SATs!

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by daFalco, Jan 13, 2010.

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  1. daFalco

    daFalco Level III

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    Well, I'm sure most (if not everyone) here has heard about/has taken/will take the dreaded SATs. Living in Canada myself, I am not obligated to take the test but have still decided to do so and will be doing so on January 23rd!

    I am mightily nervous and am hard at work studying at the moment.

    Any of you in the same boat as me? What are you currently doing to prepare?
     
  2. Rhett

    Rhett Level IV

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    I took it last year. It's not that bad. You'll live. Just don't stress about it. SAT prep books are always good. ;)
     
  3. Phee

    Phee Moderator
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    It's too late to do much more now, just take a practice test or two if you can. The explanations aren't too great but we can all help!

    Good luck, I took them myself twice last year, once in March and once in October. Got a 2190 then a 2210 :/ I was aiming for 2300+ but it's too late now. Just remember to NOT get tired! Even if you finish a section in half the time as everyone else, you're still stuck in that room for the five hours everyone else is. No one gets to leave early, so do NOT rush or get antsy near the end. Near Sections 5-7 you'll start to feel really taxed, when you get to take a break (Every two sections I think?) make sure you go outside in the hallway, walk around and stretch your legs. Eat an energy bar, drink some water, go to the bathroom.

    If you don't finish you essay in time it's fine, just try to sneak back to it if you finish another section early to finish. It's really not that important though, the essay only counts for your writing score and to be quite honest most schools don't even care about your writing score as they'll see your writing skills in your college essays. Not McGill or most CA schools though I think.

    Hmm what else. On the reading sections, the advice I found most helpful was that any extreme or potentially offensive answer is very very very very VERY likely wrong. Most of the long passages don't have tones or authors that are described as 'critical' or 'criticism', 'ignorant', 'arrogant', etc.

    On the writing bits, if you're stuck between two options, make sure that neither change the meaning of the original sentence. If you really can't make up your mind, go with the shorter one. On the parts where you have to find the error in a sentence, don't get freaked out if alot of no error ones. About 20% will be no error.

    Yeah...that's all I can think of right now. Man those tests were hell. Good luck! If you're itching to know the answers after the test, go home and look on the College Confidential forums. There'll be a sticky somewhere discussing tricky questions and answers.
     
  4. 111

    111 Level I

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    studying early is always the best bet....as long as u go over practice tests and kinda see what types of questions are on there, u should do fine. Altho it is very long and tedious, which really drags on you.
     
  5. Lily

    Lily Level I

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    I took it last year. It's not too hard, but it's long. Practice tests help. Just don't put an answer if you can't intelligently guess--not getting a point is better than losing 1/4 of one (but you probably know that by now P:). If you also take ACTs where you live, those are easier IMO.
     
  6. WildSnorlax

    WildSnorlax Level IV

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    I'm from Canada too, and i've asked a lot of my States friends about the SATs, it's more about general knowledge. It's not mandatory but I went to a book store and picked up a SATs study guide. Good luck!
     
  7. j22music

    j22music Newbie

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    Yeah, its basically just go through the practice tests and see how you do.
    And like just don't read through them...actually sit down and write down your answers...

    I think thats the best way to prepare with only like a few days left..
    Goodluck!
     
  8. coconutmoon

    coconutmoon Level III

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    Just wait until you want to go to Graduate School and have to take the GREs. They are waaaay worse. You have to remember geometry that you haven't used in 6 years and other horrible things.
     
  9. lolcow

    lolcow Level III

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    MCATs are going to suck ._.
     
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