SAT Crash Course
Page 5: Winning Study Strategies for the SAT
The strategies provided throughout this guide should give you a solid framework for your future SAT performance. Using these simple strategies will provide you with a simpler and more powerful framework for all
SAT Crash Course
Page 5: Winning Study Strategies for the SAT
The strategies provided throughout this guide should give you a solid framework for your future SAT performance. Using these simple strategies will provide you with a simpler and more powerful framework for all the new knowledge that you learn.
However, reading about strategies, facts, and tactics is only 10% of the battle: using them properly is the real challenge. If you don’t have a system for finding out what you don’t know, cataloguing it, permanently memorizing it, and putting it into use, then you’re not studying effectively.
If you see a new fact, glance it over, then never look at it again, you will never memorize it. You need a system for learning new systems or they’ll all go in one ear and right out the other.
To get a perfect or near-perfect SAT score, you must know:
1. All the required math formulas, facts, and figures.
2. All the grammar rules and concepts tested by the SAT.
3. All the reading comprehension concepts and terminology necessary to take the section effectively.
4. All the best strategies and tactics required to use this knowledge on each section.
5. How to memorize all of the above permanently and access it when you need it.
6. How to automatically put your knowledge and strategies to use on the real test.
Learning #s 1-3 is actually quite easy – #4 and #5 are what actually make the difference. That’s why plenty of really smart people get terrible SAT scores, and why tons of students take SAT classes and hire SAT tutors and don’t see a lick of difference in their scores – their classes and teachers are focused on 1-3, but they don’t focus on the most important part of the process!
This leads to two very, very important principles that you need to live by if you’re going to get a much better SAT score:
1. Every time you learn ANYTHING new, you need to create a flashcard out of that new fact, tactic, or strategy and review it consistently and on a strategic schedule.
2. Facts and strategies are only going to help your SAT score if you apply them to actual SAT problems. Again, remember: the SAT isn’t tough because the material is tough – it’s tough because it presents the material in incredibly difficult ways that are specific to the SAT.
Make sure to apply your strategies as you learn your new material, and you’ll be blown away by how quickly you progress.
If you’re looking for a program that will show you how to learn all of the above in a way proven to work with thousands of students,my online prep systems will take you through this entire process step-by-step. I’ll show you how to identify your material weaknesses, catalogue them, and memorize them permanently. I’ll show you how to apply them to real testing material, when, how often, and in what order. I’ll show you all the best strategies and tactics for all three sections of the test and the essay, and I’ll show you how to prep on a daily basis in order to maximize your scores with the minimum amount of daily effort. I’ve been perfecting this system for years, and the students using it are improving by an average of 345+ points on the SAT and 4.66+ points on the ACT. But whether or not you decide to use my programs, keep these principles in mind.
There’s one more thing I need to discuss before we’re finished:
DIAGNOSTIC TESTS ARE EVERYTHING
Timed, realistic, full-length diagnostic tests are an essential element of your SAT prep program. If you’re not used to taking the SAT for hours at a time, how do you expect to do it well during test day?
Full-length diagnostics provide you with:
1. Goal tracking. Only diagnostic exams allow you to see where you’re currently scoring, where you’re weak, and where you’re strong. If you don’t know where you’re weak, you won’t know where to focus most of your time and energy. This follows one of my major principles:
Your greatest weaknesses represent your largest areas of potential improvement.
If you’re scoring a 730 in your combined reading and writing+language, and a 500 in math, the vast majority of your time should be devoted to math. Furthermore, you should be using each wrong answer within your diagnostic tests to pinpoint your weaknesses, figuring out precisely which areas of math you struggle with the most – Triangles? Functions? Algebra? Systematically identifying, then killing, your biggest weaknesses is the fastest way to realize truly significant gains.
2. Realistic practice. There’s something to be said for “sitting power” – when you’re used to taking the SAT for 4 hours at a time, you’re used to taking the SAT for 4 hours at a time. If you never practice for more than 45 minutes, then go into a full-length test…ouch. You only get good at doing something by doing it. Furthermore, only full-length, timed SATs will give you an accurate idea of what your endurance is like during these tests. You’ll discover certain areas where you feel fully engaged and others where you might encounter some “slouching” points. Once these low energy spots are flushed out, you can anticipate them and tailor your plan accordingly.
3. Insights. Your SAT score is a function of both ACCURACY and TIMING. If you can solve everything correctly, but you only reach 2/3rds of the questions before time runs out, you’re going to get a bad score. Taking full-length tests teaches you where you need to speed up, and gives you insights into improving your speed across each section (which sorts of questions to skip, which sorts of passages not to read in full, etc.).
If at all possible, I would aim to take at l