By Nathan Yan
Monday, December 26, 2005 11:39 AM

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Q&A: 14 Questions you’ve Always Had about the SATs but Were Afraid to Ask
By Nathan Yan

As many Westmoor students move into the second semester of their sophomore and junior years, they inch closer and closer to their inevitable meeting with that dreadful behemoth that haunts every high school student’s dreams. It’s simple three letters strike fear into the heart of even the most arrogant and obliviously foolhardy students, it is the one monster in the closet our parents tells us of that actually exists, it is apocalypse now, and Kilgore reels in the morning stench of brain-panned students – it is the SAT.

As many students and their parents are wondering, however, “What is the SAT?” For all its infamy, all of the awe and dread that students revere it with, many (especially sophomores) haven’t the faintest idea. For juniors who’ve taken the initiative, done some research, and registered themselves already, they’re now awash in bewilderment of an answer to that first question which has only opened up the floodgates to many more – “How’s the test like?”, “Should I take a prep class??”, “What’s a good score???”, “Can I take it again????”

As a junior last year, I had many of the same concerns myself, and for the most part all the information I could find at the time was the generic, the common-sensical, and the politically correct. So in response to that, I’ve written a short 14-question Q&A that hopefully addresses most of the questions and concerns that both students and parents have about the SAT.

But first, a few cautionary remarks, before you begin reading this. I’ve written and addressed what I can, mostly through my own experiences with taking the SATs throughout last year. I’ve tried to answers questions as if they’ve been addressed from the perspective of parents and students who are concerned with nothing else but achieving a better score so that they can get into college – a pretty base generalization, you might think, but in all the excitement of SATs and college admissions, it’s hard not to caught up in all of hype. Whether it’s happened yet in your household is another question. As opposed to most FAQs you will find, I’ve attempted to be as comprehensive as possible; you can already find the quick-and-dirty information elsewhere. In any cases, I’ve bolded the parts of the answer where the main points are located, so you can just skim over those if you really can’t be bothered to read the whole thing (although sometimes I just bold things for emphasis, so don’t confuse the two).

In the end, consider everything here in the context that I am… just another student. Most is opinion and personal outlook, the hard facts listed here are all original research, and my sources (Collegeboard, UC) are dubious at best. Be aware that most of the following 16 pages have been written over a cold and lonely winter break for your information and my entertainment – a combination which oftentimes leads to readers having to wade through pages of utterly useless drivel to get to the one speck of information that’s actually helpful (look how much you’ve read already – and you’re still not to the actual questions yet!). I’ve been told that on average, most of my jokes are about 3 steps removed from humor, so you may have to work at things a bit to really get the entertainment part out of this article.

I know that I probably haven’t covered all of your questions, so definitely feel free to email your questions or post them here, as a comment (I’d prefer if you posted them, as the question and answer might be beneficial to other readers). As only a single blogger, my views are fairly limited and one-dimensional – I’d gladly appreciate if anyone out there (especially you seniors who’ve already taken the tests) had some comments and advice they could offer the rest of the community, especially on some of the areas in which I have little experience with (the language tests, prep programs). I’ll append particularly helpful questions and answers to the end of this article.

That said, I hope you have a good time reading this article (and get a better idea of what the SAT is, I suppose). Enjoy!
-Nathan Yan, Senior, Westmoor News Blogger
westmoorgoldenram@yahoo.com

Q&A: The SAT, rv1.00 (newsblog_sat.rtf, 191kb)
1. So what are these SAT things anyway?
2. What?? Are they really that important?
3. There’s an SAT I and a II? You mean I’ll have to take two of these things?
4. Where do I take them? Is this just like one of those state standardized tests that they administer at school?
5. How much do they cost? Can I get a fee waiver?
6. So which of the subject tests should I be taking?
7. When should I take them?
8. What are the Student Answer Service (SAS) and Question-and-Answer Service (QAS)? Should I order them?
9. Why do I need to send my scores to colleges?
10. What’s the score system like?
11. What’s a “good” score?
12. What should I do to prepare? Are these SAT prep classes worth it?
13. It's test day! What do I do?? Walk me through what’s going to happen!!!
14. Can I take the SAT twice? What will the colleges think of me if I need two tries??

1. So what are these SAT things anyway?

The SAT - as most of you know (or should) – is the bane of every high school student’s existence. Administered by the private College Board association, it’s been known throughout the years by a host of initialisms… Scholastic Achievement Test, Scholastic Aptitude Test, Scholastic Assessment Test, and currently, simply as the ‘SAT’. It does not affect your grades, or graduation from high school, and just about the only thing it is important for is college admissions. That aside, all that parents and students need to know is that it’s a standardized test, much like those you’ve taken from the state for years, except this time what hangs in the balance is not state funding but a score which will determine the course of the rest of your life – your future college, your future career options, and even your future mate!

2. What?? Are they really that important?

Of course! Believe me ladies – guys don’t get intimate with girls who’re illiterate. In all seriousness, however, the importance of the SAT weighs heavily upon your individual goals in life. SAT scores really have no weight upon anything else beyond college applications (although if you subscribe to chaos “butterfly” theory, that could mean a lot of things). If you’re not planning on going to a 4-year university, it doesn’t really matter much at all, and you might not even have to take it. Community colleges like City College of San Francisco or Skyline College neither require nor ask about SAT scores for their class enrollment. However, I’d advise students to take them, even those who don’t think they can get in to college – even by your junior year, you’ll be surprised how much of a turnaround can be made, and students who work hard enough to boost their junior- and senior-year grades can definitely still make it, despite any difficulties they’ve had through their previous years.

In any case, having the highest score isn’t everything to the college admissions staff. You’ve got your high school grades, personal statements, and all those extracurriculars you can buff up and exaggerate! As more than a few seniors this year can attest to, having that astronomical SAT score didn’t get them into their Ivy League dream university, and many more will tell you that a low score hasn’t prevented them at all from being admitted to a decent college.

So for even those of you out there who don’t achieve the highest scores, take heart in this: Although below-average for an average attendee, President George Bush got into Yale with only a 1206 (out of 1600) on his SAT; the key? - he wrote a really great essay.

3. There's an SAT I and a II? You mean I'll have to take two of these things?

Yes, ma’am. There are two basic tests: The SAT Reasoning Test, more commonly known as the SAT I, and the SAT Subject Tests (note the plural), more commonly known as the SAT II. The SAT I Reasoning Test is that big, bad, 5-hour all-encompassing test that is commonly known and awefully feared by high school students everywhere. The SAT II Subject Tests are shorter, 1-hour tests which focus on specific subjects.

If you’re planning to apply to a 4-year college, you’ll need to take the SAT I and at least one of the SAT II Subject Tests, if not two or three. You’ll need to take the SAT I and the SAT IIs separately on two test dates, although you can take up to three of the SAT II Subject Tests in a single session.

4. Where do I take them? Is this just like one of those state standardized tests that they administer at school?

No, not at all. The SATs are administered by the private College Board association, and aren’t affiliated with the state or the high schools – there won’t be any “testing period” at school to take the SATs, and you’re pretty much on your own in terms of registering for and taking them.

The fastest and easiest way to register for the SATs is through the College Board’s website, www.collegeboard.com. From there you can create an account (free), and register for the test. You can also register by mail, but online is by far the easiest way to do it.

Testing always takes place on a Saturday, usually the first Saturday of each month (see question #7 for the exact dates this year). There are several test centers that are set up around the area, mostly at local high schools, so this can be a great chance to hang out and spend a day in that ultra elite private school or renowned public magnet high school of your dreams that you never got a chance to go to. For most Westmoor students, depending on where you live, the closest test centers are: Jefferson High School in Daly City, Archbishop Riordan High School, in San Francisco, and Lowell High School, in San Francisco.

The format for the SAT is more or less the same as that for the state standardized tests that students have been taking since the 2nd grade. For a better picture of what the test is like, read through the rest of this column, and specifically question #13 on test day.

5. How much do they cost? Can I get a fee waiver?

The SAT’s will cost you a non-literal arm and leg, and the costs will only multiply the more times you take them. As your parents would like to ask you, if they were as improprietous as I am, “Make sure you pass it the first time!”

Test	Fee
SAT I Reasoning Test	$41.50
SAT II Subject Tests Base Fee Language Tests with Listening All other Subject Tests	$18.00 + $19.00 + $8.00

As you can see, it is more cost-efficient to take three of the SAT II subject tests at once – you avoid an additional $18.00 Basic Registration Fee for taking a second session. Should you? It depends – if you think you have a handle on all three of the subjects you’ll be taking, go for it. On the other hand, trying to cram for and memorize all three subjects at once might have an adverse affect on one or all of the subject tests. My advice: go ahead and sign yourself up for all three, but in studying for them, don’t worry about trying to cram for all of them if you can’t. Simply study sufficiently for what you can, and when you get your scores back, if you aren’t too happy for the one you didn’t have enough time to really study up on, retake just that one test again.

You can obtain a fee waiver to completely offset the costs of registering for the SAT. Those qualifying for free or reduced lunches, along with others who may fit the financial eligibility, can obtain a fee waiver card from the counselor (see one of the counselors in the counseling office for more information).

6. So which of the subject tests should I be taking?

The College Board currently offers 20 SAT II Subject Tests, which is about 20 more than any student wants to take. They can be divided into 5 main categories, listed below:

English
Literature

History
U.S. History
World History

Math
Math I
Math II

Science
Biology (Ecological or Molecular)
Chemistry
Physics

Language
Chinese with Listening
Korean with Listening
Japanese with Listening
French
French with Listening
German
German with Listening
Italian
Spanish
Spanish with Listening
Latin
Modern Hebrew

Students of course, will in all likelihood never need to take more than three of them, and depending on the college or university, might not have to take any. Do some research on your specific college to find out what’s needed, and what’s not.

For students who will be applying to colleges that do require SAT II’s (which will be most of them), the one subject test that most students should consider taking (especially if you’re applying to major in a science or mathematics field) is the Mathematics SAT II, either the Math I or the Math II test. The Math I test focuses more on basic algebra and geometry, with a little statistics (mostly intuitive logic) – for most students it will be equivalent up to courses in Algebra I and Geometry, and some of the material covered in Algebra II. The Math II test, meanwhile, is a more comprehensive test which covers Geometry, Statistics, and Trigonometry – it’s about equivalent to the material learned through the Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and Trigonometry/Math Analysis classes.

Which should you take? Mostly, it depends on what you’re comfortable with, and what you’ve learned so far – I wouldn’t try the Math I unless I was at least already in the Algebra II class, and I wouldn’t do the Math II test until I had learned a significant amount of what’s covered in the Trigonometry/Math Analysis class. That said, most colleges will put more weight on a score from the Math II test, although this by no means precludes those who have taken the Math I test. If you’re applying to a top-level UC or private college, I would definitely take the Math II test.

As for the other subject tests, I would see what’s required for the application – the UC system requires two SAT II subject tests from two different subjects, while the requirements vary greatly among the CSUs. Many top-level private colleges may require up to three SAT subject tests.

If you have a very specific major in mind, choose a subject test that correlates with that field of study. If you are applying for a science-oriented major, definitely take at least one of the SAT IIs in science (ideally one you’re retaking again in AP form). For many top-level scientific institutions, like CalTech and MIT, a science subject test is a requirement.

It’s also a good idea to take SAT IIs on subjects that you’re currently taking – a subject like Physics will be fresh in your mind if you’re in the midst of taking that course, especially in May or June towards the culmination of that class. This is especially true if you’re currently enrolled into one of the AP classes – by May or June you’ll have thoroughly reviewed and drilled over the test material.

I’ll try to relate what I can, mostly from my personal experience of the tests which I’ve taken. If there are any seniors or juniors out there who’ve had the cruel fate of taking any of these other tests, I’d be glad to hear from you and any comments or advice you might have. Leave a comment here, or email me at westmoorgoldenram@yahoo.com

Literature:

U.S. History: A fairly simple test which covers most all of the history of the United States, from Colonial up to near-present. Be aware that most of the material boils down to remembering the trivial facts and names (all multiple choice, no essays). Self-anointed know-it-all history buffs, especially those who’ve taken U.S. History AP, should be able to do fairly decent at this.

World History: An extremely broad and comprehensive test, which covers almost all areas of world history. I would not recommend this test to students, as much of the material on this test is simply not covered in standard World History curriculum, which is somewhat Western and British/American-centric and focuses mostly on the development of democracy. This isn’t a knock at all on any of the world history classes being taught (actually it’s a knock against the College Board for not giving tests which conform to state curriculum standards); the subject is, quite honestly, a very broad one, and large swaths of European and Asian history, especially pre-Imperialism, just isn’t covered sufficiently in high school classes for all of the material on this test.

Math I:

Math II: An average math test, which is somewhat above the level of the math sections on the SAT I Reasoning Test and the standardized math tests given by the state. Those who have finished the course in Trigonometry/Math Analysis should be able to handle the material on this test, although some study might be needed to brush up on some of the material which was covered early on in the course (some of the statistics and probabilities things), and some of the geometric rules covered way back in Algebra II and Geometry. I wouldn’t recommend this for anybody who hasn’t at least started taking Trigonometry/Math Analysis, and I’d recommend that students should complete that course before taking this test.

Biology:

Chemistry:

Physics: A fairly rigorous test, covering most all of the material taught in Physics classes, except some of the subatomic material covered late in the course. It can definitely be done well by most regular Physics students, although if you are planning to also take the Physics AP course, you might want to also finish or start into that for further review (taking a test later on will only help).

Languages: I have not taken any of the language subject tests, but one word of advice (and possibly some others who have taken them can contribute more?): the language tests are mostly taken by native speakers, which explains the extremely high propensity of 800 or near-800 scores. I would not recommend taking a language test unless you are either a native speaker, know the language fluently enough that you’d be confident of a near-perfect score, or plan to major in a field that is highly dependent on that language. As a non-perfectly-fluent speaker, even if you were to achieve a good score, percentile-wise it’d be average or even below-average.

7. When should I take them?

Most of the testing dates are on the first Saturday of every month, so think long and hard about which day you choose. Are you likely to have the flu during that cold March season? Maybe you’ll have contracted hay fever if you try for the June one. You could take it May, but then again you might be still reeling from the preceding AP test week. Or maybe May would be the perfect date to take the U.S. History subject test because all of the AP history trivia you memorized will still be fresh in your mind. Better make the right decision; pick the wrong session and that increased chance for test-day distraction could set you back to community college.

If you happen to be a procrastinator (given that you’re a student, that’s likely), keep staving off that test until the very, very, very last minute possible. Claim that you “need more time to study” or join an intramural soccer league with games that just happen to fall on the first Saturday of every month.

In all seriousness, though, a general rule of thumb is this: take the SAT I whenever you’re ready, take the SAT IIs after you finish the course, if possible, and don’t cram everything in at the last minute.

The test dates available for the first half of 2006 is listed below:

Test Date	Tests Available	Registration Deadline
		Regular	Late
January 28, 2006	SAT I and SAT II	December 22, 2005	January 4, 2006
April 1, 2006	SAT I only	February 24, 2006	March 8, 2006
May 6, 2006	SAT I and SAT II	April 3, 2006	April 12, 2006
June 3, 2006	SAT I and SAT II	April 28, 2006	May 10, 2006

For sophomores, you really don’t need to begin taking any of the SATs this early. Waiting a few more months, or even another a year, would likely give you a bit of a boost in learning and comprehending all of the material, and might significantly increase your score. That said, if you’ve completed Algebra II by your sophomore year, you should be prepared enough for most all of the material on the SAT I Reasoning Test math sections, and the SAT II Math I subject test, although a few more months of review in your Junior-year math class would probably be beneficial. If you’re not planning on taking an AP science beyond the regular class, the culmination of the course in June could be a good time to take the SAT II test for Biology, Chemistry, or Physics (or you could always wait until the end of your junior-year science class). If you believe that you’re fluent enough, you could also take one of the language SAT IIs. Outside of these situations, however, I’d recommend that most sophomores wait until their junior year (and preferably, the second semester) to begin taking the SATs.

Juniors who’ve completed Algebra II can really take the SAT I whenever they want – they should be prepared for all the math material. For those of you in either English or U.S. History AP, however, I might recommend waiting a bit, at least until the second semester, before taking the SAT I. The reason is this: with the advent of the “new” SAT, a whole new timed-write essay section has been added: 25 minutes to write a rough essay answering the given prompt. All newly-branded Juniors really haven’t had much experience with this quick, on-demand sort of writing – almost all of their written works up to that point have been take-home, write-at-your-leisure and refine-on-the-second-draft essays. The timed-write, in contrast, is an extremely fast-paced essay: almost no time for pre-organization, and no second chances to refine your essay later, so your ideas will have to be well-formulated on the spot – a completely different kind of essay which requires an entirely different mindset and approach to be written well. By February or March, those in the AP English or U.S. History classes will have been well-drilled and thoroughly experienced in writing these kinds of essays – and much better prepared for the 25-minute timed write on the SAT I. All juniors (I would imagine), whether AP or not, would also stand to benefit somewhat from some time in their junior-year English classes, which focus more on logical and technical writing, as opposed to all of the analysis of literature pieces that K-10 students have done up till then.

On the SAT IIs, the answer really depends on what classes you’re taking at the moment. If you plan on taking the SAT II for a subject you’re studying now, waiting until the end or near-end of the year will usually leave you very-well prepared – all of the material will be (or should be) fresh in your mind at the May or June test date.

AP students will face a May or June dilemma – in all likelihood, the May SAT test date will smash right in the middle of the two AP testing weeks. Depending largely upon your study habits, this can be a very good thing, as you’ll still have all the material you’ve been studying the past week fresh in your mind for Saturday (you’ll also definitely be studying that preceding week, whereas for another test date you might not have the incentive to really prep the material fully). It can also be a bad thing – having both AP and SAT tests crammed into the same time period can definitely overload a student, and you might be caught in deciding whether to use that limited time to study for your U.S. History AP test or your Math II SAT subject test. Personally (and this is just that – no endorsement beyond), I took my SAT IIs in June, which gave me a full month to restudy the material, and do it much more thoroughly (without prep-work for the AP classes to leech time away), and also allowed me the in-between weekend during May to study for my Week 2 AP tests.

If you plan on pursuing the same subject in your senior year, it might be better to wait until then – taking the subject test a few months into Spanish 7-8, or AP Physics, usually works out better than taking it at the culmination of Spanish 5-6 or regular Physics.

If you plan on (or think you might need to) take a test the second time, schedule your first test so that you’ll have enough time to re-register for a second, if need be. Scores are reported about two weeks after the test date – by then the deadline to register for the next test will have passed, so the earliest you can do a re-take is the second test date after the one you took. Keep that in mind when registering your test dates, especially for seniors who’ll be facing college deadlines.

8. What are the Student Answer Service (SAS) and Question-and-Answer Service (QAS)? Should I order them?

To be frank, two useless “services” designed by the money-grubbing College Board. Excuse my lack of humor or verboseness on this issue, but it’s a quick answer.

The Student Answer Service (SAS) Is a report which lists each of the questions on your test, detailing the general subject material (Coordinate geometry, grammar correction), the difficulty of the question (basically easy, medium, or hard), and whether or not you answered correctly, and only those three things (no actual question or answer). It costs $10.

The Question-and-Answer Service (QAS) gives you all the questions, and the correct answers, along with your answers, and the subject material and difficulty of each question. It costs $24.

The Student Answer Service is completely worthless, as it tells you nothing, and the Question-and-Answer will help you or your student little, if at all. Wrong answers fall under two categories: you didn’t know the material, or you made a careless mistake. If you didn’t know the material, then you will have realized that yourself already – you don’t need a question/answer sheet to tell you that you completely blanked on all of the coordinate geometry questions; just restudy the material, and take it a second time, if you intend to. Meanwhile, careless mistakes are just that – minor, and trifling; something that you can never prepare for (except by more thoroughly double-checking your work). Certainly, just knowing the specific questions you got wrong is not going to help you improve in either of those areas in any way.

9. Why do I need to send my scores to colleges?

When you register for the SATs (both SAT I and SAT IIs), you’ll be prompted to choose 4 colleges to send your score report to (you can add additional colleges for $9 each). The score report is a listing of all of your SAT scores for all test(s) you’ve taken. For any college that you’re applying to, you’ll need to send in a score report that will verify your scores. Since sending a score report will send in all of the tests you’ve taken, sending in reports doesn’t matter except up until the last SAT test you take, since only that one will include scores from all of your tests.

10. What’s the score system like?

The SAT I Reasoning Test is based on a 2400 point scale, with 800 point subscores for each of the Math, Critical Reading (previously verbal), and Writing sections. The “old” SAT, which simply consisted of the math and verbal sections, was based on a 1600 point scale. Since most of the society older than the Class of 2006 still thinks in terms of the 1600 “old SAT”, you can make a rough conversion to the old system by removing the writing subscore, or multiplying the total score by 2/3 (since the new test is 3/2 the score of the old test, we simply reciprocalize to find the reverse conversion factor).

Each of the SAT II Subject Tests is based on an 800 point scale.

11. What’s a “good” score?

Ah… the 2400 point question. Well, of course, 2400 on the SAT I would be really super, and uhm… a 600 really wouldn’t. And well… a 2399, that wouldn’t be quite as good as a 2400… but uhm… BUT… it is better than a 600. Uh… yeah.

As you can see, classifying an SAT score as “good” or “mediocre” or “abysmal” isn’t really an exact science. And colleges applications, of course, are made up of much more than your standardized test scores, so the “good” score that’ll give you a decent chance to get into the college you want really depends on a multitude of other things. You also can’t rely on a raw cumulative SAT score, either – if you scored 800s on the Math subscore, and maybe a Physics and Math IIc subject test, but completely tanked on the verbal sections, for example, you could still stand a chance to get into a good engineering school like CalPoly or another science-oriented school that isn’t overly concerned with your English abilities. So in conclusion, there’s really no such thing as a “good score” – it depends on too many factors, and in the end, we’re all winners here, aren’t we? So keep your head up, do the best you can and take the scores you can get; the college admissions board and Fate will take it from there.

Ahhhh… you didn’t think we’d really leave you with a cheesy cliché like that, did you? This is a column that gives the straight facts on the SAT, not dance-around-the-question-for-an-unoffensive-answer Digest. Just as a nice reference to start with, we begin with the mean scores (the arithmetic, not geometric) for all 2005 college-bound seniors (collegeboard link). Since the SATs are designed to be consistent from year to year, these averages should hold the same for all years.

Keep in mind that these averages were taken from the 2005 class, which was the last to take the test under the “old” system. The Math and Verbal (Critical Reading) scores are still comparable to the current test, but the English Writing subject test is not comparable to the Writing subsection on the new SAT.

SAT I Reasoning Test
Verbal (Critical reading): 508
Math: 520

SAT II Subject Tests
English
Writing: 605
Literature: 589

History
United States History: 599
World History: 590

Math
Math I: 586
Math II: 670

Science
Biology – Ecological: 595
Biology – Molecular: 627
Chemistry: 628
Physics: 652

Language Tests
Chinese with Listening: 758
French: 620
French with Listening: 629
German: 613
German with Listening: 631
Modern Hebrew: 619
Italian: 663
Japanese with Listening: 687
Korean with Listening: 752
Latin: 618
Spanish: 636
Spanish with Listening: 635

Now, you can compare your scores (or your future scores) with these. Keep in mind these scores are the average of all college-bound seniors, not just all those who take the test – half (roughly, as this isn’t a median) of those admitted to a college are below this level, and half are above. You’re doing fair to be at this level, and if you’re aiming for a higher-level UC or private institution, your scores should be significantly above the mean averages listed here.

The University of California (UC) system also provides us with a very convenient “Eligibility Index”, which allows us to take both high school grades and SAT scores into consideration.

The Eligibility Index is based on an individual student’s GPA, and specifies the minimum GPA required to be admitted (although keep in mind that this “minimum SAT score” is a far ways off from actually being admitted, especially for the more top-tier UCs)

GPA	Minimum Test Score Total (SAT I + two SAT II’s)
Below 2.80	Not eligible for UC
2.80 - 2.84	2860
2.85 – 2.89	2698
2.90 – 2.94	2548
2.95 – 2.99	2440
3.00 – 3.04	2338
3.05 – 3.09	2260
3.10 – 3.14	2188
3.15 – 3.19	2122
3.20 – 3.24	2050
3.25 – 3.29	1990
3.30 – 3.34	1942
3.35 – 3.39	1912
3.40 – 3.44	1882
Above 3.44	1858

For students, take your grade point average (GPA), and compare to the “Minimum Test Score Total”, which is the sum of your SAT I Reasoning Test Score and your two highest scoring SAT II Subject Tests from different subjects (for a quick and dirty meaningful number you can divide that score total by 5 to find an average subsection grade). Although not exactly intended to be used this way, the reflexive property allows us to take an SAT total score, and figure the minimum GPA needed to meet the UC eligibility requirements.

It is important to note that, beginning with the Class of 2007 (meaning current juniors), the minimum GPA required for admission to the UC system will be 3.00, not 2.80. This Index is calibrated for a 2.80 GPA minimum, and I’m not completely sure how the new revision will adjust these numbers, but the 3.00 through 3.44 scale should remain roughly accurate. In any case, these are the minimum SAT score requirements needed, so you should aim for scores significantly above these if you hope to be admitted into the UC system.

The California State University System (CSU, or CalState) also has a similar Eligibility Index, although the version they have available (at least the one publicly available on their web site) is still based on the old 1600 SAT I Reasoning Test. I have no interest whatsoever in retyping out their atrociously precise scale (do we really need to categorize students by 1/100ths of a grade?), but you can find it at the link here.

Perhaps the best indicator, however, especially for UC- or CSU-bound students, are the average SAT scores for the incoming freshmen. These statistics are described on the California State University website (under “See more in Admissions” under each CSU’s page), and in the University of California’s publication, Introducing the University 06-07 (.pdf, 6.0MB, at the bottom right-click “Save Target/Link As”). Individual private colleges should also have this kind of information listed on their websites or informational pamphlets.

Listed below are SAT score statistics for the two Polytechnic universities, Pomona and San Luis Obispo. None of the other CSUs had detailed averages listed, but some did have score distribution percentages (see the above link for each of the individual CSUs). I’m assuming these statistics are for incoming freshmen for 2004 or 2005, although they really don’t label their statistics nearly as well as the UC system (further below), so I can’t be sure.

Cal Poly Pomona
SAT I Verbal: 484
SAT I Math: 525

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
SAT I Verbal: 575
SAT I Math: 620

Included below are the average SAT scores for admitted freshmen for Fall 2004 (the Class of 2004), for the 8 UC’s (UC Merced is a new campus, and UC San Francisco is the graduate school). I’ve also taken the liberty of including High School GPA, just to give a clearer indication of the level of students entering those UC’s.

Average High School GPA and SAT Scores for Incoming Freshmen, Fall 2004
Notes:
• The UC system takes the weighted GPA (+1 for Honor and AP classes) for 10-12th grade into consideration.
• The SAT I score is based on the old 1600 test.
• The SAT II Math scores are a combination from both the Math I and Math II tests – not ideal, but the only data I have available.


UC Berkeley
High School GPA: 4.17
SAT I Score: 1359
SAT II Math: 696

UC Davis
High School GPA: 3.91
SAT I Score: 1247
SAT II Math: 639

UC Irvine
High School GPA: 3.91
SAT I Score: 1251
SAT II Math: 639

UC Los Angeles (UCLA)
High School GPA: 4.17
SAT I Score: 1353
SAT II Math: 694

UC Riverside
High School GPA: 3.60
SAT I Score: 1137
SAT II Math: 579

UC San Diego
High School GPA: 4.01
SAT I Score: 1306
SAT II Math: 669

UC Santa Barbara
High School GPA: 3.88
Sat I Score: 1236
SAT II Math: 623

UC Santa Cruz
High School GPA: 3.71
SAT I Score: 1199
SAT II Math: 599

Noting that these are the mean scores for all admitted students, you’d do well to be admitted into the university if you scored around that range, whether a bit lower or a bit higher. Unfortunately, we lack any kind of standard deviation numbers for these score distributions (and wouldn’t that have been useful!), but you can find some categorized range distributions in both the CalState and UC universities resources listed above.

As always, however, be mindful that SAT scores make up only a part of your application – your grades now in high school will mean more, and when you take all the other factors together – grades, extracurriculars, essays, and teacher recommendations (for some private universities), your SAT score alone will do little to get or prevent you from being admitted.

12. What should I do to prepare? Are these SAT prep classes worth it?

Sure. You can take an SAT prep course. In fact, you can take two, or three, or four, if the preceding ones don’t help. You’ll just be… ridiculed as that student who couldn’t pass the test without taking a special prep course. And of course, society will look down upon you as the capitalist pig who stepped on all of the poorer kids who couldn’t buy their way to a $900 Kaplan-boosted score.

Moralistic arguments aside, your results will vary. The truth about the SAT, and any other standardized test, is that it really doesn’t depend so much on your ability or knowledge (although this is less applicable for the SAT II subject tests), as it does on your test-taking ability. Some people are already good test-takers, and so taking a prep course really won’t help. Others aren’t so good at taking tests, and enrolling in a prep class might help you learn the techniques and habits that everyone else is already privy to.

Personally, I’ve never taken a paid prep course, but I’ve sat in on a few free SAT prep sessions at the local library (which you can find a lot of), so you can put the following under that context. Having sat in on those library sessions, I personally did not learn much at all – certainly, I’d say that my scores did not improve significantly, if at all, because of it (although definitely consider this in the context that it applied to me, only).

The one area where test preparation might actually help is in placing yourself in a real timed test environment. As I wrote on question #7, the timed-write essay really isn’t like anything that most pre-juniors have experienced to a large extent, and pacing/mindset-wise, it really helped to have done drill after drill on timed-write essays in junior-year English AP. To a similar, but lesser extent, the pacing/mindset approach to the multiple choice portions of the test is something that can be improved with experience. All of the other advice and lessons they teach you in prep classes, are mostly bunk.

Considering that, is shelling out $900 for a professional preparatory course from a Kaplan or Princeton Review worth it? If you’re not convinced yet, the answer is definitely not, but to see why you have to consider and follow my train of logic (parents, especially, pay attention): what is the purpose of achieving a good score on the SAT test? To put onto your college application, so that you can be admitted into that top college of your choice. Now, these $900 SAT courses, which promise you a 200-point score boost, and nothing else at all, may deliver just that (or much more likely they will not). The problem is that your admittance into college depends on much more than your SAT score; given that your grades, personal essay, extracurriculars, and teacher recommendations will remain exactly the same regardless of whether you spend time in an SAT prep course, the difference between a 1500 and a 1700 on the SAT I is not going to be the make-or-break factor on whether or not you get admitted to that UC or private university. For the money and time spent (and yes, spending hours every week on a prep class, and the homework outside of it, will definitely detract from the time you or your student can spend on actual schoolwork), paid SAT prep courses are not worth the effort in any regard.

Now then, how can you prepare, if at all? As I’ve stated in the second paragraph preceding, oftentimes what bungles students the first time they take it (and possibly causes them to not achieve the score they have the potential for) is that the fast-paced testing environment is completely alien to many students. The writing drills undertaken in many junior-year AP classes really helped, and putting yourself in practice test environments also works – all you need is a stopwatch, and a book of questions (rather than buying a new and current version, you can often check out an older copy from the library; what’s important here is the pacing, not the exact material). To really prepare, you might even want to sign up for the SAT I beforehand… say at the end of your sophomore year, or somewhere in the first semester of your junior year – it’ll be a crash course into what the real SAT is like (and you’ll have a better knowledge of what kind of material is on the test), and you’ll be better prepared for when you really take the test later on.

The SAT II is another story altogether. While the SAT I is pretty simple, and mostly logic or intuition-based (that’s why the emphasis is on test strategies or problem techniques, not on the material itself), and all of its material already covered by most high school juniors and seniors, the SAT II Subject Tests are much more specific, and depend much more on actually knowing and comprehending the material, although pacing is still very important and will play a big role. For the SAT IIs, it’s very important to know all of the material for the test – unlike the SAT I, natural intuition or logic won’t help you when you don’t know the subject material itself. The pages for each individual test on the College Board site (links above on question #6) list the general material that you’ll need to know. Probably the best way to review all of the material will be to use a school textbook – you can use one if you’re currently enrolled in the class, or if you don’t happen to have the class, you can ask a teacher if you could borrow a textbook for a week or so, provided they have extra copies on hand. It’s best if you can read or skim over the entire textbook before the test, but even for the extremely lazy types, reading over each of the chapter summaries two nights before the test can still be very beneficial come test day.

13. It's test day! What do I do?? Walk me through what’s going to happen!!!

Woah, there… the first step is to calm down. You can have multiple second chances, assuming you haven’t procrastinated until the last December to do your SATs, and in most cases your SAT score alone won’t drop you out of the running for your choice college. Put things in perspective, and don’t worry about a thing once test day arrives - there’s no amount of last-minute review that morning that will actually stick, and you’ll have an easier time if your logic flows freely, rather than being constantly reminded of the gravity of the situation.

The night before, you should be getting some rest. Test centers open up at around 7:45am, and testing begins around 8:20am (it varies from proctor to proctor) and you’ll probably want to wake up around 6:00am to eat a decent breakfast and get to the test center with time to spare. The very last thing you want to be that morning is rushed. I’d go to sleep at around 10:00pm if possible, and definitely wouldn’t stay up much past midnight doing extra studying.

The only two things you’ll want to do on the day (note: not night) before is get everything packed for the next day, and if you’re taking an SAT II subject test, do a last-day all-encompassing review. Even if you’ve already reviewed throughout the preceding week, you might want to read or skim over the chapter summaries in the textbook. For test day, you’ll want to pack the following the day before:

Items you absolutely need
Your test receipt (print it out from the website)
Photo ID (School ID works)
At least two No. 2 pencils (you won’t have an opportunity to sharpen if they break)
Calculator (scientific, and graphing is better if you have one)
CD Player (if you are taking a language SAT II test with listening)

Items that might also be useful
Dedicated eraser (or make sure the ones on your pencil don’t smudge)
Extra batteries for that calculator and CD player, if needed
Glasses (if you need them)
Bottle of water
Snacks (if you want)

Once test day actually comes, get to the test center early. Make sure you know the directions, and arrive by around 7:30. Oftentimes, you’ll be sorted into a specific classroom where you’ll take the test, and in this case, test centers will have the room assignments posted up somewhere – ask some of the other students around if you can’t find it. At around 7:45 or so, the doors should open, and you’ll be moved into your testing room where the proctor’ll check your registration and ID. Find a seat, and from there you’ll be subjected to the routine fill-in-the-information-bubbles formalities that students of the state tests will be all too familiar with.

Now, if you’ve signed up for that SAT I Reasoning Test, you’re got a grueling ~5 hours ahead of you. The official time for the test is 3:45, but you’ll have a break time (where you can eat snacks), time the proctor spends explaining things, etc… you can expect to be finished sometime between 12:00-1:00pm. The SAT I will consist of either 10 or 9 sections – the 10th section (not necessarily by order… just one of the sections) in the 10-section test doesn’t count; it’s just used by the College Board to evaluate some new questions for future tests, and I suppose the 9-section test is some sort of placebo group so that they can stamp out any of those nasty lurking variables and such.

In any case, first up, always, will be the 25-minute timed-write section. The prompt will be extremely vague and ambiguous. For those unfamiliar with them, it’s usually a two-or-three sentence prompt, with either a general “do you agree or not? Why?” statement, sometimes accompanied with quote, or a hopelessly open-ended question (“What is courage?”, as the most notorious one goes, but hopefully you won’t get anything as bland as that). You’ll need to formulate and take a position, and argue your stance, all within a limited time frame, so the best course of action is often to take the first plausible thesis which pops into your mind, and start writing. For many students (and this speaking from just my own experience, so take it in that context), even taking a 5-minute pre-write to plan things out drastically cuts down on the time you have to actually write. All the old rules of writing apply: keep things concise and clear, have your ideas and logic flow organized, length matters (despite what they’ll tell you), and yes, you’ll definitely need some semblance of a conclusion, so keep track of your time so you’ll know when to finish your essay off.

The next 9 sections consist of varying 10-, 20-, and 25-minute sections which cover the rest of the math, critical reading, and writing sections (all multiple choice from here on out). Pacing is a tad quicker than the state standardized tests, so if you can judge from your history how quickly you’ve been able to do those, set your pacing accordingly (and err on the side of haste). If you get done early, especially for the math sections, go over all the questions you’ve done (and hopefully you’ve dog-eared the pages with questions you had trouble with) – you’ll be surprised how many errors you’ve made over simple arithmetic mistakes.

In between every few sections, you’ll get a few minutes break to stretch, walk around, use the bathroom, and roam the halls while comparing all the amenities of the cool school that is playing host to your test center to your own school. You can also use this time to eat some snacks (you can’t during the test), and given the length of the exam, some of those starchy carbon-based molecules might be just what you need to refill that glycogen fuel tank known as your liver… which uhm, breaks back down into glucose to fuel your brain. Yeah… as you can see I’ve never really studied for the SAT II Biology. Bottled water may be drunk/drank/drunken/drinked at any time throughout the test.

The SAT II subject tests follow a bit of a different format. Each of the subject tests is 1 hour long each. Your test room (if you’re in a room) will be filled with people who may be taking 1, 2, or 3 tests at a time, and if you’re only taking 1 or 2, you can leave after you’re done – only those taking 3 tests stay for the entire duration. The procedure otherwise is fairly the same – you’ll have the 1 hour to do the test, and breaks in between. You’ll get one goliath book (on the par of Atlas Shrugged or so) which contains every single one of the SAT II subject tests – you can choose to do the three (or two) you signed up for in whatever order you wish.

A word on the pacing – the SAT IIs will be significantly faster and harder than most any other standardized test you’ll have taken up to that point (unless you’re an AP student!). Though they’re all multiple choice, the number of questions ranges wildly, up to 95 questions for a few tests, with most in the 70-80 range – regardless of the number of questions, you will only have the allotted 60-minute hour to complete the questions. For any of the SAT II subject tests, there is no slack time given at all – you’ll need to work at a breakneck speed if you want to correctly answer all the questions in time.

The language tests, especially those with listening, are significantly different from all of the other tests. I don’t have any firsthand experience myself, so I wouldn’t be qualified to comment, but I’ll see if I can fish up some others who’ve taken the tests and can offer some advice.

And to pre-empt another FAQ, No, guessing is never bad, in any situation (and here’s the magical proof showing that all of the “guessing is good only if you eliminate one answer choice” is rubbish). Given random probability (and that over a couple hundred questions, your empirical results will approach the theoretical), 1/5th of your multiple-guesses will be correct, since there are 5 answer choices and one correct answer. Now, every wrong answer will carry with it a -1/4 point penalty. Given a random sampling of 5 questions, theoretical probability well tell you that you get 1 right, and 4 wrong, and thus your expected outcome for this game would be

(1 correct) * (+1 point/correct) + (4 incorrect) * (-1/4 point/incorrect)
= +1 point – 1 point
= 0 points

Thus, in random guessing the expected value of the SAT is a fair game, and there is certainly no penalty for guessing randomly, although there isn’t any gain either. If you begin eliminating answer choices, of course, your chances will increase: with 1 choice eliminated, your expected outcome becomes 1 right, 3 wrong for every 4 questions, and your expected value is thus

(1 correct) * (+1 point/correct) + (3 incorrect) * (-1/4 point/incorrect)
= +1 point – 3/4 point
= +1/4 point

Beyond that, I’m not sure what other advice there is. For the SAT I, you’re mostly left with to the ability of your own logic – skip those questions you have trouble with, and on the passages, don’t read the entire thing (even if the story happens to be fascinating) – start with the questions, and go back to the individual line numbers only to find the answer (you’ll lose context, but you should be able to construe it from your own intuition). For the SAT II, your success will depend entirely on knowing the subject inside and out, so upon test day, you’re left with what you’ve prepped with.

14. Can I take the SAT twice? What will the colleges think of me if I need two tries??

First and foremost, yes, you can take the SAT twice. Simply sign up for it again. Three times, four times, five times, even. In all, the SAT usually has an October, November, December, January, April, May, and June test date, which comes out to 7 test dates a year, and 28 chances if you start taking them as a freshmen, although the last 4 in your senior year won’t really matter for most college deadlines.

But should you, of course? Taking the SAT 28 times will quickly burn a hole through that pocket ($1162 over 4 years of testing), and colleges will surely label you as a lame duck for needing 28 tries to get the score you did.

All jest aside, there are two main questions which need to be addressed here: will my scores really improve if I take it again? and Do colleges look down upon multiple tries?

To answer the first question… yes, scores generally can improve the second time around, although there are many cases of scores going down. A lot of the time, your ability really hasn’t improved or receded – it’s simply a part of natural variance that your scores will fluctuate a teensy bit from test to test (for even more statistics fun, calculate your standard deviation!). Sometimes, however, and you can take this considering what went on (or wrong) with your first test, your scores can improve the second time around. If you didn’t bother to study for the first test, then yes, your score stands to improve significantly if you study this time around (although for teenagers, that’s always a very big “if”). If you were at the beginning of your Algebra II class that first time around, and now you’re at the end of the year, then yes, you’ll likely do much better. Or if you had just broken up with your boyfriend on test day, or had a slight case of malaria, or were seated in a room with a clock that had the most annoying tick-tick-tick in the world… who knows – teenagers can get tripped up over the most bizarre and trifling of things. The point is if there was something in particular that messed you up the first time, you stand to be better the second time around if you correct whatever that problem was. If you don’t correct it, or if you don’t see any specific problems the first time that you took the test, then chances are that you won’t stand to improve any meaningful amount over your last test.

Now onto the second, and perhaps more important question – will colleges look down upon you if you took multiple tries? The official answer from most any college is that no, it won’t matter; the admissions staff only looks at your highest scores (in whatever convoluted combination they choose).

So the final answer: feel free to take the SAT as many times as you want without fear, but it’ll only be worthwhile if you realize (and correct) whatever problem, if any, dogged your score the first time around.

Hope this information has helped a bit. If you’re interested in another long and drawn out answer, I (and I’m sure other readers) would be happy to hear and answer any other questions or clarifications you might have. Just drop a comment below, or email us at westmoorgoldenram@yahoo.com.

The Westmoor News Blog is a weblog which updates on current events and news going on at Westmoor. It is written entirely by students, and thus any and all views, ideas, and witticisms expressed here do not necessarily correlate to those of Westmoor High School or JUHSD. You can submit feedback by emailing us at westmoorgoldenram@yahoo.com

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