The Student Room Group

SAT Help

I'm currently in Year 11 and about to take GCSEs, I am looking to apply to University in America (MIT) and I need to take SATs. I just wondered if anyone could help me out with how I should go about the whole process, when to apply and how etc.Any help would be really appreciated as I'm aware that I need to start the process early in order to be well prepared for them.
Study hard for the SAT, and aim to get a perfect score, or very close to perfect.

Ace all your GCSE'S

Original post by harrisonchar
I'm currently in Year 11 and about to take GCSEs, I am looking to apply to University in America (MIT) and I need to take SATs. I just wondered if anyone could help me out with how I should go about the whole process, when to apply and how etc.Any help would be really appreciated as I'm aware that I need to start the process early in order to be well prepared for them.
Original post by CrimsonDucati
Study hard for the SAT, and aim to get a perfect score, or very close to perfect.

Ace all your GCSE'S


Thats the plan!
Reply 3
Hi, I'm from America and I've taken the SAT, feel free to shoot me a message if you need any help :smile:
i'd normally recommend getting old SAT practice exams, but the new math section is considerably different

If you were in America, there's a lot of test prep companies that could prepare you; Asia too.

In the UK, not so sure

Old SAT exams aren't going to prepare you adequately.. Go on the ETS website, and look at some of the new sample problems. The new math is very wordy
Original post by harrisonchar
Thats the plan!
Do remember not to focus too hard on the SAT such that you lose sight of your other extra-curricular pursuits. It's important to show passion through a couple of things you do outside of school, so work very hard on those as well as the SAT. A lot of people obsess over getting a perfect score. As long as it's in the percentiles, perhaps close to the 75th of your chosen school, you can forget about it because it will not hinder you and make sure you get the essays spot on that convey why you're worth admitting and what you can contribute.

MIT doesn't need another perfect scorer. It has plenty of those. It needs someone who is both fantastic academically and outside of the lesson. Don't obsess over doing every activity either. The important thing to convey is passion, not "being able to do everything that exists". So focus on a couple of things you really love and you'll hit two bird with one stone. You'll be well prepared to write essays and you'll also enjoy your A-Level years instead of spending them obsessing over getting every detail right
Original post by GUMI
Hi, I'm from America and I've taken the SAT, feel free to shoot me a message if you need any help :smile:

thank you!
Original post by Student403
Do remember not to focus too hard on the SAT such that you lose sight of your other extra-curricular pursuits. It's important to show passion through a couple of things you do outside of school, so work very hard on those as well as the SAT. A lot of people obsess over getting a perfect score. As long as it's in the percentiles, perhaps close to the 75th of your chosen school, you can forget about it because it will not hinder you and make sure you get the essays spot on that convey why you're worth admitting and what you can contribute.

MIT doesn't need another perfect scorer. It has plenty of those. It needs someone who is both fantastic academically and outside of the lesson. Don't obsess over doing every activity either. The important thing to convey is passion, not "being able to do everything that exists". So focus on a couple of things you really love and you'll hit two bird with one stone. You'll be well prepared to write essays and you'll also enjoy your A-Level years instead of spending them obsessing over getting every detail right


Thank you thats really helpful! I do few things out of school so I'll make sure I keep going with them
Original post by harrisonchar
Thank you thats really helpful! I do few things out of school so I'll make sure I keep going with them


Sounds good
Reply 9
Ace your GCSEs, I'm sure you'll do great!

Register for the SAT for early year 12, I think there's one in October. This is probably the best time to do it as the workload can be overwhelming after the initial months, so studying for the SAT doesn't help (I did my SAT a week ago, right in exam season). Use Khan academy to practice, they have lots of personalised help and practice exams.
Look at the avg. SAT scores for the schools you want to apply to, so you can aim for this. Of course, you can take it more than once if you feel like your first score isn't good enough.
Schools like MIT want 2 subject tests, so make sure you register for them when you feel ready (You can't do them on the same day)

Try to keep your grades high throughout year 12. American Uni's tend to look at transcripts, so your midyear reports etc.. and not just your end of year grades. So make sure you keep up with the course load and revise effectively from the get go.

Other than that, as mentioned above, extra-curricular is very important. Use your long summer to do some volunteering etc.. programs like NCS are probably really good too. Try to do stuff outside school that shows your interest in whatever you want to major in. Many schools don't just want a smart student, they want someone who is interesting.

I hope this helps! If you need any more help just message me! I'll be applying for about 6 American Uni's this year. :tongue:
Currently doing my AS Levels...Which ones better/easier ACT or SAT??
Original post by harrisonchar
I'm currently in Year 11 and about to take GCSEs, I am looking to apply to University in America (MIT) and I need to take SATs. I just wondered if anyone could help me out with how I should go about the whole process, when to apply and how etc.Any help would be really appreciated as I'm aware that I need to start the process early in order to be well prepared for them.


Where can I get past SAT papers?
Reply 12
Original post by amiteshnagarkar
Currently doing my AS Levels...Which ones better/easier ACT or SAT??



They're both accepted at all universities, it honestly depends on you. Since the new SAT the content is probably quite similar.

Maybe look at the test centres for both and see which is more convenient?
I would check out College Confidential, the US version of TSR for a lot of information on the SAT and ACT. There is discussion of various prep booksthere, but Erica Meltzer's books are good for the verbal sections.

They changed the SAT, so there isn't much in terms of past papers, except for the 4 officially released sample tests. crackact has like 50 past papers for the ACTs. The SAT/ACT doesn't like that they put those out there. There are also officially released past ACT papers on Powerscore.
Original post by froa98
Ace your GCSEs, I'm sure you'll do great!

Register for the SAT for early year 12, I think there's one in October. This is probably the best time to do it as the workload can be overwhelming after the initial months, so studying for the SAT doesn't help (I did my SAT a week ago, right in exam season). Use Khan academy to practice, they have lots of personalised help and practice exams.
Look at the avg. SAT scores for the schools you want to apply to, so you can aim for this. Of course, you can take it more than once if you feel like your first score isn't good enough.
Schools like MIT want 2 subject tests, so make sure you register for them when you feel ready (You can't do them on the same day)

Try to keep your grades high throughout year 12. American Uni's tend to look at transcripts, so your midyear reports etc.. and not just your end of year grades. So make sure you keep up with the course load and revise effectively from the get go.

Other than that, as mentioned above, extra-curricular is very important. Use your long summer to do some volunteering etc.. programs like NCS are probably really good too. Try to do stuff outside school that shows your interest in whatever you want to major in. Many schools don't just want a smart student, they want someone who is interesting.

I hope this helps! If you need any more help just message me! I'll be applying for about 6 American Uni's this year. :tongue:

Good post except this part - it doesn't really have to be relevant as long as you demonstrate passion and it's a reasonable activity (i.e. not League of Legend for 10 hours a day)
Here's the deal about the SAT, and MIT

You HAVE to ace the SAT MATH..

As an international student, you have zero chance if you score less than 700 on the SAT math

Look at the 75% for MIT... You know what the math score is?? 800, a perfect score

Look at the stats that MIT releases

MIT tells you the exact % and number of those admitted

59 students total got admitted that scored less than 700 on the Math section..... Only 3 scored less than 650

Domestic Affirmative Action applicants take up almost all of these slots.


MIT gets plenty of applicants with both stellar scores and fantastic personal statements...
If you are applying to MIT, you should probably also apply to Caltech, which is similar, smaller, and twice as far away. For MIT, you should have 800 also on the math level 2 sat 2. Probably all A*s would be helpful.
Reply 17
Hiiii. I want to ask if it’s true that if u’ve done A levels and head off to US. U get extra credit hours and doing a level will be very beneficial
Original post by GUMI
Hi, I'm from America and I've taken the SAT, feel free to shoot me a message if you need any help :smile:
Are the SATs harder than GCSEs?
Original post by PalakShah
Are the SATs harder than GCSEs?

Hi, this thread was made in 2016 - to get a response it'd be better for you to make your own thread here :smile:

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