Getting Ready, Set, and Going: Preparing for the SAT

Flying with the Early Bird: A Long-Range Plan

Okay, so you're the type of person who buys summer clothes in December.  To put it another way, you're not in diapers, but the test isn't coming up within the next year.  Congratulations.  Check out  the following long-range SAT prep plan:

• Sign up for challenging course in school. If you're high school, eschew (reject) courses like "The Poetry of Greeting Cards" and "Arithmetic Is Your Friend." Go for subjects that stretch your mind. Specifically, stick it out with math at least through Algebra II.  If high school is in your rearview mirror, check out extension or enrichment adult-ed courses.
• If possible, take a vocabulary-rich course. When I say a good vocabulary is key to SAT success, I'm not indulging in hyperbole (exaggeration).  If your school offers classes with a lot of reading, go for them.  Some schools even have whole courses devoted to vocabulary (mine has a course in Greek and Latin roots).  These classes may not be as exciting as "Cultural Interpretations of MTV)," but they pay off.
• Get into the habit of reading. Cereal boxes, Internet pop-up balloons, and 1,000-page novels - they're all good, though they're not all equal.  The more you read, and the more difficult the material you read, the more your reading comprehension improves.
• Do a daily crossword puzzle in your newspaper or check out Crossword Puzzle Challenges for Dummies by Patrick Berry (Wiley).  I know.  Crossword puzzles seem like a good way to become a candidate for Nerds Anonymous.  But you can discover a lot by pondering (thinking deeply about) language on a daily basis.  Plus, some people (me, for example) actually enjoy crossword puzzles.  But then I never claimed to be anything other than a nerd.
• Write letters to the editor. The editor of anything.  Find a point of view and start sending off your prose - to the school or local paper, to national magazines, to radio, or television stations.  The SAT essay calls upon you to make a case for your point of view.  The more you get used to creating a written argument, the easier the essay will be.  As a side benefit, you may have a civic impact.
• Keep your math notebooks. Resist the urge to burn your geometry text the minute the last class is over.  Keep your math notebooks and folders of homework papers.  From time to time, go over the important concepts.  The notebook may evoke (call to mind) the context in which you studied right triangles or square roots.  For example, if you see a stain next to an explanation of factoring, it may take you back to that immortal day when Herbie threw a spitball at you while the teacher was working out a factoring problem on the board.  If you're mentally back in the class, you may find that you remember more of the mathematical explanation the teacher gave. 
• Familiarize the structure of each type of SAT question. When SAT-day dawns, you shouldn't be facing any surprises.  Be sure that you're familiar with the directions for each section so that you don't have to waste time reading them during the actual exam.
• Take the PSAT/NMSQT. This "mini-SAT" gives you a chance to experience test conditions.  It may also open the door to a pretty snazzy scholarship, the National Merit.

As the SAT approaches, you long-range planners can relax.  You're in a fine position to condescend (act superior) to all the goof-offs who didn't even begin to think about the exam until junior year in high school. (What? You're one of those goof-offs?  Never fear.  I offer some hope, which you can find in the next section.)

Hitting the Golden Mean: A Medium-Range Plan

In this category you're conscientious but not obsessive.  You have a bit less than a year before SAT-day (in high school terms, you're a junior and you have  a reasonable amount of time to devote to SAT prep. You're in fine shape, though you may have to take some ribbing from the "I've got a career plan even though I'm not old enough for working papers" types.  Here's your strategy:

• Do all you can to extract maximum vocabulary growth from your last school year before the SAT. Make friends with words. Listen to talk radio (the stations with on-air fundraisers, not the drive-by call-in shows that feature a hot discussion of the Yankees chances for a three-peat) or watch sophisticated talk shows on television (not the shows that feature oatmeal addicts and the men and women who love them).  Take some thick books out of the library and use them for more than a missile to hurl at your annoying little sister.  Peruse (read thoroughly, scrutinize) the newspaper every day, preferably one that stays away from extensive coverage of celebrity botox.
• Work on your writing. If your school offers an elective in nonfiction writing, go for it.  Or, volunteer to write for the school newspaper.  Write letters to the editor (see a fuller explanation in "Flying with the Early Bird: A Long-Range Plan" in the above section).  Become comfortable with the sort of writing that makes a case for a particular point of view, because that's why you have to do on the SAT.
• Get a math study-buddy. I'm not talking about a tutor.  Yes, you can find a lot from someone who dreams quadratic equations.  But you can also profit form studying with someone who is on your own level of ability.  As the two of you work together, solving problems and doping out formulas, you can pound the knowledge firmly into your brain. All teachers know that you learn best what you have to explain to someone else.  Plus, a study-buddy probably can explain what he or she knows in different way.  If the teacher's explanation didn't do it for you, your friend's may.
• Resurrect your Algebra II book or borrow one from a friendly math teacher. Look through the chapters that made you tear your hair out the first time you went through the book.  Refresh your memory with a sample problem or two.
• Look through the SAT For Dummies, 8th Edition.  Read the explanations of each type of question.  Be sure that you know the directions and format by heart.
• Take the PSAT/NMSQT. You can't pass up a chance of experience the exam in its native habitat (a testing center), even if the test is shorter than the real SAT.

If you follow this plan, you Golden Meaners should be in fine shape for the SAT.  (I refer to the ancient Greek ideal, the Golden Mean, also known as the perfect middle.  If this expression makes you say, "It's all Greek to Me," you may want to read some Greek mythology.  References to those stories show up all the time in the SAT.)

Controlling the Panic: A Short-Range Plan

The SAT is next month or (gulp!) next week.  Not ideal, but not hopeless either.  Use the following plan to get you through alive:

• Do one complete practice exam.  Yes, I know.  Nearly four good hours gone forever.  But you should hit one exam, just so you know what the SAT experience is like.
• Work on at least some of the practice questions for all your trouble spots. Obviously, the more practice the better, but even a little can go a long way in SAT prep.
• Clear the deck of all unnecessary activity so you can study as much as possible. I don't recommend that you skip your sister's wedding (or your physics homework), but if you can put something off, do so.  Use the extra time to hit a few more practice questions.

Warning: I teach seniors, and every year I see at least a couple of students put themselves in danger of failing English 12 because they're spending all their homework time on SAT prep.  Bad idea.  Yes, you want to send good scores to the colleges of your choice, but you also want to send a decent high school transcript.  Prepare for the test, but do your homework too.

Snoozing Through the Night Before

No matter what, don't study on SAT-day minus one.  The only thing that last-minute studying does is make your more nervous.  What happens is simple: The closer you get to test day, the more you take notice of the stuff you don't know.  On the eve of the test, every unfamiliar vocabulary word is outlined in neon, as is every obscure (not well known, hidden) math formula.  And every time you find something that you didn't know - or forget something that you did know at one time - your heart beats a little faster.  Panic doesn't equal a good night's sleep, and eight solid hours of snoozing is the best possible prep for three plus hours of multiple-choice questions.

Also, resist the urge to call your friends who are also taking the test.  Chances are they're nervous  The old saying, "Misery loves company," definitely applies to the SAT.  Instead place everything you need on The Morning in one spot, ready and waiting for use.  Lay out some comfortable clothes, preferably layers,  If the test room is too cold, you want to be able to add a sweater.  If it's too hot, you may find removing a jacket or sweater helpful without getting arrested for indecent exposure.

After you set up everything for SAT-day, do something that's fun...but not too much fun.  Don't hit the clubs or party down with your friends.  Find an activity that eases you through the last couple of pre-SAT waking hours.  Go to sleep at a reasonable hour (alarm clock set) and dream of little, penciled ovals patting you gently on the shoulder.