SATs needed for US university entrance?

I'm trying to work out whether SATs results will be needed to increase chance of entrance to most US univerities, but most university websites
are unclear. NYU explicitly states that it is compulsary that all international applicants submit SAT results regardless of other foreign qualifications. Most other universities say they need SAT scores for US applications, but don't say anything foreign.

In your opinion, would it be worth taking the SATs in preparation for making applications to US universities, or is it a waste of time? I am not aspiring to enter top US universities, just middle of the road ones.

Cheers

Reply 1

RightSaidJames

From the link at the top of this page:

In general, most universities require the SAT or the ACT exam. In addition to this, some universities will require SAT II (Subject Tests). Should English not be your primary or first language, you are required to take a TOEFL examination. SATs are offered seven times a year and their registration deadline is around 3/2 months before the test date.

Reply 2

IBclass06

Yes, it would be worth it. Even if they don't require the SAT for international applicants, a good SAT score can only help.

Reply 3

burninginme

Thanks for the information. I gather SATs serve as a way of the university establishing your mathematical ability and English language ability. I've never been particularly good at Maths, what sort of level of Maths is expected to get a resonable score on the text? Is it comparable to a high GCSE grade, or more like A Level Maths?

Also, for the English section of the test, even if you're taking the test from abroad, I'm guessing that you'd be down-marked for using anything other than American spelling (ie s rather than z, etc)?

Reply 4

pigetrational

The actual maths isn't terribly difficult, but understanding what the question is asking is more difficult.

As for spelling, the only writing you do is in the essay, as the rest is multiple choice. The people who read your essay (two people do, their marks are added together) have thousands to do, so will probably read the whole two pages in about 2 minutes.

They look for a strong opening, a strong ending, and the usual "hypothesis, example 1, example 2, conclusion" sort of thing. Spelling won't come into it, but using big words definitely does help!

Reply 5

burninginme

pigetrational

The actual maths isn't terribly difficult, but understanding what the question is asking is more difficult.

Hmm, it sounds like it's difficult to compare the Maths asked in the SAT, to what would be asked on a GCSE/A Level Maths paper at a particular grade. At GCSE, I only just scraped a C, with effort I could probably improve, but is a C grade at GCSE way off to even hope to get a decent grade on the SAT in the Maths section?

Thanks

Reply 6

pigetrational

You can have a look at the CollegeBoard's SAT Question of the Day, and see if the Maths q's come up, it's at http://apps.collegeboard.com/qotd/question.do.

Also, the practice maths questions are available here: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/prep_one/math.html. See how you go with those.

Reply 7

Joan_Jett

I'd recommend a book from College Board, its this huge, thick book about SAT preparation. It cost me about £20 from amazon with express delivery, so it wasn't actually that bad. It's very useful. It's called The Official SAT Study Guide.

Reply 8

HarryUS

A couple of points:

I would definitely take the SATI, and only skip taking two/three SATIIs if I had a really good reason. You're up against lots of strong US and international applicants wherever you are thinking of applying and it shows that you're interested and committed to studying in the US if you've done your research and then taken the SAT.

The Maths part of the SATI test is just around the GCSE level, but the format is different, so familiarisation with the style and timing would really help you. Also, if your maths is a bit rusty, you may find that the official book mentioned in the post above is a really good resource. I always felt that the US books broke down basic maths in a much more easily digestible way than the UK maths books did.

Re: spelling, use US forms. It's not worth the risk of having an over-zealous marker deciding to penalize you. Also, I would say that it's less to do with big words, more to do with clarity and insight.

Lastly, if you're serious about studying in the US, and thus the SATs, it may be worth getting a tutor in to help you. Given that none of your education/advising up to this point has been geared towards an undergraduate course in the US, it's worth getting some help and boosting your chances of getting a great education over there.

Reply 9

ussferox

you may know this already, but while SATs are taken into consideration, us unis also look a lot at your application essays, your GPA (i don't know if they have those in uk schools...), AP/IB scores (like A-levels), extra-curricular activities, and community service work. its much more of a touchy-feely, "we want to know the whole you" approach than the straight-forward "academics are what matter" thing the UK unis have going on. and if you don't get the strongest SAT scores, in your essays stress why you would make a good contribution to the uni environment despite that and how all your extra work and interests take up lots of your time.

Reply 10

xinolisss

Yeah... generally speaking... much harder work applying to US both for US kids as for UK kids... in comparison to UCAS...

Anyways... I applied to get rejected so... :smile: