Sats

[Danny]

I just need to get something off my chest.

Next week, I, and many others (ExigeExcel and 911_Carrera I know of) will be having our SAT tests.



And I for one, am terrified.



I revise for hours at a time, but nothing goes through.
All the teachers keep pratling on about how important these are, which doesn't help.

I can't help but feel unprepared.
I need a primal scream right about now.

 

[milefile]

Practice taking the test. That's it. You are being tested on your ability to be tested. Their use is very limited. The smartest ones learn how to ace it. You could ace it without ever having completed high school. If they were what everybody made them out to be Universities would use them as the sole measure. But they know better.

I never took the SATs but went to a community college for two years and maintained a 4.0. Then I went to a university for 2 and half years and graduated on the Dean's List, a member of Phi Beta Kappa (or whatever the hell it's called), and with honors (>3.5).

I did take the GREs, though. And I took practice tests every night for amonth. I ended up doing well (I can't remember my scores or even the scoring schema) even though it was one of the crappiest experiences I've ever had.

Remember: they are testing your ability to take a test.

 

[milefile]

Oh, hey, your avatar is red

 

[Danny]

I get really nervous in tests though.
I fainted in a spelling test at primary school.
My ability to be tested leaves alot to be desired.

Oh, hey, your avatar is red

Get over it.

 

[Will.c]

Which years SATS are they?
i cant remember which years you do them in now..

as far as i remember the teachers always over-rate them anyway as they are more for the school than the person who is taking them.

 

[Danny]

Year 9/9th grade.

 

[skip0110]

Remember, teh SAT is not the end-all be-all of tests. You can retake it. And if you are in the US (?), 9th grade is very early to be taking SATs. You still have 2 more years to retake and improve your grade. And you already are very prepared, just by the schooling that you have gone through.

And if I may, I would highly reccomend this book.

For it's price it is the single best prep book I have seen, definitely far better than Princeton Review--which a lot of people use. Helped me get a 1570.

 

[Danny]

Thanks for that advise, but It's a national test, and can only be taken once.

That book seems good.

 

[skip0110]

I'm sorry, but I think one of us may be confused.
Are these the SATs that you are talking about? http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/reg.html
Because I personally took them twice, and know many people who took them more than 3 times.

 

[Danny]

T'ain't them.

 

[skylineGTR_guy]

I hate sat's, I did good on everythign but the math, I wouldn have gotten a higher score on the math part if i left every single math problem blank....

 

[eddieturner2002]

I have SAT's on Monday-Friday. ExigeExcel and 911_Carrera, what sort of National Curriculum Levels are you aiming for?

 

[milefile]

Originally posted by skylineGTR_guy
I wouldn have gotten a higher score on the math part if i left every single math problem blank....

Oh the irony! I believe you!

 

[Famine]

US SATS and UK SATs are two different things.

If you rack up 4.0 in your year 9 SATs, you're in Special Needs. 7.0 is "good" - I can't recall my SATs levelling tables, but that's somewhere around 80%. One of my jobs is to collect all the Year 7, 8 and 9 tests throughout the year and compile an approximate SATs score for them (500 kids... curse my apparent "Excel" ability...). Our best three kids are predicted 7.0, 7.2 and 7.3.

Our Year 9 (13-14yo) take their SATs next week, starting with Science on Tuesday. Have fun with them!

After Year 9 the kids start on their GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) work in year 10 & 11 (14-16), in 9-11 subjects. That's the last point of compulsory education. After that they have 2 years of A-levels in 3-5 subjects, which will form the basis of any entry to university courses.

 

[Purple Platypus]

Personally, I took the SAT's in March. But, I know a bunch of people that are taking them tomorrow (Sat, May 1). I did really well on them, and I'd say that all classes are only a little helpful. They all say the same thing. They say to not take the obvious answer, and use guess and check for the math. On verbal, they say make sentences for analogies, and DONT read the whole reading comprehension passages. Just read the intro, conclusion, and 1st sentece of each paragraph. Other than that, the only way to do better is practice SAT-type questions. And....don't stress over them too much. You'll do fine.

And....for the US SAT's...you can take it as many times as you want, though most people suggest to not take it more than 3 times. It's out of 800 for Math and Verbal, total of 1600. You take it when you're a junior in High School, usually (16-17 yrs old, 11th grade). Next year (all current soph's) will have a writing section tacked on. So.....it'll be out of 2400.

Heh...there's my SAT tutorial.

Just remember...You'll do fine

 

[Sage]

For those in the U.S. who are in 9th/10th grade: I'd highly, highly recommend that you take a practice test this year, then take the real SAT next year. The graduating year of 2006 (current sophomores) is the first year that colleges will want to have the new format SATs, so it's almost pointless to take the old SAT this year, unless you're doing it for practice.

I'm personally taking a Princeton Practice SAT (only 15 bucks!) next week, which will be based on the 2005 SAT (revised math section, essay, analogies dropped, etc.), then I'll take the new SAT next year... rumor has it that the first year of the new format SATs will be graded easier than any other year.

 

[Squid]

I just signed up for mine, I take them June 5

 

[Purple Platypus]

Well....today's the day. SAT's are here. Good luck, everyone

 

[emad]

yay for canada - no sat's for me

good luck to all of you that need to write them though 👍. My brother had to take them back when we weree in the US. Said it wasn't too bad. My friends here even wrote them to get into some US schools and they also said it was fairly easy.

 

[Ev0]

Originally posted by emad
yay for canada - no sat's for me

Another reason to be proud to be Canadian!

Instead of having to stress over SATs, I guess May is just that time of year where we Canadians get bombarded with 6 major projects at once (from only 4 courses).

Good luck to all those who have to do their SATs!

 

[Danoff]

The SATs are far more crucial than most people seem to realize. But they are totally do-able and have nothing to do with intelligence.

I'll give you an example. When I took the GRE I ran out of time on one of the sections and bombed it... I think I got like a 400 out of 800. I took practice tests for 2 weeks and went back to retake it and scored something like 750.

Take the damn practice test over and over. Go over the ones you missed and figure out why you missed them. Learn the test! Learn their tricks! I recommend the princeton review books. Doing well on the SATs will open doors for you at universities and with scholarship programs.

 

[shopping_carts_]

is SATs anything like ontario's EQAO? you need to pass it inorder to graduate, but it doesnt count towards your report card. you take a pracitce test in gr 9, then the real one in gr 10, if you fail that you write it in gr 11, if you fail that you have to take a literacy course in gr 12

 

[Famine]

Originally posted by danoff
The SATs are far more crucial than most people seem to realize.

Conversely, in the UK, SATs are far less important.

I have, in an Excel file, marks from "mock" SATs for all our year 7, 8 and 9 kids in science. The Year 7 marks will determine what set they go into for year 8. The Year 8 marks will determine what set they go into for yeat 9. The Year 9 marks will be combined with their proper SATs marks - although we've yet to decide the weighting - to determine what set they go into for Year 10/11. That's IT.

The proper work starts in Year 10, towards the GCSEs. The set you're placed in may have an effect - if you're in a set with a bunch of tossers, chances are your marks will be lower, as the teachers will spend more time trying to stop the tossers being tossers. We might find after a couple of Year 10 tests that we've setted a couple of kids wrongly, so we'll move them up or down accordingly.

SATs over here are no big deal. Really. Doesn't mean you shouldn't try for them though.

 

[Tercel_driver]

[edit by mod: Shut up already!]

 

[Zrow]

I took them this morning. The verbal section has some pretty ridiculous words, but the math was no biggie. I plan on taking them in the fall of next year.

I would agree that practicing the test is the best thing you can do to prepare for it. You need to learn the directions and the way the test is set up really well; if you know them, you won't have to waste time reading directions on test day.

 

[emad]

Originally posted by shopping_carts_
is SATs anything like ontario's EQAO? you need to pass it inorder to graduate, but it doesnt count towards your report card. you take a pracitce test in gr 9, then the real one in gr 10, if you fail that you write it in gr 11, if you fail that you have to take a literacy course in gr 12

Nothing like them from what my friends who wrote the SATS told me. The Ontario EQAO is very similar to the standardised tests in texas - I think it was called the TAAS test or something.

 

[Sage]

Originally posted by Famine
Conversely, in the UK, SATs are far less important.

[...]

SATs over here are no big deal.

Wish it was like that here... I never "bomb" standardized tests, but compared to what people expect me to do due to my high GPA, I usually do very mediocre.