“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