{"id":1289,"date":"2013-11-11t09:04:37","date_gmt":"2013-11-11t09:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/sat\/?p=1289"},"modified":"2015-04-15t22:21:15","modified_gmt":"2015-04-15t22:21:15","slug":"is-the-sat-an-iq-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/is-the-sat-an-iq-test\/","title":{"rendered":"is the sat an iq test?"},"content":{"rendered":"

despite the size of the test prep industry, there\u2019s this lingering myth that the sat is an iq test, so studying for it is futile. the official response to that from the test prep giants (kaplan, princeton, barron\u2019s\u2026) is a pretty unanimous \u201chogwash!\u201d or maybe it\u2019s \u201chorsefeathers!\u201d it\u2019s something barn related, in any case.<\/p>\n

but of course they say that! they want you to believe that the sat has nothing to do with reasoning ability–that it’s all about test-taking secrets that they’ll give you. that’s not it, either, though. at least, it’s not the whole story. the truth is hard to pin down; look around, and you\u2019ll get a lot of different opinions. but if you really pick apart what it takes to do well on the test, i think you\u2019ll inevitably end up agreeing with what’s below.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the sat tests learnable, knowledge-based abilities<\/h2>\n

like it or not, the sat is<\/em> closely tied to what you\u2019ve been learning in school. if you take tough math classes, work to improve your essays, and really engage with what you\u2019re reading, you\u2019ll be in great shape for the test. for some, that\u2019s a boon\u2014after all, that path is pretty clear. meanwhile, the logical faculties that iq tests supposedly measure are a lot harder to improve.<\/p>\n

here\u2019s one piece of incontrovertible proof for each section that the sat is not<\/i> an i.q. test:<\/p>\n

reading<\/i>: it tests bizzare vocabulary<\/a>. no vocab is a measure of i.q.\u2014it\u2019s about exposure. take a look at some of the most common vocab words on the sat<\/a>. you can manage those!<\/p>\n

writing<\/i>: it tests grammar a lot.<\/i> and you can actually learn many of those grammar topics<\/a> in a couple of weeks, if you try.<\/p>\n

math<\/i>: having memorized formulas for the math section makes a huge<\/i> difference.<\/p>\n

but that\u2019s not all you need.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

really difficult questions are similar to i.q. questions<\/h2>\n

i\u2019ve said it before, and i\u2019ll say it again; the sat is tricky. tricky and sneaky. <\/i>if the college board were to hire an animal to write the sat, they\u2019d probably hire a weasel. they\u2019re not evil\u2014they can even be playful\u2014but they\u2019re cunning.<\/p>\n

outwitting those high-end questions takes a talent similar to what iq tests look for.<\/p>\n

you may have to manipulate 3d objects <\/a>in a strange way, for example, using visualization skills that just can\u2019t be taught all that easily. or maybe you\u2019ll have to make a draw a logical inference<\/a> from a reading, but two<\/i> of the answer choices will seem perfectly reasonable (the flaw can be really subtle).<\/p>\n

making a relevant and valid argument<\/a> in your essay also takes cold rationality rather than a deep pool of factual knowledge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the sat is a mixed bag<\/h2>\n

all in all, i\u2019d say the sat is about 70% book learning and 30% reasoning ability. you have to have the exposure to the topics the test works with, but that alone won\u2019t get you into the sat hall-of-fame.<\/p>\n

but if that sounds like a bad deal, don\u2019t get too ticked off. since the sat is standardized, the same types of questions come up again and again. even if they\u2019re tricky, you can learn how<\/i> they\u2019re tricky\u2014at least to some extent\u2014and score points on those questions that seem like they\u2019re meant for geniuses rather than hardworking students. you just have to practice them.<\/p>\n

and like i said, the test is still mostly about what you learned in school. get that stuff down and you\u2019re looking at a respectable to outstanding score no matter what.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

despite the size of the test prep industry, there\u2019s this lingering myth that the sat is an iq test, so studying for it is futile. the official response to that from the test prep giants (kaplan, princeton, barron\u2019s\u2026) is a pretty unanimous \u201chogwash!\u201d or maybe it\u2019s \u201chorsefeathers!\u201d it\u2019s something barn related, in any case. but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[36,64],"ppma_author":[24883],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nis the sat an iq test?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"heard a lot about comparisons of the sat vs iq, but not sure how they really compare? read on!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/sat\/is-the-sat-an-iq-test\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"is the sat an iq test?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"heard a lot about comparisons of the sat vs iq, but not sure how they really compare? 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