“I get straight A’s in school but can’t seem to get a high score on the SAT. Clearly I am not as smart as I think I am”

It may well be true that you have an inflated sense of your own intelligence,  but the SAT is not evidence of such. The SAT is not now, nor has it ever been, a measure of your intelligence. That’s what IQ tests are. It is also not a test of how well you do in school. That’s what tests you take in school are for. It is, ostensibly, a test of your ability to reason. Ironic, considering how unreasonable a test it is. Simply put, the SAT is a test of good you are at taking the SAT. End of story.


“My mom’s cousin’s best friend took the test and said that he just picked (C) whenever he didn’t know the answer and got most of them right.”

Your mom’s cousin’s best friend is a dirty liar. The notion that (C) is correct any more frequently than any other answer choice is one that dates back to ancient times. It was nonsense then, and it remains nonsense now. Answer (C) will absolutely be right about 20% of the time. As will (A), (B), (D), and (E). Trying to use the frequency of answer choices appearing in order to answer questions is a fool’s errand. And, much like Mr. T, I pity the fool.



“My down the street neighbor told me that the November (or any other) SAT is the easiest one. Should I just wait to take it then?”

The notion that one administration of the test is easier than another is very common, and very wrong. The most frequent reasoning I’ve heard for this theory is that more students who performed poorly are re-taking the test for the last time in October, so more students are getting questions wrong, so the curve is easier.  Also, there are fewer test takers overall at certain administrations of the test.  In truth, there is pretty much no link whatsoever between test date and difficulty of the test. If you take the test enough times, you will come to realize that it’s pretty much the same thing. Every. Single. Time.


“My Aunt’s sister’s kid got a 2100 and I only got a 2090. That kid is so getting into a better school than I am, right?”

Wait, your Aunt’s sister? Isn’t that your mom?

“No, her other sister.”

Oh, my bad. Either way, her kid’s 2100 is, statistically speaking, identical to your 2090.  I defy you to find me an admissions counselor who would treat a 2100 differently than a 2090. A ten point difference could simply be the result of the curve. If you took the test on two different dates, you may actually have answered more questions correctly than your Aunt’s kid. Admissions counselors know this. So relax. You can still show your face at the family picnics. 

Good question. Short answer: it probably doesn’t matter. Long answer: it depends on your plan.


So here’s the deal. There are some important differences between the SAT and the ACT:

• The ACT has a Science portion; the SAT doesn’t.
  
• There are a few trig questions on the ACT while the SAT only goes up to some basic Algebra II concepts.
  
• The ACT doesn’t have a guessing penalty, while the SAT does.
  
• The SAT emphasizes vocabulary more than the ACT does.
  

Those are literally all of the major differences. You’ll hear a lot of people say, “The SAT is a reasoning test, and the ACT is more aligned with school curricula” or “The ACT is a fairer test.”

It. is. B.S.

Besides some formatting differences, many of the questions on the tests are completely interchangeable. Quick: try to guess which is an SAT question and which is an ACT question?

Can you tell? It doesn’t matter. Both questions would fit right in on either test, as would most of the questions on the two tests. The SAT and ACT just aren’t that different. 

This isn’t to say that some students aren’t naturally better at one test or the other. That is definitely true. It’s just that the operative word here is some. And if you’re planning to prepare for either test, it’s really a matter of what you need to work on.

For instance, if your big issue is that you flat out don’t know the concepts that are tested on one of the tests (e.g., you haven’t learned trig yet), the ACT is probably a better match for your. A lot of harder questions are difficult because they test difficult concepts, but the questions aren’t too hard if you understand the concepts. Preparing for the ACT will be helpful if you focus on content.

However, if your big issue is that you have a handle on the concepts but have a terrible technique, the SAT might be a better match for you. Since the breadth of the concepts tested on the SAT is so great, it’s harder to shore up content deficiencies. But if you know the concepts for the most part and instead struggle to apply them to the test, then you’ll probably get the most bang for your buck preparing for the SAT. The questions fall apart pretty quickly if you have effective technique.

Now pay attention, because this is important: If you struggle a lot more with the content, the ACT is probably a better choice for you because technique is a little less important on SOME of the questions. If you know the concepts but have terrible technique, preparing for the SAT probably a better choice because having strong technique will be helpful on SOME of the questions. It’s a game of inches, folks.

The reason so few students have no natural inclination toward either test is that they generally have issues in both of these areas (content mastery and technique mastery), so they’re equally disadvantaged on either test, and preparing for either one is likely to be equally effective.

This means the first step toward making a decision is figuring out what your particular issues are. Our Comprehensive Skills Assessment is an excellent way to do that. Give it a try and find out. Or, if you have eight hours to kill, take both tests and see which one you prefer.

Do NOT, under any circumstances make your decision based on some ill-informed, half-baked rumor about the tests. For example…

Hope that clears things up.

Until next time,

Patrick

The number one question I get asked about the essay is…

“What are some good examples that I should use?”

The question is motivated by fear of two possible outcomes:

1. Test day comes, I sit down to start the essay, and my mind goes blank. I can’t think of a single good example. Halp.
   
2. I can think of examples, but I’m worried they’re not good enough to get me the score I want.
   

The former is basically a nightmare scenario. The latter speaks to your apprehension about whether the essay graders will appreciate or respect (and subsequently reward) the examples you choose.

Both are valid concerns, but they can be addressed if you know a little about what the graders are looking for and how your essay is going to be scored. Let’s look at a few recent real SAT Essay Topics:

• Do rules and limitations contribute to a person’s happiness?
  
• If people worked less, would they be more creative and active during their free time?
  
• Is real success achieved only by people who accomplish goals and solve problems on their own?
  
• Do the demands of others tend to make people more productive than they would be without such pressure?
  
• Do people make the greatest discoveries by exploring what is unfamiliar to them or by paying close attention to what seems familiar?
  

Superficially, it looks like they all have very little in common. However, these questions share an important characteristic: they’re all stupid.

Just kidding. The truth is they’re all really ambiguous. Words such as rules, happiness, work, creative, success, goals, problems, productive, and greatest are all incredibly subjective. They mean different things in different contexts.

This is great news! Why? Because you get to decide what context you would like to use. This really opens up the realm of which examples you can use. Pretty much any example you can think of will have something to do with some definition of success, or happiness, or whatever. In fact, let’s take a quick look at the official SAT essay scoring rubric.

An essay that earns a score of 6 (a perfect score)…

• Effectively and insightfully develops a point of view on the issue and demonstrates outstanding critical thinking, using clearly appropriate examples, reasons, and other evidence to support its position
  
• Is well organized and clearly focused, demonstrating clear coherence and smooth progression of ideas
  
• Exhibits skillful use of language, using a varied, accurate, and apt vocabulary
  
• Demonstrates meaningful variety in sentence structure
  
• Is free of most errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics
  

The very first bullet point is what we’re talking about. Recognizing and defining ambiguous terms reflects a high level of critical thinking. Starting your essay by providing your own concrete interpretation of the question will automatically set the stage for a thoughtful discussion. Take a look:

See how that works?

So do some legwork now. Think about some topics that you know a lot about. Think about books, movies, periods of history, current events, TV shows. That’s right; it’s totally OK to use movies and television shows. Just try to stick to ones that aren't obviously terrible (reality shows, anything to do with Twilight, etc.). Identify topics that you’re an expert on, something that you know more about than the average person. Practice writing a three-sentence summary. Think about themes that can be explored. Write those down, too. 

Come test day, you’ll see that some definition of a term in the question will align with at least one of the themes that you identify. 

Boom. You have a good example.

Lastly, you can see above that we only referenced only the essay questions, not the text that precedes them. You know the quotes that come before the questions that seems like they could be helpful? They’re not. They’re going to force you to interpret the questions in a particular way, which is bad. Ignore them. Focus on the question.

Questions? Let me have ‘em.

Til next time,

-Patrick

So I used to work for The Princeton Review. There was this guy in the marketing department who sat just on the other side of a very thin wall; I could hear him when he was on the phone with prospective clients. One of his favorite lines was:

“The SAT can make a question like, ‘What does 2 + 2 equal?’ seem difficult.”

I always wondered how the people on the other end of the line interpreted that statement. I could see it going one of two ways… 

or...

I suspect it was usually the first one. Someone good enough at math to think the second probably wouldn't be calling a test prep company.

But was his statement accurate? What does it really mean?

It’s true that the SAT can take relatively simple concepts and morph them into something more difficult, but characterizing it the way my coworker did is somewhat disingenuous. Let’s look at a more instructive example:

The thing about this question is not that it’s making a simple operation more complicated. The question preys upon an assumption our brains make when presented with a question like, “What is the value of x/y ?”

When we see this type of question, our brains think…

That’s the issue.

It’s impossible to find the value of x and y in the question above. There isn’t enough information. However, there is exactly enough information to find the value of x divided by y. Check it out:

So, one of the issues with SAT algebra is NOT that it makes “What does 2 + 2 equal?” difficult. It’s that the test is designed by educational psychologists who know exactly how a typical student’s brain works and take advantage of common (but mistaken) mental processes.

This is just one example of ETS’s machinations. There are dozens. When you work with us, you’ll learn about them all.

So drop us a line. We’ll help you beat this test.


Til next time,
-Patrick

Why are my palms sweaty? My palms don’t get sweaty. I’ve performed on stage in front of thousands of paying audience members and my palms never got sweaty. So why now? I shouldn’t be nervous. I don’t get nervous. I am unflappable. Especially when I’m doing something I’ve done a million times.  And yet, there is now a wet spot covering question 3 on section 2. Question 3!  That’s supposed to be easy!

Wait, let me check the answer key. I’m the teacher see, so I always have the answers.  And thus begins my tour through the stages of SAT grief.

Denial: It says “A”. There’s no way that it’s A. It can’t be A. I’ve done this problem 3 times and gotten C every time. No way.

Anger: This is absurd.  I haven’t been this mad since they cancelled Arrested Development and then brought it back and it wasn’t as good because they couldn’t get all the actors together at once.  Whoever wrote this test has some serious answering to do. And I promise you the answer won’t be A.

Bargaining: I promise I will never make my child take this, or any other test. She will grow up never knowing that tests exist. This is my solemn oath.

Depression: What am I doing with my life? If I can’t answer a simple #3 Math question then what gives me the right to teach anyone anything ever? I’m a sham. I should just check Craig’s List for a data entry clerk job. But I’d probably just mess that up too. Hey where’d that box of Oreos go? Oh right. Into my tummy.

Acceptance: Oh…wait. When it says three sided…ohhhhhhhhhhhh. I read it wrong. I can’t believe I read it wrong. It’s A. The answer is totally A.

Yes, I struggled through an easy Math question while taking the Assessment. Yes, I totally messed up my timing and had to rush through the rest of the section. Yes, I’m supposed to be the best at this.  So why am I admitting that I had a hard time with one of the easiest questions on the test?  Because even though I am a self-proclaimed SAT Superhero, I’m still a human being. I’m more like Batman than like Superman in that way. And this test is tricky. So tricky that it can trick even the most experienced of test takers.  Also I got it and most of the other questions right so it’s all good.

The point is this: I get it. I get why it’s so frustrating to know for a fact that you are good at Math. That you are good at English in school. That you have aced every test you’ve ever taken. And yet, THIS test. THIS one you can’t seem to wrap your mind around.  I know.  But I also know that struggling through one question doesn’t mean you can’t beat the test. I know that even the best math students I’ve ever worked with have gotten the easiest math questions wrong because they fell right into the traps set by ETS. 

It’s ok. The important thing, as always, is to learn from those mistakes.  I will never get a question like #3 wrong again. And neither will you.

...again.  You may (but probably don't) remember the last "big" overhaul of the SAT. Back in 2005, the College Board was facing a crisis. The schools that make up the University of California (UC) threatened to abandon the SAT as an admission requirement. I won't get into why, but -- long story short -- the schools decided that the SAT wasn't a reliable indicator of a student's abilities and eligibility to attend and better metrics were available.

This was huge. 

Since about 10% of US college applicants apply to the UC schools each year, the College Board took the threat of losing that many students (*cough* that much money *cough*) very seriously. They promised to create a better test, one that would be less coach-able and provide more meaningful insights into a college applicant's portfolio. No need to get rid of the SAT, UC. You have forced our hand and we will work very hard to create a brand new test. 

Big promises of sweeping changes were soon followed by a collective, "Seriously? Is that it?" All they did was take the SAT II Writing Test, which was an hour long and consisted of an essay and multiple-choice grammar questions, and duct taped it to the old test. Sure, they got rid of some of the more blatantly unfair questions such as analogies and quantitative comparisons (students struggled with the format of these as much as they did the actual content), but the test didn't change all that much. School noticed; that's why, even today, most don't care too much about the Writing section, even ten years later.

Fast forward to today. The SAT is feeling pressure from another direction. 2014 was the first year in which more students took the ACT than took the SAT. Is the ACT a better test? Who the heck knows? (Full disclosure: I kinda hate the ACT. Too many questions, not enough time.) 

But anyway, the threat of the ACT has forced the College Board to revise the SAT again. Now they're switching back to just Math and Verbal scores (though the Essay and some grammar questions are going to stick around). And they're promising big changes again. They're including more questions that stress critical thinking and 21st century skills, whatever that means. They're also promising to eliminate questions that focus on rote memorization (e.g., Sentence Completions) and focus on those that test critical thinking skills. You can read more about the specifics here. 

Needless to say, a lot of students and parents are freaking out. How do you prepare for a test that no one has seen? In perhaps an effort to address, this, The College Board swears the new test will NOT be something you can prepare for and that it will assess skills that take years to develop. Short-term prep will no longer be a factor.  

Right. Why, then, has the College Board partnered with Khan Academy to provide free SAT lessons? Is it a placebo?

Here's the deal: the College Board has known about the issues everyone has with the SAT for years, and has a history of only ever taking action to change the test when someone or something threatens its income statement. The "big changes" tend to be much less significant than they're made out to be, and the soul of the test will remain.

So, relax. We have read the 211 page press release (so you don't have to). When the time comes, we'll help you get ready for the "new" test. 


And if you're a sophomore or junior right now, just take the current test. Better the devil you know.

Assessment

In school, how does your school teacher evaluate your performance (i.e., what is your final grade based upon)?  Usually, it’s a combination of in-class discussion/participation, papers/essays, and free-response homework assignments. Your teacher will consider how much effort you put into the assignment and will usually add bonus points for creative or thoughtful interpretations of the text (e.g., the real antagonist in Hubert Selby Jr.’s Requiem for a Dream is hope, not Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is really about cyborgs).

On the SAT, you’re evaluated on whether you bubbled in the correct answers. Creative interpretation of the text and reading between the lines is strongly discouraged.  In fact, unless you can point to a specific portion of the passage that supports the answer you choose, the answer is definitely incorrect.  That’s right: every single correct answer in Critical Reading must have direct support from the passage.  Do you know what that means? NO READING BETWEEN THE LINES.  Instead, read the lines and only the lines.

But you respectfully object: “What if the question uses words such as imply, infer, or suggest?”  I reply, “First of all, excellent distinction between ‘like’ and ‘such as.’  Second, the way we use those words in everyday life differs greatly from how the writers of the test use them.  Let’s illustrate with a hypothetical scenario:

Scenario: Patrick enters the room.   His hair is wet.

Everyday Life Explanations

• It must be raining and he forgot an umbrella.
  
• He just took a shower. 
  
• He went for a swim recently.
  
• His hair was messy and he tried to fix it.
  
• Someone hit him with a water balloon.
  

SAT Explanation

• A liquid has come in contact with his hair and hasn't yet evaporated.
  

Do you see the difference? Using the wrong definitions of words such as imply, infer, conclude, or suggest is going to get you in trouble. You’re going to need to stick to simplistic interpretations of the text. You’re not a detective here. You only need to figure out what MUST be true based on the information in the passage.

Think about English class.  Your teacher assigns a book to read and gives you certain time frame in which to complete the assignment.  In class, you’ll each be encouraged to comment on the text and respond to the teacher’s questions.  If you didn’t understand what you read, you can ask questions, but the teacher is generally most concerned about whether you read the text and the level of level of effort you put into the assignment.

Our level of enjoyment of the text aside, this interaction generally works, as long as you’re willing to put in the work and look up the occasional vocabulary word.  You can grind out a solid grade in the course, and you’ll deserve it.  Your teacher is interested in developing your skills and rewarding diligence.

So why do you struggle so much with Critical Reading on the SAT?  Let’s look at a few important differences between reading for English class and reading for the SAT.

Vocabulary

When you’re reading for school, you can look up a word you don’t know.  You obviously don’t have that luxury on the SAT.  While vocabulary is most directly tested on the Sentence Completion format questions, you’ll find quite a few tough words in the Passage-Based portion of the test.  These words can be in the passage itself, in the questions, or the answer choices.  Fortunately, the SAT tends to use the same high-value words frequently.  Your first course of action is to learn these words.  You can find online flashcards for the 50 most frequently tested words in Critical Reading at <insert link here>. Remember, this list is just a start.  Once you have these words mastered, you can move on to a comprehensive list.

Time

When you’re reading for school, your teacher gives you a due date; you get to choose when you do the reading within that time limit.  You can choose to read when you’re feeling motivated.  Also, your teacher encourages careful, deliberate critical reading.  She wants you to take your time with the text. 

On the SAT, this isn’t the case.  You generally have seven to fifteen minutes for any passage and its corresponding questions.  Clearly, poring over the text isn’t always an option.  Students who naturally read slowly are at a distinct disadvantage here.  Additionally, the way most students approach the passage-based questions portion of the test plays a role.  Here is what most test takers do:

1.      Read the passage slowly and carefully, trying to absorb as much as possible so the questions are easier to answer.

2.      Read the question.

3.      Go back to the passage and quickly reread the lines that were referenced in the question (about 85%) of passage-based questions have line references.

4.      Go to the Answer Choices. Evaluate each one on how strongly it is supported by the text.  If more than one Answer Choice remains after this process, either skip the question or choose the answer that sounds best.

The problem with this approach is that it misallocates your (very limited) time.  You spend precious minutes reading the passage and evaluating the Answer Choices.  Unfortunately, you don’t earn points for doing those two things.  The only thing that earns you points is bubbling in the correct circles on your answer sheet.  Your time allocation strategy is a lot more important on the SAT than for school work.  We’ll talk more about this when we circle back to developing an effective strategy for passage-based questions.

Objectives

When your teacher gives you a reading assignment, she has a fairly clear set of objectives: 

1.      At the minimum, ensure your performance aligns with state educational performance standards.

2.      Help you to understand and appreciate the significance of important works of literature.

3.      Develop your ability to think critically and understand the art of writing on a deeper level.

On the SAT, however, the test writers’ objectives are very different:

1.      Design a test that is difficult enough that very few people will ace it, but not so difficult that everyone gets a terrible score.

2.      Create questions that feel – but aren’t actually – familiar.

3.      Create incorrect answer choices that aren’t too obviously incorrect.

4.      Create correct answer choices that aren’t too obviously correct.

Which of these two do you think has your educational interests in mind?  This difference alone should explain why you shouldn’t approach the SAT the same way you would a school test.  The test makers are NOT your teachers.

So why does this matter? 

First, you need to remember that you’re being evaluated on different criteria.  There is no reward for creative interpretations of the text, using outside knowledge, or getting inside the author’s head.