The directions on the SAT are so important that you should know them inside and out before you arrive for the test. If you have to read the directions on test day, you are wasting valuable time. Learn what else you should know before the test day to help build your raw score.
Podcast Video [3:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Standard Podcast [3:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadSAT Directions (transcript)
The topic in particular right now is going to be the directions. There is not a whole lot to say about directions other than that when you go into the SAT, and they say, “You may now begin”, and you then have 25 minutes to complete 20 questions, you really should not be wasting your time reading the directions. That does not mean that the directions are not important, what it means is that you should really know what the directions are and what’s expected of you before you even walk into the test on test day.
My suggestion to students is this: before you get to SAT day, or before you even get to SAT preparation, you should go to your high school guidance office, the public library, or online, and get an SAT preparation booklet. You should look at a sample SAT test, and really take a moment or two to read the directions of each section. Look at the sample problems that they post for you to see exactly what you are supposed to do.
You should look at the formula block that comes before the math sections, and really know each one of the formulas very well before you go into the SAT. If you find yourself on a SAT test for example on the math, having to flip back and look at the different formulas on 30/60/90 triangles, 45/45/90 triangles, the Pythagorean theorem, stuff like that, it’s really a waste of time, and it’s only going to slow you down. Now obviously if you are doing the test and you have forgotten something, you should flip back in order to get the answer. You shouldn’t say, “Oh I can’t. I’m not allowed to do this, I need to keep moving.†No. You should definitely look back and get yourself the information you need. However, what I am saying is that you should really go in to the test knowing that stuff cold.
The other thing that I think you should do before you actually get to the SAT is walk through bubbling in your name and your school code, and the kind of information that they are going to ask you to fill in on test day. I think if you have sort of done that once, when you get there on test day, it’s not going to seem as weird and foreign, and you are not going to have this outer body experience of “This whole thing just seems weird to me.â€. You are going to know exactly what to expect, what kind of information you need, “Do I need my social security number? Do I need to know my home address? Do I need to know my zip code?â€, stuff like that. Figure it out before you get there, because if you don’t, you can get rattled before the test even starts. And you really want to minimize that opportunity.
Hopefully, if you take the time now to go and figure out what the directions are, to look at the math formula block, figure out what’s expected of you, and to maybe practice once filling in an answer sheet with your name and all the relevant information, I think you are going to have a much better experience on test day, and that will hopefully help you maximize your score.
Karl Schellscheidt
ePrep, Inc.
http://blog.eprep.com
July 27th, 2006 at 7:37 pm
I would just add to your video that not only does knowing the SAT directions avoid the negative affect of being unnecessarily frazzled, but it also creates a positive mood of being in control, familiarity, and having the SAT experience unfold as you have already visualized it. Thus, your advice not only avoids unproductive anxiety & distraction, but generates feelings of calmness & focus.
July 29th, 2006 at 8:41 pm
Dear Peter,
Thanks for the comment. I agree 100%. Not only will following my advice help a student avoid getting rattled before test, it may actually create a positive mindset that is likely to carry over into the test itself. If I ever re-shoot the video I will be sure to add your thoughts.
August 11th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Karl,
hee hee hee..u must know me..cuz i left several comments for ur posts.
and i want to ask u that how the SAT exam graded?? i mean the reading section, writing and Math. if i leave blank, what will happen? and if i answer it wrong or right, do i still get the points for the questions that i get it right? or they take the points on the questions that i get wrong…
August 12th, 2007 at 7:55 am
wenbo zhang,
You should probably check out the College Board’s Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) page on scoring. After you have hacked around a bit, let me know if you have any follow-up questions. The relevant link is below:
http://www.collegeboard.com/highered/ra/sat/sat_scorefaq.html
August 12th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Karl:
i am sorry. i checked the website and read everything..but i am not really understand it. can u explain to me that…should i try to answer all the questions or as much as i can correctly? ( not to care too much about how much time i have?
anyway, i just don’t get it whether they take away the points on the questions that i answer it wrong..
thank u
August 13th, 2007 at 11:04 am
wenbo zhang,
I will be traveling most of the day today. I will send you a note tomorrow morning.
August 17th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
wenbo zhang,
Let’s use math as an example to understand SAT scoring. You will receive two SAT scores: a raw score and a scaled score. Although the scaled score is the one that colleges will consider, we need to start this process by understanding the raw score.
There are 54 math questions on a full SAT and each of the 54 math questions is worth one point. Thus, your maximum raw score for math is 54. (To get a 54, you would need to answer each question correctly.)
When you begin your first math section, your raw score is zero. Each time you answer a question correctly, you pick up one raw score point. Each time your skip a question, your raw score remains unchanged (i.e., you do not lose a fraction of a point, but you do not gain a precious point either). Each time you answer a question incorrectly, you lose 0.25 (except in the free response section where there is no penalty for wrong answers).
Let’s look at a few examples:
40 correct, 8 skipped, and 6 wrong would result in a raw score of 38.
40 correct, 14 skipped, and 0 wrong would result in a raw score of 40.
50 correct, 0 skipped, and 4 wrong would result in a raw score of 49.
8 correct, 14 skipped, and 32 wrong would result in a raw score of 0.
0 correct, 6 skipped, and 48 wrong would result in a raw score of -12.
(Note: All raw scores with fractional parts are rounded, as appropriate. Thus, 32.25 = 32, 32.5 = 33, and 32.75 = 33.)
After your final math raw score is calculated, it gets converted to the 200-800 scale. The math raw score – scaled score conversion typically looks something like this:
54 – 800
53 – 790
52 – 770
51 – 760
.
.
.
2 – 210
1 – 200
0 – 200
-1 – 200
-2 – 200
.
.
.
I hope this helps.