About SAT
SAT – The Scholastic Aptitude Test– General Test is an entrance exam required by most colleges and universities for admission purposes. It is a multiple-choice test administered by College Board taken by all high school students who aim to pursue their undergraduate studying. Among your high school GPA, letters of recommendation from teachers, extracurricular activities, and personal essays; SAT score will also be reviewed. The higher your SAT score is, the more options for attending high qualified colleges will be available for you.
The SAT is mostly taken by high school students during the second semester of their second year of the first semester of their last year of high school. Hence, students should begin preparing for SAT earlier, while they also leave enough time to re-take the exam if they are not satisfied with the score of their first attempt.
Structure of SAT
The duration of SAT is 180 minutes with optional 50 minutes. These 180 or 230 minutes are divided into three or 4 sections. The three or four sections of the SAT are:
- Reading Test
- Writing and Language
- Mathematics
- Essay (Optional)
The Reading Test section has 52 passage-based reading questions with multiple-choice responses and time allotted is 65 minutes. The test taker is supposed to read passages and interpret informational graphics. The goal of this section is to measure a range of reading skills, as the test taker will be asked questions that require him/her to draw on the reading skills needed most to succeed in the subjects the passages are drawn from.
The Writing and Language section asks candidates to be editors and improve passages that were written especially for the test and that include deliberate errors. Candidates are required to write and edit; read; find mistakes and weaknesses; and fix them. There are 44 passage-based questions with multiple-choice responses and time allotted is 35 minutes.
Mathematics section covers math practices, emphasizing problem solving, modeling, using tools strategically, and using algebraic structure. The Math section has a total of 58 questions from which 20 questions are on the no-calculator portion and 38 on the calculator portion. 45 of the questions are standard multiple-choice questions and 13 student-produced response questions. Time allotted for Math Test – No Calculator section is 25 minutes, while time allotted for Math Test – Calculator is 55 minutes.
The Essay section is an optional one. The Essay section is like a typical college writing assignment for which candidates are asked to analyze a text. Total questions are 1 prompt, with points to consider and directions. Time allotted for this section is 50 minutes, within which candidates are expected to read a passage, explain how the other builds an argument to persuade an audience and support his/her explanation with evidence from the passage.
SAT Topics
The first section – Reading Test include passages of different lengths, ranging from 500 to 750 words and includes topics from a classic or contemporary work of U.S. or world literature; one passage or a pair of passages from either a U.S. founding document or a text in the Great Global Conversation; one passage on a social science topic from a field such as economics, psychology, or sociology; and two science passages that examine foundational concepts or recent developments in Earth science, biology, chemistry, or physics.
The second section – Writing and Language measures the practical skills that candidates use to spot and fix problems in writing. There are questions that test command of evidence which ask candidates to improve the way passages develop information and ideas. Some questions ask test takers to improve word choice, while some of the questions require them to read passages about topics in history/social studies and science and to make editorial decisions that improve passages. There are also questions that ask candidates about a passage’s topic development, organization, and effective language use and impact while some others are related to the building blocks of writing such as sentence structure, usage, and punctuation.
The third section – Mathematics will test candidates on math that they will rely on most in all sorts of situations. Mathematics questions are designed to mirror the problem solving and modeling they will do in college math, science, and social science courses, jobs that they hold, and their personal life. This section measures candidates’ fluency, conceptual understanding, and applications.
The fourth section – Essay measures how well candidates understand the passage and use it as the basis for a well-written, well-thought-out response. The Essay is scored in three dimensions: Reading, Analysis, and Writing.
Course Material
The essential learning materials for this course will be provided by the Instructor. All materials are suggested to help students develop their skills in decoding important information presented in text, numbers, and graphics; evaluating necessary information from different given sources; accumulating and arranging the information and establishing the relationships among them and cracking complex problems to arrive at an adequate conclusion; reading and understanding the written material; reasoning out and appraising the arguments; rectifying the written material in accordance with standard written English; helping candidates in analyzing and reproducing a given argument.
Learning, Grading, and Workload
This is a “Student Centered Learning” Course. All the materials will be used to develop your Critical Reasoning skills. This places responsibility upon each student to be present and prepared at each class and to participate actively in class and team discussion and work. The materials are offered to help your thinking about the skills you aim to develop.
You are grownups. The major responsibility for learning belongs to the student. Substantial outside effort is expected. Most students will be able to master this subject with a commitment of around one to two hours of homework.
Learning in this course is continuous and cumulative – each session is important. There will formal tests/examinations. Surprise quizzes are always a possibility. These tests, examinations, and surprise quizzes are designed to help you achieve a higher grade on the real SAT Exam.
Schedule and Assignments
The following schedule is a tentative one. The schedule and topics will be adapted around students’ needs, depending entirely on their progress.
Course Features
- Lectures 89
- Quiz 0
- Duration 60 hours
- Skill level All levels
- Language English
- Students 0
- Certificate No
- Assessments Yes
Curriculum
- 31 Sections
- 89 Lessons
- Lifetime
- Welcome1
- Week 1 - Session 1Topic: Attacking the New SAT12
- 2.1What’s new in the redesigned SAT?
- 2.2What are the primary skills assessed by the redesigned SAT?
- 2.3What is the format of the redesigned SAT?
- 2.4What kinds of scores are reported by the SAT?
- 2.5What will colleges do with my SAT scores?
- 2.6What control do I have over my SAT scores?
- 2.7Should I take the ACT as well?
- 2.8What is the best way to prepare for the redesigned SAT?
- 2.9How can I get the most out of my study sessions?
- 2.10When and how often should I take my SATs?
- 2.11What should I do the week before my SAT?
- 2.12What should I do on the test day?
- Week 1 - Session 21
- Week 1 - Session 3Topic: The Language of Ideas: Vocabulary for SAT Evidence-Based Reading22
- 4.1The Language of Ideas and Learning
- 4.2The Language of Argument, Reasoning, and Persuasion
- 4.3The Language of Dissent, Criticism, and Rebellion
- 4.4The Language of Power and Submission
- 4.5The Language of Language and Literature
- 4.6The Language of Language and Literature
- 4.7The Language of Judgment
- 4.8The Language of Extremism and Exaggeration
- 4.9The Language of Care and Restraint
- 4.10The Language of Freedom
- 4.11The Language of Change and Force
- 4.12The Language of Dullness and Stasis
- 4.13The Language of Truth, Truthfulness, and Beauty
- 4.14The Language of Deceit, Error, and Confusion
- 4.15The Language of Creativity and Productivity
- 4.16The Language of Mystery, Surprise, Adventure, and Discovery
- 4.17The Language of Harm, Deficit, and Decline
- 4.18The Language of Kindness, Favor, and Benefit
- 4.19The Language of Wisdom, Strength, and Skill
- 4.20The Language of Capital and Wealth
- 4.21The Language of Passion, Emotion, and Sensation
- 4.22The Power Roots and Affixes for the SAT
- Week 2 - Session 1Topic: The SAT Writing and Language Test: The Ten Essential Rules9
- 5.1Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
- 5.2Strengthen the Core
- 5.3Organize the Ideas in Your Paragraphs
- 5.4Use Parallel Structure
- 5.5Use Modifiers Effectively
- 5.6Make Your Comparisons Clear and Precise
- 5.7Make Sure Your Pronouns Are Clear and Precise
- 5.8Make Your Verbs Clear and Precise
- 5.9Make the Rest of Your Sentence Clear and Precise
- Week 2 - Session 2Topic: The SAT Reading Test4
- Week 2 - Session 3Topic: The SAT Essay: Analyzing Arguments5
- Week 3 - Session 1Topic: The SAT Math Test: The Heart of Algebra4
- Week 3 - Session 2Topic: The SAT Math Test: Problem Solving and Data Analysis4
- Week 3 - Session 3Topic: The SAT Math: Advanced Mathematics4
- Week 4 - Session 1Topic: SAT Math: Additional Topics3
- Week 4 - Session 2Topic: Review the Reading Test Section1
- Week 4 - Session 3Topic: Review the Reading Test Section1
- Week 5 - Session 1Topic: Review the Reading Test Section1
- Week 5 - Session 2Topic: Review the Writing and Language Section1
- Week 5 - Session 3Topic: Review the Writing and Language Section1
- Week 6 - Session 1Topic: Review the Writing and Language Section1
- Week 6 - Session 2Topic: Review the Mathematics Section1
- Week 6 - Session 3Topic: Review the Mathematics Section1
- Week 7 - Session 1Topic: Review the Mathematics Section1
- Week 7 - Session 2Topic: Review the Essay Section1
- Week 7 - Session 3Topic: Review the Essay Section1
- Week 8 - Session 1Topic: Review the Essay Section1
- Week 8 - Session 2Topic: Practice Test 11
- Week 8 - Session 3Topic: Practice Test 1 - Revision1
- Week 9 - Session 1Topic: Practice Test 21
- Week 9 - Session 2Topic: Practice Test 2 - Revision1
- Week 9 - Session 3Topic: Practice Test 31
- Week 10 - Session 1Topic: Practice Test 3 - Revision1
- Week 10 - Session 2Topic: Practice Test 41
- Week 10 - Session 3Topic: Practice Test 4 - Revision1