Ace the SAT with These Tips

Sharpen those Number 2 pencils as you head into SAT prep workshops and get ready for the real thing.

Scores for the three-and-a-half-hour test combine with a student’s GPA to make up a major part of college admissions. It is possible to get a 2,400 score on the SAT, but the national average is 1,500, said Calvin Truong, sales director for PrepMe, a personalized online SAT and ACT study course.

Truong recommends that students begin studying for the SAT two to three months before the test, although he has seen students as young as fourth grade enroll in study programs. He also recommends students take the test as many times as they need to in order to get the score they want. Unlike in the past, students these days can send their highest test score to college admissions.

Truong recommends students and their parents identify a target SAT score. The best way to do this is to find out the average SAT score for enrolling freshman at the students’ top five or six schools of choice. Then average those scores.

At the University of California, Irvine, for example, the middle 50 percent of the admitted freshman in 2010 had an SAT critical reading score between 540 and 670, an SAT math score between 590 and 710, and an SAT writing score of 560 and 690.

Truong offers these PrepMe study tips and test strategies.

Study tips:

1. Don’t cram during the last few days of study. Instead pick five to eight key areas you had trouble with during practice tests and go over practice questions to brush up in those areas.
2. About a week before the test, take a practice test simulating real test conditions. Be sure to time yourself. “For many, the SAT is the first time they’ve done a full three-and-a-half-hour test,” Truong said. “A lot of people don’t realize it’s a test of stamina.”

The 24 hours before:

1. On the night before the test, put together the materials you’ll need — a standard calculator, number 2 pencils, a form of photo identification, and healthy snacks to refuel during the test break times.
2. Get a full eight-hour night’s rest.
3. Before the test, eat a healthy breakfast low in sugar to prevent crashing during the test.
4. During breakfast read an intellectually stimulating newspaper or magazine – Time not People. Read a few articles and briefly summarize what you're reading. “It is a though exercise,” said Truong. “The whole purpose is to get your mind working. You don’t want the SAT to be the first time your brain is working all day.”

Test strategies:

1. Don’t make random guesses. Incorrect answers will affect you score on the SAT.
2. Do use the process of elimination. If you can eliminate one of the five choices as wrong, it is worthwhile to guess from one of the four remaining choices.

Both Palos Verdes High School and Palos Verdes Peninsula High School offer test-prep workshops and reviews. PrepMe offers a free SAT practice test.