Q. What is the SAT?
A. The SAT is a standardized test for most college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States.
Q. What is the function of the SAT?
A. The SAT was formulated to measure math, literacy, and writing skills needed for academic success in college. Most colleges and universities in turn use a combination of SAT scores and high school grade point averages to provide as an indicator of proficiency levels. There are considerable differences between schools around the world so it is nearly impossible to base academic qualifications without a standardized exam like the SAT.
Q. What is the structure of the SAT?
A. The SAT is made up of three major subjects: Critical Reading, Math, and Writing. Each section is scored from a scale of 200-800 to make up a maximum of 2400 points. There are 10 different sections to cover the 3 major subjects, one of which is a 25-min essay to count towards the writing score. Of the 10 sections, there is also an experimental/equating section that may be in any of the three major subjects. This section is used to normalize questions for further administrators and does not count into the final score.
Q. How long is the full test?
A. The full exam takes a total of 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Q. How is the test graded?
A. The raw score or the number of points gained from correct answer and lost from incorrect ones, are converted to a scale of a total of 2400 points (800 points per major subject). The scale is derived and determined by the percentile rank of the students that take the test for that given month. The essay score is incorporated into the total writing score.
Q. How do you prepare your students?
A. 2013-14 Courses Available (most effective if taken in order listed):
- 2013 PSAT/SAT Writing Course with Dr. Cotter: Every Friday until June 22, 4:30pm–6:30pm
- 2013 Summer 6 or 8-wk Semester: Mon.-Thurs., 9:00am–1:45pm
- 2013-14 Fall Saturday 16-wk Semester: Sept. 7 –Jan.4 2014, 9:00am–2:45pm
- 2014 Fall 16-wk Writing Course: Fridays, Sept. 9–Dec. 20, 4:30pm–6:30pm