You Are The President Of You

Many of you will be taking the SAT exam this Saturday or perhaps in March, May or June of this year. Barack Obama may have inspired you but Barack Obama cannot take the test for you. Barack Obama has already been to college and he has much more pressing issues to deal with.The President cannot turn a lazy student into a diligent scholar. He will not study for you, help you write your college applications or even give you a recommendation. Phrases such as "Change" and "Yes We Can" are hollow unless each and everyone one of you decide to take personal responsibility for your actions. Only then will you be able to achieve your goals, not because President Obama scatters some magic "pixie dust" over your soul, but because you have looked in the mirror and shouted, "I am the President of me!"

How Do You Know You Are Ready?

What is adequate preparation for the first SAT? Can it be measured in study hours? Major test prep companies offer approximately 15-20 hours of in class instruction plus homework and practice tests. What about the student who prefers to study at home? Or the student that has a private tutor? How much out of class study time should that student commit to? Each student is different, but from my experience a student is adequately prepared if:

• he or she starts preparing 10-12 weeks prior to test day
• he or she studies alone for at least 2 hours per week not including time with a tutor
• he or she completes 4 full length practice exams

By my math. a student needs to put in 30 to 36 hours of individual prep time prior to an SAT exam to be ready to succeed. Those who do not put in this time wind up spending much more time in the aggregate over 2 or 3 or 4 subsequent SAT's. Try and do it right the first time. This will actually free up time later.

PSAT Results--How to Use Them

Sometime in December High Schools will start to distribute the results to the PSAT which was administered in October. The student is given a perfect starting point from which to set goals on the big test, the SAT. I have recently written an article which suggests how to set realistic SAT goals based upon PSAT performance. The link to the article is here: http://ezinearticles.com/?Setting-SAT-Goals-From-PSAT-Results&id=1720942

Examples of Answers that are Too Narrow

A main idea or global question on the passage based reading section of the SAT is by definition a broad based inquiry. Broad questions are correctly responded to with broad answers. When presented with a question such as "The primary purpose of the passage is to......"

The correct answer to this question cannot contain facts stated in just one specific part of the passage--such an answer may be true but too narrow to be the correct choice. The correct answer must be broad enough to encompass the entire thesis.

For an example of an incorrect answer that is too narrow in the Official Study Guide, see p. 405 #19, answer (A)

Outline Your Essay Before Writing It

Read the prompt. Figure out what is being asked. Scribble down your thesis. Spend two minutes making a crude outline of the major points which will support your thesis. Refer to this outline while writing the essay. This is two minutes well spent. The notes will keep you calm. The notes will prevent writers block. The outline will provide organization to the essay. An organized essay will often command a higher score and instill confidence as you navigate the rest of the SAT.

Examples of Extreme Language In Critical Reading

I took the following wrong answers from the Official SAT Study Guide:

p. 458 choice (D) They were universally admired by British women from every class of society

p. 467 choice (A) was exasperated that she allowed Waverly to embarrass her in public

p. 470 choice (B) criticize the human obsession with time

I noticed a common thread contained in the above answer choices--all had extreme language, ie. super positives or super negatives

Extreme language answers are often wrong because the subject matter of the passages is rarely radically one sided. When practicing passage based reading beware of extreme language in answer choices. Look for more moderate and reasonable language.

Try and locate all wrong answers which contain extreme language. This will help eliminate tempting choices and increase the odds of finding the correct answer.

Six Reasons Critical Reading Answers are Wrong

Do not be fooled! Knowing what not to do is almost as important as knowing what to do. Here are the six most frequent characteristics of incorrect critical reading answers:

1. The answer is too narrow;
2. The answer is too broad;
3. The answer is out of scope;
4. The answer has misused detail;
5. The answer is opposite of what is being asked;
6. The answer is too extreme.

We will examine each of these characteristics in coming posts.