SAT Tips?

[shawshank62]

Im a junior this year, so this is my first attempt at the SAT. ill be taking it october 11. Im not planning any hardcore studying for it...just taking a practice test or 2. I just want to get an idea where i fall, and this will be the first of 3 times i plan on taking it this year. and 1 more time my senior year if im still not pleased with my results. can anyone offer up some tips for the first time?

[vass0922]

Don't guess
in SAT you marked off for each WRONG answer, but you're not marked off for unanswered questions.

in the ACT its best to guess answers, but not in SAT.

Other than that, I never took SAT's they weren't required for my school (in MI most schools use ACT)

[Mike]

I never bothered to take the SAT or ACT. (Well not officially at least. ) Just be sure to go in after getting a good night's rest, eat breakfast, and have an open mind.

Just do a practice test or two. You never know what will be thrown on the SAT anyway.

[chipbgt]

http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/college/sat.asp

some highlights:

Ascending order of difficulty

The SAT questions become more difficult as you go through each section. If you are nearing the end of a section and you can not figure out the last few questions, your time will be better spent to review the questions in the beginning and middle of the section. Keep in mind that all the questions are weighted the same. Furthermore, a few blank answers will not make a material impact on your score.

Avoid Random Guessing in the Multiple Choice Sections

The SAT's scoring formula has been "tweaked" to penalize you for incorrect answers. As a result, you will not be aided by random guessing. If you have no idea what the correct answer is to a question, we suggest that you simply skip it and move on. The only exception to this is the problem solving without multiple choice. There is no clue for guesses in this section, so it will behoove you to write down a number for each question.

It will be advantageous for you to guess, however, when you can eliminate at least one incorrect answer. Usually you will be able to identify at least one choice that is clearly wrong. Eliminating even one incorrect choice will improve your odds.



from my understanding most people do better the more they take it, so keep trying if your not happy. Usually colleges will accept your highest combined score.

oh, and spell your name right

[Gomer]

remember the 3 R's

relax relax relax.

Get all wound up about it and it will only hurt your score.

Eat a good meal, do something fun the night before.

Never panic.

Run through a practice test (an entire test if possible) just to get a taste of what they'll be serving.

[WingWizard]

Here's another tip...

Bring a sweater or something. When I went, I somehow got put in a big gym which was detached from the main part of the school i was taking it at. It was probably around 50 degrees in there, and I spent the entire time trying not to chatter!

[daveleau]

Practice tests. Take plenty of practice tests from previous years to get a feel for how the questions are asked. This will be more valuable than anything else. With enough practice, you can raise your score drastically because you'll know how to guess a lot better on the items you aren't sure of.

[Martoch]

Remember, your FIRST instinct is usually correct...that was always my biggest problem taking tests, I would look over the test and change answers too much...most of them were right in the first place.

[super gerbil]

drink coffee

[Theophylact]

It will be advantageous for you to guess, however, when you can eliminate at least one incorrect answer. Usually you will be able to identify at least one choice that is clearly wrong. Eliminating even one incorrect choice will improve your odds.

Your score is based on the number of right answers minus one-fourth the number of wrong answers. If you can eliminate one of the five choices, guessing is a break-even proposition. If you can eliminate two as being obviously wrong, guess: you'll be ahead of the game.