General Tips! · Stutoring

General Tips!

Hey guys, these are just some general things I've found helpful for the SAT.

1) Practice tests—Use these to track your progress and identify your struggle areas. If you’re starting out, take a practice test! If you have 1-2 months to study, take one every week or every other week. Bluebook has six practice SATs, but you can find others online. Also, Collegeboard has an SAT Suite Question Bank where you can take mock SAT questions. Don't expect overnight results—plan to study and practice.

2) How to review missed and guessed questions—(1) See if you can work the problem out without the time limitation of the SAT. (2) Understand the explanation provided by Bluebook. (3) Ask other people how they would have solved it—the explanation provided by Bluebook will not always be the most efficient method. (Ex: Using Desmos)

3) Error logs—Keep a spreadsheet of questions you miss on practice tests. I include the assessment date, the name of the skill I missed, the entire text of the question, why I missed it, the correct answer, and the explanation. Error logs are SO helpful for seeing what skills you need to work on, what mistakes you keep repeating, and your progress over time.

4) Khan Academy—They offer two SAT courses: Digital SAT Math and Digital SAT Reading and Writing. These courses are free and in partnership with Collegeboard. If you have time, go through both courses. If not, Bluebook practice test results directly link you to practice on Khan Academy.

5) Daily practice—I use MathChops for math and grammar, with questions based on the SAT and the ACT, respectively. There are a lot of other websites for this; as long as they get your brain working, they should be helpful.

As well as some general tips I’ve used:

- ERW Notes: Skip the notes and go straight to the question.

- ERW Book Excerpts: Read the introductory text. Sometimes, it will give the answer away.

- ERW Grammar: Oftentimes, the correct answer will be the option that doesn't follow the common theme. For example, if the options are “have jumped,” “were jumping,” “jumps,” and “jump,” the answer would likely be “jumps,” as that is the only singular option. (I've never heard anyone mention this, though, so take it with a grain of salt.)

- Math: The only tips I have are using Desmos and knowing nongiven formulas!

Please comment below with any more tips! I hope this post & comment section can be a helpful source for everyone as we get to studying for the October SAT.

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