This is a test

This is a test.
This is only a test.
by Maureen Steddin and Liza Kleinman

You know that the SAT has to do with getting into college and that you'll need a couple of sharp, No. 2 pencils to take it, but you may not know where the SAT comes from, how colleges use it, or what you need to do to prepare for it. Getting ready for the SAT is similar to preparing for a major competition. You need to understand your strengths and weaknesses, form your strategy, and focus on achieving your goals.

What is it?

Play to win

Pacing

Scoring

What's in it?

NCAA ACT/SAT Division I Qualifying Index

What is it?

The SAT is a primarily multiple choice exam used for college admissions purposes. It's not prepared by colleges, high schools, or a government agency. It is publish by a for-profit company (Educational Testing Services, or ETS) that produces many different standardized tests.

The SAT is a three-hour exam that is divided into seven sections: three math, three verbal, and on "experimental" section that can be either. The sections can appear in any order, and you'll get two ten-minute breaks.

All of the questions are multiple-choice except for a set of ten math questions called Grid-ins. Grid-ins don't offer answer choices but require you to solve the problem and enter your answer on a special grid.

The experimental section tests questions for future SAT's and will not count toward your score. Since you can never be sure which section is the experimental one, treat every section as though it counts.

The table below breaks down the seven sections and the six different question types that make up the SAT. Each question type has a specific format. The directions for the question types are always the same.

SAT Sections

Math Verbal

30-minute section 30-minute section

30-minute section 30-minute section

15-minute section 15-minute section

30-minute experimental section, math or verbal

SAT Question Types

Math Verbal

35 five-choice multiple choice 19 analogies

15 quantitative comparisons 19 sentence completions

10 Grid-ins 40 critical reading

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Play to WIn

When you are training for a competition, you rely on good advice from a coach you trust. The same should be true when you are preparing to take the SAT. Numerous books and courses are available to assist you in preparation.

Taking the PSAT is highly recommended, especially for athletes whose early academic assessment can be very beneficial to college coaches.

Most colleges accept the highest SAT score.

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Scoring

When people refer to SAT scores, they are generally referring to the scaled scores. Scaled scores are generated by raw scores, which consist of the number of questions you answered correctly minus a fraction of the questions you answered incorrectly. A perfect SAT score is 1600: 800 math and 800 verbal. These scaled scores rate your performance on a scale of 200-800. You also receive a percentile score that shows how you performed in relation to other test takers.

You may have heard that there's a guessing penalty on the SAT. This isn't completely accurate. While random guessing won't really help you, educated guessing can significantly raise your score. As soon as you eliminate one answer choice, you increase your odds for guessing correctly. Eliminate another choice, and your odds are that much better.

You earn a whole point for every question you get right, but only a fraction of a point is taken away for questions that you get wrong (except Grid-ins, which have no penalty). You don't gain or lose points for questions that you skip. No one will know whether you guessed on any particular question. An educated guess is almost always beneficial.

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Pacing

On most tests, pacing refers to finishing all the questions in the given time. On the SAT, though, finishing all the questions won't necessarily earn you the most points. Unless you're aiming for a perfect score, you don't need to answer every item. If you got a 75 on a test in school, you probably wouldn't be too happy with your performance. But if you answer 75 percent or more of the math questions on a typical SAT correctly, you scaled score would be a 620, which is very competitive.

You can really boost your score by learning where it's most effective to spend your time. Difficulty level increases within each set of questions for all types except critical reading. Obviously, hard questions take more time than easy ones. It's also important to know that all questions are worth the same number of points. Don't rush through the easy questions so quickly that you make careless mistakes. There's no reason to hurry to get to the last, toughest questions, which most test-takers don't get right. There is plenty of time to complete the exam. Take your time. Read and answer each question carefully.

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NCAA ACT/SAT Division I Qualifying Index

In Divisions I and II, you must achieve the minimum required SAT or ACT score before your first full-time college enrollment. Your test scores must be achieved under national testing conditions on a national testing date (i.e., no residual [campus] testing or regional testing dates).

National Testing dates are:

SAT
2000-2001

October 14, 2000
November 4, 2000
December 2, 2000 **
January 27, 2001
March 31, 2001
May 5, 2001
June 2, 2001

** Do not sign up for this test. Finals of the Hi-Desert Cup are on this day.

ACT
2000-2001

October 28, 2000
December 9, 2000
February 10, 2001
April 7, 2001
June 9, 2001

Please note: These rules set a minimum standard only for athletic eligibility. It's not a guide to your qualifications for admission to college. Under NCAA rules, your admission is governed by the entrance requirements for each member school.

Qualifier Partial Qualifier

GPA ACT
SAT
GPA ACT SAT

2.500+ 68 820 2.750+ 59 720

2.475 69 830 2.725 59 730

2.450 70 840-850 2.700 60 730

2.425 70 860 2.675 61 740-750

2.400 71 860 2.650 62 760

2.375 72 870 2.625 63 770

2.350 73 880 2.600 64 780

2.325 74 890 2.575 65 790

2.300 75 900 2.550 66 800

2.275 76 910 2.525 67 810

2.250 77 920

2.225 78 930

2.200 79 940

2.175 80 950

2.150 80 960

2.125 81 960

2.100 82 970

2.075 83 980

2.050 84 990

2.025 84 990

2.025 85 1000

2.000 86 1010

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Maureen Steddin and Liza Kleinman are freelance writers and the authors of Peterson's SAT Success 2001.