Understand Your Score?
The maximum score attainable for the SAT is 2400. Each section of the SAT (W, CR, and M) has maximum score of 800.
Critical Reading and Math Section
Each MCQ that you answer correctly on the SAT will award you 1 point. Each MCQ that you answer incorrectly will lose you ¼ of a point. Each MCQ that you leave blank won’t award or lose you points. The maximum raw points for the CR section will be around 67, and 54 for the Math section.
Each grid-in question that you answer correctly on the SAT will grant you 1 point. You don’t get penalized for not answering or answering incorrectly the grid-in questions.
The score you get from adding all the scores from the question is called the raw score. The test makers will then convert the score into a 200-800 scale.
Writing Section
Each MCQ that you answer correctly on the SAT will award you 1 point. Each MCQ that you answer incorrectly will lose you ¼ of a point. Each MCQ that you leave blank won’t award or lose you points. The maximum points from the Writing MCQs will be around 49. This score will be converted to a 35-80 scale.
The essay will be graded by 2 graders in which each grader will give a score from 0-6. This score will be combined with your scores from the MCQs to form your raw score. Then it will be converted again into a 200-800 scale.
The scores you will see in your report is the sum of all the scaled scores from each section.
Essential Techniques on the SAT
Process of Elimination
The process of elimination is perhaps the most important technique you need to master. In some of the questions, you may not be sure of the correct answer, and in worse cases, you might not understand all of the answer choices. The process of elimination, as its name suggests, eliminates answers that you know are incorrect. Thus, by repetitive use of PoE, you will slowly direct yourself to the right answer.
Order of Difficulty
The questions in some parts of the SAT tend to get harder as the section progresses. I’ll explain this part in detail later on in the advanced techniques. The main idea is by knowing that the test is getting more difficult as it progresses, you have better chances of eliminating answers that are incorrect.
Guessing in the SAT (The Fearsome Guessing Penalty)
Is it okay to guess? Most people would tell you not to guess due to the penalties. But, if you’re able to eliminate even one of the answer choices, then it would improve your chances of improving your score (I know it sounds repetitious, but bear with me).
It’s better to think of it this way. You start your test with a full score. Answering a question correctly means you don’t lose points. However, leaving a question blank WILL REDUCE your points by 1, and answering a question incorrectly will reduce your points by 1¼ of a point. The difference between not answering and answering incorrectly is only ¼ of a point, so guessing won’t hurt your score very much. Besides, you have a chance of answering correctly, rather than throwing the chance of getting the point at the cost of ¼ of a point.
Remember, though, that you cannot guess like crazy. It’s always better to do the questions you can do first before attempting to guess at the other hard questions. And you probably WOULDN’T want to guess if you cannot eliminate even one of the answer choices.
“I Think This Is Correct, But I’m Not Sure…” (The Hunches in SAT)
You must have had this kind of feeling that this particular answer is correct, though you’re not sure of it? How can you be sure, then, that your hunches are correct? By considering the order of difficulty, you can be sure that the first parts of the section won’t have hard answers and the last parts of the section won’t have easy answers. This simple guideline helps you in trusting your own hunches during the test.
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