How important is the SAT in college admission?
The SAT is just one factor among many that colleges use to get to know you better. It is part of a comprehensive admission process that can take into account your class rank, strength and rigor of your high school curriculum, and your performance in that curriculum. Other factors may include your involvement in extracurricular activities, work experience, leadership and service opportunities as well as personal attributes and talents.
When should I take the SAT?
Most students will take the SAT in the spring of their junior year in high school. For those students wanting to take the SAT a second time, many will do so in the fall of their senior year in high school. Note: It's never too early to prepare!
Why should I take the UA Think Tank's preparation course?
Our instructors are top-notch experts in critical reading, math and writing. Their educational background, teaching experience, and passion for teaching content and test/study strategies are what separate us from the rest. The course is held on campus so that students can begin experiencing the college atmosphere even before high school graduation.
Who can participate?
All college-bound students who would like to practice and refine test-taking strategies, review substantive material in math, grammar, and usage, and continue to develop critical reading and writing skills are encouraged to enroll.
What does the SAT test?
The SAT tests the reading, writing, and math skills that you are learning in high school.
- The reading section includes sentence completions and passage-based readings.
- The writing section includes multiple-choice questions requiring students to recognize sentence errors, choose the best version of a piece of writing, and improve paragraphs within a written context. Additionally, students will have 25-minutes to write a first draft of an original essay.
- The math section includes questions on arithmetic operations, algebra, geometry, statistics and probability.
How is the SAT scored?
Each section of the SAT (critical reading, math and writing) will be scored on a 200- to 800-point scale, for a possible total of 2400. You’ll also receive two “subscores” on the writing section: a multiple-choice score from 20 – 80 and an essay score from 2 – 12.
- Questions that you skipped don’t count either for or against your score, and points aren’t taken away for wrong answers on the math questions where you needed to enter the answer into a grid.
- Each correct answer on the SAT is worth one point. To correct for random guessing, ¼ of a point is subtracted for each incorrect answer to a multiple-choice question.
How can I do my best on the SAT?
The best way to prepare for the SAT is to challenge yourself by taking rigorous courses and expanding your vocabulary and critical writing skills through extensive reading and writing in a variety of contexts. Become familiar with the test format and question types. Create a study plan and stick to it. Practice, practice, practice!
How much time will I have to take the SAT?
The total test time for the SAT is 3 hours and 45 minutes, including three short breaks. There are 10 sections on the SAT:
- A 25-minute essay
- Six 25-minute sections (mathematics, critical reading and writing)
- Two 20-minute sections (mathematics, critical reading)
- A 10-minute multiple-choice writing section
Testing accommodations are available for students with a documented need. Please refer to the CollegeBoard’s website for requesting any accommodations.
How many times should I take the SAT?
Most students take the SAT once or twice. Taking the PSAT is a good way to begin preparing for the SAT because it covers the same material.
For information regarding the Think Tank SAT Prep Course, please access: http://thinktank.arizona.edu/test-prep/sat