So I’m diving back into all things SAT after a year away. I expected the math to be hard. But I didn’t expect to get humbled by the new writing section. Grammar and language is my bread-and-butter. (English major, informal copywriter and editor.) I sat down on the couch last night and sailed through the […]
Strategy
Gerbils, non-stop excitement, and high SAT scores
(Note: This posts refers to the old SAT. But the point about PLANNING and LEARNING about -and CORRECTING- your performance on the SAT still applies!) A little Non-stop excitement My little girl is turning 8 on Christmas Day. And she’s thrilled because she’s finally old enough to have her very own pet. She has been hounding us […]
Lydia Bennet would have live tweeted her elopement and other SAT disasters
Here’s a cautionary tale of my recent SAT disaster and a step-by-step checklist of what you can do to ensure you don’t make the same mistakes. So I take the SAT every year. And I’ve done this for years. But this time it didn’t work out so well… Do as I say, not as I do… […]
The SAT folks are not Jedi Masters
This may be obvious, but the SAT folks are not Jedi Masters. Not that you would know that by talking to my students. When reviewing their Reading answers, I swear my students are convinced that there is some sort of Force that emanates from the pages of the SAT test and intones in a low voice: […]
5 Steps to Analyze your Full SAT Score Report (and get a better SAT score)
[Note: this refers to the old version of the SAT. I’m working a new post that shows how to analyze the College Board’s Score Report for the new SAT.] Here are 5 steps to take to get the most out of the College Board’s Full Score Report. Step 1: Download the SAT Score Report If you haven’t […]
SAT Critical Reading is not Mad Libs
[Note: This post refers to the old SAT] Do you all remember Mad Libs? You make up nouns, verb and adjectives to add to a paragraph of text. Then you read the resulting paragraph and general hilarity ensues. We loved them as kids and my daughter loves them now. Some of my students approach […]