WINTER BLIZZARD BLOG: JANUARY 4, 2018
ATTENTION High School Juniors! Top Five Things you Should Do To Prepare For The March 2018 SAT!
(First: Get Out Of Bed – 14 inches of snow does not give you permission to sleep all day!)
Next:
- Hook up your PSAT scores to Khan Academy.The College Board is in partnership with Khan Academy to produce test prep materials that will help you understand your error patterns. Sal Khan is a math guy, so I strongly feel that Khan Academy is better suited to prep for math, but I would still hook up all scores since this site is constantly evolving.
- Center Your Practice On the Real Tests. The big test prep companies do an excellent job with strategy, but they cannot mimic the actual tests. To prepare for the SAT correctly, you must practice with College Board tests #5 (May 2016 exam), #6 (April 2016 exam), and #7 (October 2016 exam) and #8 (January 2017 exam). All authentic tests can be found on the College Board website. I also have the April 2017, which can not be found online. Email me if you want me to send to you.
- Understand your Error Patterns and Use the Best SAT Resources to Practice.
MY RECOMMENDATIONS:
Erika Meltzer: The Critical Reader for SAT Reading and Writing.
Nielson Phu: The College Panda for SAT Writing and Math
Mike McClenathan: Pwn the SAT for All Things SAT Math.
https://pwntestprep.com/wp/#.WMToDhiZOb8
There are also sites for information and resources beyond the “Big Three” – Kaplan, Princeton Review, and Revolution. These include Compass, Powerscore, and Applerouth Tutoring. They provide free resources, and their blogs are often authentic and insightful.
http://www.powerscore.com/sat/
https://www.applerouth.com/services/test-prep/
Also: Testive and Summit Education Group have some impressive infographics! And, certainly, there are many other large tutoring companies that are very generous with their resources.
- Know Grammar Rules: The Writing Component of the SAT is not difficult if you understand usage and mechanics. Unfortunately, most students don’t know grammar. Practicing grammar WILL give you a huge bump up in your score. And, this is not a waste of time because colleges expect students to know the basic grammar rules anyway! So get going. My suggestion would be to start with The College Panda (see website above and The Critical Reader. Both have some excellent FREE practice right on their websites.)
- Third Time’s a Charm! Students always ask me: How many times should I take the Test? In my experience, the third time’s a charm. (It is sort of like a Goldilocks thing!) The first test is the “practice” test. The second test is for strategy practice to correct error patterns. And the final test culminates in the strongest scores based on additional practice to get the most difficult questions correct. It is just right!
Having said that, if you score really well either in the math or reading/writing on an earlier test — you can always “super score” the exam. This means that colleges will take your best verbal and best math scores into consideration for college admissions — it doesn’t have to be from one test.
The most important thing every student should know is that test prep is a process. To get top scores, you must practice with a deliberate understanding of your mistakes and how to correct them.
Do it now and get it done before the end of Junior Year. You will be in a stronger position to determine your college list and can focus on the college essay and application process going into the summer and fall of 2018!
Below is an example of one of my student’s SAT scores over the course of three tests. She increased her score 150 points, but it took over six months of practice and perseverance!
For more information on one-on-one and small group classes, contact me at eileenstuddert@gmail.com or MY MOBILE #203-313-2739. Also: Check out my website: www.studdertcollegeprep.com for free resources on anything from the differences between the SAT and ACT to my infographic on Junior Planning.
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