category: sat
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megalo-mnemonical sat vocab: words that sound like food
it’s too bad that you’re not allowed to eat during the sat, right? okay, so maybe four hours isn’t exactly an eternity to go without food, especially when you can (and should) have a little snack during the breaks, but it’d be nice to have a more relaxed atmosphere like that. anyway, if you’re hungry,…
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how to answer sat math questions
no, i’m not about to give you the answer to every sat math problem. sorry. but i am going to tell you how to improve sat math by being a test-taking machine—that is, being methodical. now is the time to stop asking “how hard is sat math?” and focus on overcoming your math challenges. …
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reading sat passages faster
note: this post has been updated to reflect changes in the sat beginning march 2016 (aka the “new” sat). okay, so picture this: it’s saturday morning and you’re taking the sat. you’re working on the reading test, and you’ve got about 5 minutes left in the section. you think you’re golden; you’re just about to…
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how to take notes on sat critical reading passages, faster
one of the most important things you can do to raise your critical reading score on your sat is to improve your reading strategy. there’re a few ways reading the passage often goes wrong—forgetting to look at the big picture, for one—and the best way to avoid all of them is to refine your notes.…
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an sat “trick” debunked- when to bubble in your answers
there are some gems buried in the scads of sat tips and tricks (like filling in the sentence completion blanks with your own word), but there are also some disasters waiting to happen. some test prep sites will tell you to do things that might totally screw up your sat. why would that happen? tips…
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sat algebra: combination vs. substitution
algebra is by far the most important part of sat math. isolating a variable is a step in many sat math problems, depending on whether or not you use elimination strategies. that’s as it should be; after all, you’ve been doing that in math class for the entirety of your high school career, and it’s…
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common sat study mistakes
have you cracked open a copy of college board’s official guide to the sat and tried answering a few legit sat questions? or have you done some practice with questions written by some of the other major test prep companies? if you haven’t done either, then go do that asap. the official guide is best…
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common sat mistakes
we all make dumb mistakes, sometimes. when i say “dumb mistake,” i don’t mean a mistake that i (or anybody else) would call stupid. this isn’t about intelligence or how other people judge it. it’s about what you yourself look at and say, “oh… that was dumb.” have you ever done that? ever looked at…
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the rules of absolute values for the sat
before we get into the rules, let’s see an example of an sat question that uses absolute values: 1. in the equations above, x < 0 < y. what is the value of x + y? (a) -8 (b) -5 (c) 2 (d) 16 (e) 26 rule 1: absolute values are grouping symbols in…
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the best places to study for the sat
if you’re serious about getting more than just an average sat score, you should make sure you’re doing the best prep you can do. you want to get as much out of the experience as possible and remember what you’ve learned. at the same time, you want to make sure you’re not getting distracted. every…