
Six Months Before the Test
- Buy and use The Official SAT Study Guide: Second Edition (and other test prep materials).
- Check out CollegeBoard's Practice page.
Week (0r Two) Before the Test
- Gather all your completed SAT Practice Tests into ONE pile.
- Arrange the tests from oldest to the most recent test taken (so you can track your progress)
- Review a completed test every evening before the Night Before the SAT Test (20-45 min).
- Look-up any difficult vocabulary.
- Note the trigger words in the Sentence completion Questions.
- Note how you used POE (Process of Elimination) to get the right answers in the short, long, dual passage sections.
- Analyze your wrong answers, and adjust your POE (ex. did you consistently choose the 2nd best choice on inference or EXCEPT questions).
- Review the FIST OF NO ERROR for the Writing section and mentally check off the selections (S/V, Tense, Prononous, Adj/Adv, Diction, Misplaced Metaphors, Parallelism, Conjunctions) as you review the wrong answers.
- Compare the errors made in the Paragraph Improvement section and your own essay: Transtions? Sentences out of sequence? Too much/too little concrete detail? Delete extraneous info? etc, etc, etc...
- Re-read NYTimes The Choice Blog: For Those Withholding SAT Scores, Advice on Completing the Common Application By Jacques Steinberg

The Night Before the Test
- Don't cram for the SAT!
- Follow you normal Friday Night Homework routine.
- Go to bed early.
Day of the Test:
- Wake up fifteen minutes early to focus your thoughts.
- Eat breakfast (skip the quad latte and Red Bulll--you'll crash during the test).
- Bring Student ID
- Bring pencils, calculators, ear plugs, water, energy bar, etc.
- Arrive early--use the spare time to encourage yourself and your friends to do your best.
During the Test
- Stand up and stretch!
- Drink water.
- Read the Prompt
- Read the Quote
- Read the Prompt again.
- Think for 1 minute (don't write).
- Brainstorm. Focus, focus, focus your complementary examples and connect these specific examples to BIG CONCEPTS. Organize. (2 minutes)
- Write (20 min)
- Intro Paragraph:
- Thesis plus preview of your examples (Think DEVIL'S ADVOCATE--knock out objection to your thesis in your intro).
- 3 body paragraphs. Topic sentence plus 4-7 sentences of concrete detail.
- 2 body paragraphs is acceptable, but not advisable--write as much as you can to demonstrate the mastery of your tipic.
- Transition between paragraphs.
- Conclusion.
- LAST 2 MINUTES: Fix errors and upgrade vocabulary--(replace to be/to have with stronger verbs).
Writing Section (multiple choice)

- The Fist of No Error (see above and sidebar)
- Improving Sentences
- Improving Paragraphs
- Identifying Sentence Errors
Critical Reading

- Vocabulary: flash cards, word lists (Latin/Greek roots/prefixes/suffixes), word games--good! But the best way to acquire vocabulary is to READ.
- Use POE (process of elimination)
- Avoid answers that are too extreme (narrow, general, always/never, etc)
Sentence Completion--1 Blank
- Cover the answers.
- Read the sentence.
- Note trigger words (ex: conjunctions, prefixes, modifiers, negation) which change the meaning of the sentence.
- Read the sentence again, substituting your own word in the blank.
- Match your choice with the supplied answer choices.
- Not sure of the meaning? Look at the root--is similar the root similar to the root of a word that you know?
- Use POE to target the correct answer.
- Yes, the word you don't know can be the correct choice.
Sentence Completion--2 Blanks
- Cover the answers.
- Read the sentence.
- Note trigger words (ex: conjunctions, prefixes, modifiers, negation) which change the meaning of the sentence.
- Read the sentence again, substituting your own word in the blank.
- Uncover the first column of words. Match them with your choice in the first blank (two answers should be retained, the other three should be dismissed).
- Not sure of the meaning? Look at the root--is similar the root similar to the root of a word that you know?
- Uncover the second column of words. Match them with your choice in the second blank (the target choices in the 1st blank are usually synonyms of each other; and the second blank is usually opposite of each other; OR the target choices in the 1st blank are antonyms of each other and the second blank is are synonyms).
- Remember: there is only one correct answer!).
- Read the questions first.
- The short passage questions are usually about the tone, main idea, or inference.
- There is usually one dual short passage set per SAT test.
- Each of the four questions compare/contrast both passages.
- Draw a quick Venn Diagram to organize the info.
- The dual passages may not contradict each other (i.e. +/-), but one passage may be general, and the other passage may be more specific. Remember WHAT the topic is about, and the AUDIENCE.
- Read the blurb (who? what? where? when?)
- Skim & underline for information (Proper Nouns, Unusual Punctuation, Lists)
- Mark-up the passage as per the Questions (Beware of stealth EXCEPT and Inference Questions)
- Read the passage critically (why? how?)
- Answer the questions via POE
Dual Passages
Dual Passage--Intro
- Draw a Venn Diagram
- Read the blurb (who? what? where? when? audience? type of text?)
- Fill out the Venn Diagram--note "dual questions" in the union.
Dual Passage--Passage 1
- Skim & underline the First Passage for information (Proper Nouns, Unusual Punctuation, Lists)
- Mark-up the passage as per the First Passage Questions (Beware of stealth EXCEPT and Inference Questions)
- Read the passage critically (why? how?)
- Answer First Passage questions ONLY via POE
- Skip all Second Passage and Dual Passage Questions
Dual Passage--Passage 2
- Skim & underline the Second Passage for information (Proper Nouns, Unusual Punctuation, Lists)
- Mark-up the passage as per the Second Passage Questions (Beware of stealth EXCEPT and Inference Questions)Read the passage critically (why? how?)
- Answer Passage 2 questions ONLY via POE
- Skip all Dual Passage Questions
Dual Passage--Dual Passage Questions
- Update Venn Diagram (tone +/-) (note if there is a switch in tone/argument)
- Answer Dual Passage questions via POE
- Finish!

After the Test
- Don't just go home--celebrate with a special lunch or snack.
- Go on to your next task!
GOOD LUCK!
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