SAT Prep: Finding Your Personal Approach
What? You can’t read an article about studying for your SATs without at least wondering what the author got. This was back in the old days, when cavemen rode dinosaurs and the SAT I was graded on a 1600-point scale. The writing section was an SAT II back then, on which your correspondent got a perfect 800, thus more than qualifying him to pen a few words on the matter.
So what’s the best way to prepare for the SAT? Take out a Number 2 pencil and let’s begin:
(A) A costly prepackaged course
(B) Private instructor
(C) Self-preparation
(D) Prayer to Tiamat, the fearsome Babylonian goddess of chaos
(E) None of the above
Pencils down! The correct answer is E. There is no one best way to study for the SAT, and anyone promising you otherwise is trying to make a quick buck. Specifically, your quick buck.
Surely you’ve gotten those advertisements in the mail telling you to sign up for courses or classes. They’ve got slick brochures and handouts with stock photos of happy students boasting impressive scores. Don’t the models look happy? But who’s to say a structured course is right for you? If you feel you need that kind of structure, if you need uniform instruction, by all means write the check and sign up. If you’re the type who nodded off during the safety video in drivers’ ed, this might not be the best use of your time and money.
Perhaps someone in your area offers more personalized instruction-a private tutor, perhaps a teacher looking to make a little side cash. An individualized instructor will give you structure and experience while also working on your specific strengths and weaknesses. This approach might work for a student who understands their academic situation well enough but still needs guidance, and can work into a nice little coach-student relationship.
Or maybe the best way for you is to tough it out on your own. If you’re a good, self-reliant student (the type colleges want anyway, right?), you might be able to be your own tutor. Hop down to your local bookstore or library and pick up one of those books that prints previous years’ real SATs. (Such a thing will be handy no matter what route you take, so it won’t be wasted effort in any case.) Take a few and see how you’re doing. Are you able to recognize any patterns? Seeing what sort of thing you need to work on? If you are, you’re doing a good job not only learning, but teaching!
You see, here’s the dirty little secret: no matter what it may say on the cover of the test booklet, SATs are not designed to test your verbal or mathematical abilities. They are designed to test your ability to take the SATs. This is of course a valuable and important skill that you will use throughout your life, so get it right now!
Sarcasm aside (deduct 10 points if you missed it), figuring out how a specific and specialized system works and how to approach it is a useful life tool. And it’ll help make or break your score. So as you work, don’t merely understand the principles involved in answering the questions, but try to ‘see through’ the test as well. Can you tell when the test is offering trick questions to trip you up? Are you able to figure out when it’s a good idea to guess and when you should give up and move on? Things like that.
Of course, maybe understanding the test can only get you so far, and maybe it’s time to brush up on good old-fashioned book-learnin’. But don’t feel you need to rush to a specialized SAT source right off the bat. For instance, if you’re gifted with grammar but the math marks just don’t measure up, maybe it’s time to talk with your math teacher. Get back to basics.
In short-the cottage industry that’s sprung up over this one test is considerable. But only you can figure out the best way to prepare for the one student you’re concerned about-you! Between a firm foundation of the subject matter and a keen insight into the structure (and associated tricks!) of the test, you’re sure to get an SAT score Mom will be proud to put on the refrigerator.
Oh, and one more tip. Usually on the math section there was this one problem where they showed you, like, a million triangles all drawn on top of each other and said “how many triangles?”âÂ?¦ well, here’s the trick on that. Count the shapes, then add one. There was always one hiding that I could never find. Other than that, you’re on your own. Good luck!
