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.