SAT questions..........,?

Your friend is indeed wrong on the first point. The "general" SAT test is the SAT Reasoning Test, and it has three main categories: English (called "Critical Reading"), Math, and Writing Skills. When you take the SAT Reasoning Test, you'll have to do ten sections, where each section concerns one category. So, for example, you might have three sections for Critical Reading, three sections for Writing (including one Essay section), and four sections for Math. As such, when you get your results back, you'll see three separate subscores (out of 800) for each category. Your cumulative score is the sum of these subscores (out of 2400 total).

Even though the SAT requires you to take all three categories, some colleges will only look at the Critical Reading and Math categories. This might be what your friend was talking about. However, in my experience, most colleges will look at all three scores unless they say otherwise.

The "optional" SAT tests are the SAT Subject Tests (also sometimes called the SAT 2 tests). For general admittance to a college, you don't have to take them. However, if you plan to apply to a specific department (e.g. you want to apply to the Engineering Department of University X), then you may be required to take one or more SAT Subject Tests as well (for Engineering, this usually means either Math I or Math II and one of the hard sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics)). Even if you're not required to take a SAT Subject Test, you still can, and that may indeed look a bit more impressive on your application.

As for books, just do any you can get your hands on. The most popular are usually CollegeBoard, The Princeton Review, Barron's, and Kaplan. I can't give any advice about tutors because I never used them myself and never saw the point of paying for something like that anyway.

Hi Paige,

The SAT Reasoning Test (formerly called the SAT I) has three sections: Math, Critical Reading, and Writing. Sometimes the Critical Reading and Writing sections are referred to as the "verbal" portions of the test, because they cover language arts. When take the SAT, you will take all three sections.

About a quarter of colleges just use Reading and Math scores for admission, an outdated policy from when the test just had those two sections prior to 2005. The majority of schools use all three sections when determining whether an applicant will gain admission.

The SAT Subject Tests are required by some schools. Highly selective colleges, like those in the Ivy League, tend to have this requirement while less competitive schools do not. To find out if your prospective college requires them, visit their website. A great score on an SAT Subject Test will definitely look good on an application, even if it is not required, but a mediocre score will not. If you do not have to take an SAT Subject Test, you should really evaluate whether this is a good decision for you. I'd recommend taking a practice test and seeing how you score before making this decision.

As for the best books, I am a fan of PowerScore books---I know the author quite well ;). You can preview free chapters here: http://www.powerscore.com/sat/help/content_chapter... But there are many SAT prep books written by test prep companies. You can buy books that cover all three subject areas (math, reading, and writing), or books that cover each section separately and in more depth. Look for books that explain the content tested (such as right triangles) and then show you how that content may appear on the SAT. Make sure they have a lot of practice questions after each content section so that you can master each topic.

When choosing a course, I highly suggest that you look for all of the following when making your selection:

1. Instructor Qualifications: Have the instructors taken a REAL SAT (rather than a simulated test in their center)? Did they achieve a score that reflects their knowledge of the test?

2. Real Practice Tests: Does the program use real practice tests or simulated tests that they wrote? Many companies will give you an extremely difficult simulated test for your first practice test and a really easy simulated test for your last practice test to create false score increases. You should only be practicing with REAL test questions in both the practice tests and homework.

3. Assistance outside of the course: Make sure that the program you chooses offers you some sort of assistance with homework and review. You should be able to contact an instructor after-hours to have your questions answered.

4. A competitive price per hour: Rather than compare the cost of different courses, compare the cost per hour. You can find many companies with classes under $700, but some have as few as 12 hours of class time.

You could make a table with all of your questions and then visit the websites of all of the courses your are considering to complete it. It's better to do this on your own than to rely on a company's comparison chart to their competitors.

Another good way to check them all out is to pull up the reviews of their books on Amazon.

I hope that helps!

Vicki

IDK I WAS WONDERING THE SAME THING UGGGGHHHH I HATE SATS