Breaking Down the SAT

Contrary to popular belief, the SAT is not the single most important moment of a high school student's academic career. Perfect SAT scores will not get a "D" student into Harvard, and weak SAT results will not keep a valedictorian out of college altogether. While this may be reassuring to many students and parents, the truth is that SAT scores remain a significant component of the college admissions process at nearly all schools, so strong SAT results, along with academic achievement and extracurricular excellence, can often help a student gain admission to the college of his/her choice. Despite the importance of SAT scores, many students take the test without ever preparing or knowing what to expect, which can be disadvantageous given the increasingly competitive nature of college admissions. So what should students expect from the SAT?

Administered by The College Board, the SAT is designed to assess a student's capability for logical reasoning. The current SAT, which was revised to its current state in 2005, tests students in critical reading, writing, and mathematics. Students receive a scaled score between 200-800 (with 800 as the highest score), for each of those three sections. Combining the three section scores provides a cumulative SAT score, making a 2400 the "perfect score" on the test, although students can often still miss a question or two and receive a 2400. The national averages for the SAT vary slightly from year to year, but they tend to hover around 500 for each section, making an "average" cumulative score around 1500.

While the SAT incorporates certain strategies that may be counter-intuitive to some students, its subject matter is relatively straightforward for most high schoolers. The mathematics test only covers algebra and geometry topics, so unlike the ACT, no experience with trigonometry or precalculus is required to score well. On the critical reading test, passages are designed to be at or slightly below a standard high school reading level. And finally, although the writing test includes a timed essay, its other questions focus only on common grammatical errors while ignoring difficult areas such as punctuation and conventional expressions. In short, most high school juniors and seniors are well equipped for the SAT in terms of the subject matter they have studied in school.

Of course, if the SAT were that simple, many students would receive 2400s. Students often struggle with the SAT due to the test's timing, scoring, and question style. At three hours and forty-five minutes over ten separate sections, the SAT can make for a grueling Saturday morning, especially for students who have not practiced taking such a long test. It can be very difficult for an inexperienced student to maintain proper pacing, stamina, and focus over the span of nearly four hours, making SAT preparation a wise investment for students. The test's scoring can also make things difficult for some students since incorrect answers deduct a fraction of a point from each section's overall score. As such, leaving questions blank can sometimes be advantageous, while other situations may necessitate educated guessing. Students who are unfamiliar with how the test is scored will be at a competitive disadvantage since they will not know when it is best to leave a question blank versus guessing. Furthermore, the SAT often includes confusing phrasing into its questions, requiring careful reading and a consistent approach. Students can also take many shortcuts on the SAT, particularly on the mathematics test, but they usually not obvious to students who are not already familiar with them.

For these reasons, preparing for the SAT ahead of time by reviewing subject matter and taking practice tests can be an invaluable way to cut down on anxiety and improve test performance. While the SAT is stressful, it is manageable as long as students realize what they are being tested on. Strong SAT scores can make the difference between acceptance and rejection at many colleges, and can also help students win scholarship money at many institutions. So although the stakes are high, a good performance on the SAT can be an extremely rewarding accomplishment. If students prepare for the SAT by planning to approach the test in a logical and organized fashion, they typically score well and enter the college admissions process with confidence.

This article is written & published on behalf of Georgetown Learning Centers. GLC provides academic tutoring & SAT Prep Courses in Northern Virginia (Mclean, Great Falls) and Charlottesville. For more details, please visit www.learnglc.com.