SAT

Home

FAQ

Resources

About Us

Contact

The SAT Reasoning Test

The SAT is perhaps the most well known standardized test in the world. Most parents can still recall their own experiences on the SAT, either good or bad, but few would be able to recall the skills required to earn a competitive score on the test today. Not only is the SAT tough, but it has also undergone some significant changes over the course of its distinguished history: analogies and quantitative comparisons are gone, a writing section and more advanced math content have been added, and of course, the total score is no longer on a scale 400-1600.

When is the SAT offered?

Test Dates for the 2009-2010 academic year are:
Oct. 10th, Nov. 7th, Dec. 5th, Jan. 23rd, Mar. 13th, May 1st, Jun. 5th

See The College Board for more information on test dates, registration deadlines, and fees, including some important recent changes in the ways students are allowed to report their scores.

Which date should my student take the SAT?

Most students take the test twice, in the spring of their junior year and the fall of their senior year. Our academic advisors can help you determine which dates are the most appropriate for your student.

What does the SAT test?

There are three sections to the SAT: critical reading, math, and writing. The total test length is three hours and forty-five minutes.

The Critical Reading component of the test is divided into two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section for a total of 67 questions. There are two question types, sentence completions and passages, that test a student’s vocabulary and reading comprehension.

The Math component of the test is divided into two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section for a total of 54 questions; 44 are multiple-choice and the remaining 10 are student-generated responses or ’grid-ins.’ The Math sections evaluate a student’s understanding of high school math including arithmetic, algebra, coordinate and planar geometry, functions, probability, and basic trigonometry.

The Writing component of the test is divided into two areas: multiple-choice questions on mechanics, grammar, and usage and the essay, which is a 25-minute student composition in response to an essay topic. The 49 multiple-choice questions are of three types: sentence errors, sentence improvements, and paragraph improvements.

There is a 25-minute experimental section on every SAT that is unscored and unidentified. It can be either critical reading, math, or writing multiple-choice.

What is Vertex’s approach to instructing the SAT?

Our students begin with a diagnostic test that will provide a baseline for building new skills or refreshing forgotten ones. We do not believe in ’short cuts’ and all of the skills that we teach for the SAT are intended to be applicable to the greater academic goals of the student. There is no quick and easy way to prepare for the SAT. The test is designed as a measure of a student’s aptitude based on the academic skills acquired up through high school in preparation for study at the undergraduate level.

As one academic claimed in response to skeptics’ beliefs that the SAT is a biased test, It is biased. It’s biased against people who aren’t well educated. The words resonate with truth. If you cannot understand the basic content being tested on the test, no amount of short cuts will result in a good score.

However, there are general test taking strategies and methods for approaching individual questions that are an important part of the test preparation process. Vertex students learn these strategies in addition to completing a comprehensive, adaptive curriculum designed specifically for the student based on initial and ongoing diagnostics of their abilities. Some sample skills and instructional strategies are included here:

Writing: All students review the grammar rules most often seen on the SAT and practice applying the essay ’formula’ of one literary, one historical, and one personal example to support a thesis statement. While the direct result of this preparation is an improved score on the SAT, students who complete an SAT course become better writers in general.

Math: Students learn strategies such as how to ’backsolve’ a math problem and when to ’plug-in’ the answer choices. Instructional content can be as basic or advanced as required, but students will finish the program knowing all regularly tested concepts and how to apply them to the SAT’s most common question type in the Math section: the word problem.

Critical Reading: We use mnemonic devices, word roots, and a heavy dose of focused practice to bolster a student’s vocabulary. Students learn to approach reading passages strategically so they can increase their accuracy and avoid the most common mistake on the reading section: running out of time.

What is the length of your SAT program?

We will work with the student and the student’s parents to determine an appropriate length program taking into consideration the student’s academic background, diagnostic scores, academic objectives, application deadlines, schedule, and other factors.

Typically students devote and least six months and up to one year or more preparing for the test.

In general, we have found that 30 hours of direct tutoring and completion of an appropriate amount of assigned work will prepare most students to confidently take the test. Of course, some students want or require more preparation. Additionally, some students may have completed an SAT class or an independent course of study are interested in receiving some one-on-one instruction in a few selected areas, and we are happy to work in that capacity as well.