category: sat
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staying focused on long sat reading passages
note: this post has been updated to reflect changes to the sat beginning in march 2016 (aka the “new” sat). have you ever found yourself reading the same sentence or paragraph over and over? it doesn’t have to be when you’re going through something as dry as an sat reading passage; it might even happen…
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sat multiple choice strategy: picking the low-hanging fruit
for the most part, questions on the sat are put in a pretty specific order. with the exception of the passage-based critical reading, each group of questions of the same type is ordered from easiest to hardest. so what does that mean for you when you take your sat? taking each sat section backwards…
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two weeks before your sat
what should you do if you have about two weeks left until your test day? there’s a lot to cover, and there’s not much time to do it in, so you’re going to have to be smart about how you tackle sat prep at this point. if you haven’t been studying the test at all…
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how to find the wrong answers in sat reading comprehension questions
when an sat writer creates wrong answers for a question, they draw from the same material that they made the correct answer out of. they reference the same phrases and ideas that the best answer does, but they twist the logic or facts to the extent that they become straight-up wrong. now, put yourself in…
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the importance of enthusiasm for the sat
there’s a skeleton in my sat closet. it’s something i don’t always tell to students, but there’s a lesson to be learned, so here it goes: i could have done a lot better in prepping for my test. there, i said it. i took a classroom-style course from one of the major prep companies, but…
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sat – common math misconceptions
‘1’ is a prime number ‘1’ is not a prime number because a prime number is divisible by only itself and ‘1’. since ‘1’ is itself, it doesn’t really fit the definition. ‘2’ is not a prime number ‘2’ is a prime number. many think that because it is even it is not. but…
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sat critical reading tips
reading comprehension can be very frustrating. with certain questions, it seems as though many of the answers can work. often students throw their hands up in despair thinking that the test is rigged. don’t succumb to such a temptation. the test is valid (you can always contest with the college board). finding the correct answer…
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sat math – looking for patterns
some questions seem almost impossible at first sight. you probably groan, thinking that solving the problem will take forever. you may also think that you’d be able to answer the question if you only knew the formula. this last thought is misguided: the sat is testing the way you think, not whether you can memorize…
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sat book review – the college board book (1st edition)
everybody has heard of the bible. for christians it is the one book that matter most; indeed, it is the only book that really matters. this powerful connection is used more broadly to refer to any book that is the one book you’ve got to own for whatever field it is you are studying. as…
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sat math basics – foil method
the sat loves testing questions that rely on the foil method. a subset of algebra, foil relates to polynomials, and, unlike many other algebra sections, you cannot rely on plugging in (a method i otherwise encourage you to use often). before i tell you exactly how to use foil, it is important that i tell…