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Test/Examinations:
SAT
The purpose of the SAT is to predict how well you will do
in college, yet many people believe it doesn't do a good
job. Rather, it tests your familiarity with specific pieces
of information you (should have) learned in high school
as well as your test taking skills.
The SAT does not test your intelligence,
but it does test how well you have prepared. Practice and
preparation can help you perform at a level consistent with
your true abilities.
Preparation for the SAT can make big differences in your
scores- and where you go to University.
Strategies for the SAT
Reading challenging literary classics,
paying attention in your math classes, and taking challenging
courses can improve your SAT scores. When you get closer
to actually taking your SAT's, the following four strategies
can make a big difference in your scores.
Increase Your SAT Vocabulary
- Refresh Your Math Skills
- Learn and Use SAT Taking Strategies
- Practice on Real SAT's
Increasing Your SAT Vocabulary
Almost half of the questions on the SAT test
your vocabulary and comprehension in some form. Correspondingly,
there is no quicker way to improve your SAT scores than
to increase your SAT vocabulary.
Refreshing Your Math Skills
The other half of the SAT tests your math
skills, ranging from Arithmetic through Geometry and Algebra
II. Although it is unlikely that in the coming days before
you take your SAT's you will substantially expand your knowledge
of Math, you can ensure than you retain and build on the
math skills you already have. The key is to focus your efforts.
You have only so much time and there is a lot of math.
Learning and Using SAT Test Taking Strategies
Test taking strategies help you transform
what you already know into higher SAT scores. Test strategies
teach you critical thinking skills so you can analyze a
problem and determine the right answer. Test strategies
enable you to think about and solve a question so that you
get a solution much faster without taking unnecessary time.
Practicing on Past SAT's
Your final step is to practice what you have
learned, and nothing is better than practicing on real SAT's.
Although preparatory books or software you buy may have
approximations, you will learn the most by working with
the real thing. You can obtain a copy of a full SAT exam
from your high school counselor or order "10 Real SAT's"
directly from College Board (the people who make the SAT).
SAT Test Material:
Verbal:
- Analogies (19 questions)
- Sentence completion
(19 questions)
- Critical reading (40
questions)
Notabilia Teaches Students
to:
- Increase your knowledge of the meaning
of words
- Increase your ability to see a
relationship in a pair of words
- Learn the ability to recognize
a similar or parallel relationship
Math:
- Five-choice multiple-choice (35 questions)
- Four-choice comparison (15 questions that
emphasizes the concepts of equalities, inequalities, and
estimation)
- Student -produced response (10 questions
that have no answer choices provided)
Notabilia Teaches Students:
Arithmetic:Application
problems involving simple additions, subtractions, multiplications,
and divisions; percent; data interpretation (including mean,
median, mode); odd and even numbers; prime numbers; divisibility.
Algebra: Negative numbers;
substitutions; simplifying algebraic expressions; solving
word problems; simple factoring; linear equations; inequalities;
positive integer exponents; roots of numbers; sequences.
Geometry: Area and perimeter
of a polygon; area and circumference of a circle; volume
of a box, cube, cylinder; Pythagorean Theorem and special
properties of isosceles, equilateral, and right angles;
30-60-90 and 45-45-90 triangles; properties of parallel
and perpendicular lines; simple coordinate geometry; slope;
similarity; geometric visualization.
Other: Logical reasoning;
newly defined symbols that are based on commonly used symbols
and operations; probability and counting.
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