SAT

A SAT is a mandatory and standardized test used to provide admission in various colleges in USA. Originally it was known as Scholastic Aptitude Test, then SAT Reasoning Test, and now it is simply calling as SAT. The SAT is developed by the College Board, a private, not-for-profit corporation in the United States and administrated by the Educational Testing Service on behalf of the College Board.

This test is conducted to assess the student’s readiness for college. Since its introduction in 1901, its name and scoring have changed several times. The Current SAT Test was introduced in 2016 with several adjustments to make the test reflect more closely what students learned in high school.

The Current SAT Test takes three hours to finish, and 50 Minutes to complete the Essay. And to take the test you need to pay the exam fee around US$52.50 (up to US$101.50 outside of the United States), excluding late fees as of 2014.

The possible scores on the SAT range from 400 to 1600, combining test result from two 800-point sections (Mathematics, Critical Reading, and Writing). Usually, the SAT Exam assesses the test takers ability in solving problems that are needed for academic success in college.

Typically the high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors take this SAT Exam to get admission in undergraduate programs. Specifically, the SAT in combination with the high school grade point average (GPA) provides a better indicator of success in college than high school grades alone, as measured by college freshman GPA. 

Various studies conducted over the lifetime of the SAT have revealed that when the SAT factored in there is a statistically significant increase in correlation of high school grades and freshman grades.

Structure of SAT

The SAT consists of three major sections namely Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing. And each major section is divided into three parts and each section receives a score on the scale of 200–800, where all scores are multiples of 10. 

Any of the three major sections include 10 sub-sections, including an additional 25-minute experimental or “equating” section. The experimental section is used to normalize questions for future administrations of the SAT and does not count toward the final score. 

The test should be completed in 3 hours 45 minutes of actual timed sections, but most administrations run for about four and a half hours after accounting for orientation, distribution of materials, completion of biographical sections, and fifteen minutes of timed breaks. In each, the questions range from easy, medium, and hard depending on the scoring from the experimental sections.

SAT Syllabus

As we already know the the SAT Exam consists of 3 sections, you should know clearly about the questions asked in each section, because each section covers questions from various subjects. So check the type of questions asked in each section before going to attend the SAT entrance exam.

To be helpful for the candidates who are going to attend the Scholastic Aptitude Test, here we have given the SAT Syllabus from which the questions may be asked in the main exam.

Critical Reading

The Critical reading section of the SAT Exam consists of 52 questions. And candidate should complete all these questions in 65 minutes. It consists of various types of questions including sentence completions and questions about short and long reading passages.

Most of the Critical reading section is made up of questions regarding reading passages preceded by the 5 to 8 sentence completion questions. The Sentence Completion generally tests the student’s Vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure and organization by requiring the student to select one or two words that best complete a given sentence.

The reading passages section analyzes the student ability to read short excerpts on social sciences, humanities, physical sciences, or personal narratives and answer questions based on the passage. In this section, overall, the questions at the beginning of the section are easier and the questions at the end of the section are harder.

Mathematics

The Mathematic paper of the SAT Exam consists of two sections namely Math Test – Calculator and Math Test – No Calculator. In total, The Math test includes 58 questions (45 multiple choice questions and 13 grid-in questions). Students will be given 80 minutes to complete all 58 questions.

Amon all the 58 questions the Math Test – No Calculator section consists of 20 questions (15 multiple choice and 5 grid-in) and lasts for 25 minutes. Whereas the Math Test – Calculator section consists of 38 Questions (30 multiple choice and 8 grid-in) and lasts for 55 minutes.

There are several scores are allotted to the test taker for the math test. For each of three categories of math content, a subscore (on a scale of 1 to 15) is reported. The three categories can be modeled as “Heart of Algebra” (linear equations, systems of linear equations, and linear functions),

“Problem Solving and Data Analysis” (statistics, modeling, and problem-solving skills), and “Passport to Advanced Math” (non-linear expressions, radicals, exponentials and other topics that form the basis of more advanced math). For the Math Test, the test score is reported on a scale of 10 to 40, and a section score  (equal to the test score multiplied by 20) is reported on a scale of 200 to 800.

Writing

The Writing section of the SAT exam consists of multiple choice questions and a brief essay. It was developed from the Old Test of Standard Written English (TSWE) but not directly comparable to the old SAT II Subject test in writing. In a total writing score, the essay subscore contributes about 28% and the multiple choice questions contributes about 70%.

The Multiple choice questions section include questions from error correction, sentence improvement, and paragraph improvement. Where the error identification and sentence improvement questions tests the student knowledge of grammar.

In the error identification section, the student must locate the error in the sentence, which means the student should select an accepttable fix to the awkward sentence. And the paragraph improvement section consists of questions that tests the student’s understanding of logical organization of ideas by presenting a poorly written student essay and asking a series of questions to find what changes might be best to improve it.