The Big Tests: How Should You Prepare for the SAT

Buy this book »

Test developers know that the score on a given test is based on three factors. First, how much do you know about the subject matter being tested? If a question requires a certain kind of calculation, you won’t get it right if you don’t know how to do it. The second factor deals with test-taking skills—how comfortable are you taking such tests in general, and how familiar are you with the construction of the test? And finally, and most disconcerting, each test score has a random component—the luck of the draw—on the day of the test. No exam can exhaustively test your knowledge. It can only sample it at a certain moment. The specific questions on a given test may or may not reflect your broader knowledge well. And you might not be feeling your best that day. There is no box to check if you have the flu, though you can cancel your scores within a few days of taking the test.

If you look at a SAT score report, it shows a score for each part, as well as a “score range.” A math score of 650, for example, has a score range from 620 to 680. By reporting a score range, the College Board is suggesting that if you took different editions of the test within a short period of time, your performance might vary a bit but would probably fall within this 60-point spread. This variation would occur independent of any attempts to improve your score through studying or familiarizing yourself with the format of the test. Colleges ignore the score range and count the score itself, just as students do.

Good preparation for the SAT should focus on both subject matter and test-taking skills. You need to be motivated. You also need enough time to absorb the lessons, and you need to study relatively close to the date of the test. It doesn’t pay to study over Christmas and take the test in March. The shorter the prep program, the greater its emphasis on test-taking skills, since subject matter preparation generally takes longer. Both approaches can be helpful, however. If you don’t have a rich vocabulary, for example, it can be hard to answer questions that require knowing the meaning of unfamiliar words. Building a vocabulary is an important part of SAT preparation, although the English language has far too many words to learn them all. Preparation programs try to ensure that students master the words that most commonly appear on the tests. The Kaplan approach, for example, has always taught the Latin and Greek roots of many English words.

Similarly, knowing simple mathematical formulas may be critical to solving some of the math problems. SAT preparation courses focus on the basic math concepts that test takers are assumed to have mastered. This can be especially helpful for students without recent experience with them. With the introduction of the writing section, practice on writing and grammar is also included.

But for many good students with strong verbal, math, and writing skills, the most valuable part of SAT preparation deals with test-taking skills. Practicing tests under timed conditions can be important, as is learning how to approach various questions. Questions tend to fall into predictable categories and are arranged in increasing level of difficulty. In addition, the test developers also know the kinds of answers that carelessness produces. You can be sure to find some easy wrong answers among the multiple choice options. Identifying these repeated, careless errors can raise scores significantly just by itself.