The Student Room Group

Is it too late to take the SATs

Hello,

I am currently going into Upper Sixth and I have suddenly decided that I want to apply to both UK and US universities. Knowing the next SAT exam is in October, do you think I have an ample amount of time to prepare for the SAT and achieve a decent grade (above 2200)?

Thanks and if anyone could provide some SAT preperation links or recommend any publications, that would be great :smile:

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It depends on how much prep you will need. You could also do the November date or even the December date if you are applying for many of the schools with the New Year Deadline. Many other top schools have Feb deadlines and many state schools have rolling deadlines (though complicated, tell me if you are applying to any state universities)

sparknotes.com has prep for the Math and Science tests and the US History one. Barron books are good, even if overkill.

lol, why did I have to look up SAT dates twice in the last 10 minutes for TSR?
Reply 2
For some reason I thought that this thread was going to be about the other type of SATs.
Reply 3
thethinker
For some reason I thought that this thread was going to be about the other type of SATs.

Sorry to disappoint :P
Reply 4
thethinker
For some reason I thought that this thread was going to be about the other type of SATs.


Me too.
I just thought WTF?
Reply 5
vander Beth
It depends on how much prep you will need. You could also do the November date or even the December date if you are applying for many of the schools with the New Year Deadline. Many other top schools have Feb deadlines and many state schools have rolling deadlines (though complicated, tell me if you are applying to any state universities)

sparknotes.com has prep for the Math and Science tests and the US History one. Barron books are good, even if overkill.

lol, why did I have to look up SAT dates twice in the last 10 minutes for TSR?


Thanks for all your help :smile: Are you or have you applied to US universities as well?
Jtothean
Thanks for all your help :smile: Are you or have you applied to US universities as well?


I'm in the US now. Everybody around me is applying to US universities. :awesome: (But no, I not making any final decisions until this year)
Reply 7
what are SATs in this context?
ive never heard of them...
lee_91
what are SATs in this context?
ive never heard of them...


An entrance test for American universities.
Reply 9
vander Beth
An entrance test for American universities.


thanks, like some others, i thought they were the ones taken in like primary school lol
Reply 10
Haha oh is there some other type of SATs, can someone elaborate hahaha
Reply 11
vander Beth
I'm in the US now. Everybody around me is applying to US universities. :awesome: (But no, I not making any final decisions until this year)

Oh haha I decided to apply to the US as I wanted a change in environment :smile:
Reply 12
Well Collegeboard is obviously your first stop, as that's where you register to take the exams. They have some prep for the SATs on there; I'm not sure if you've practiced, but it's always worth it to do so.

Honestly though in my experience (I'm from the US), most SAT prep books are useless. Loads of my friends have taken overpriced SAT prep classes as well in order to guarantee good results (and they don't always work...)

What I would suggest is brush up on your critical reading. Get your hands on all kinds of literature and start analyzing it (as critical reading is 1/3 of your grade). The SAT critical reading section doesn't expect you to know classic literature, but you are expected to quickly and efficiently pick up on the major themes in the passage and the like. The main thing is timed practice. Also, practice your grammar especially, as for the writing section you must correct errors within passages and sentences. Keep in mind you must also write your own essay so try practicing timed essays if you haven't done so already.

The math section is not too bad. Most of it is pretty straightforward, but I don't know which math class you're taking at the moment. I recommend brushing up on geometry but that's about it.

Good luck! Just remember, don't panic.

Oh, just a side note. You should really only take the SATs three times max. You're certainly allowed to take it more than that but many US unis look down on it. Also, when you submit your results, US unis usually take the best of each section and use that as your overall score, so if you don't do so well on math the first time, if you improve the second time, they'll consider that score rather than the first one when adding up the sections. :smile:
Learn the tricks and you will be fine. I spent a week on prep and pulled over a 2300. I suggest Barrons GRE, it's meant for the GRE but their quant section has excellent tips.
Reply 14
Lord_Farquad
Learn the tricks and you will be fine. I spent a week on prep and pulled over a 2300. I suggest Barrons GRE, it's meant for the GRE but their quant section has excellent tips.


Is that score good enough for places like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton? Is the Barrons GRE book the only thing that you did as preparation?
mindy123
Is that score good enough for places like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton? Is the Barrons GRE book the only thing that you did as preparation?


Yes, that score is more than acceptable for ivy leagues. I was accepted to Princeton, Yale and Stanford with that score, I attend Stanford.

In general, if you score over 700 in at least two sections you're on good form.

I think I got something like 790M and 770V and 740 on the last section which I think is CR.
Reply 16
Lord_Farquad
Learn the tricks and you will be fine. I spent a week on prep and pulled over a 2300. I suggest Barrons GRE, it's meant for the GRE but their quant section has excellent tips.

What do you mean by tricks? And any other general advice?

Also, did you use this book?

If so, are the questions in there of the same standard as the ones in the actual exam?
gyyy2807
What do you mean by tricks? And any other general advice?

Also, did you use this book?

If so, are the questions in there of the same standard as the ones in the actual exam?



a lot of the questions can be done in your head without doing a lot of mathematical stuff. For example, often times a situation will be described and you will be asked to find the solution in equation form. Most people would spend a few minutes trying to derive an equation, instead I would just substitute in numbers and see which equation matched from the choices.

There are tonnes of little tricks like this that I learned via the GRE book, it has 13 sections for math and goes over every type. Worth its weight in gold.

I did not buy that SAT book, only the GRE book as it has tonnes of questions which are harder but similar.
Reply 18
Lord_Farquad
a lot of the questions can be done in your head without doing a lot of mathematical stuff. For example, often times a situation will be described and you will be asked to find the solution in equation form. Most people would spend a few minutes trying to derive an equation, instead I would just substitute in numbers and see which equation matched from the choices.

There are tonnes of little tricks like this that I learned via the GRE book, it has 13 sections for math and goes over every type. Worth its weight in gold.

I did not buy that SAT book, only the GRE book as it has tonnes of questions which are harder but similar.


I see what you mean, that book sounds invaluable! How did you know it would be so useful before you bought it though? I only ask as I hear the GRE is a test for graduate business school!
Reply 19
Lord_Farquad
a lot of the questions can be done in your head without doing a lot of mathematical stuff. For example, often times a situation will be described and you will be asked to find the solution in equation form. Most people would spend a few minutes trying to derive an equation, instead I would just substitute in numbers and see which equation matched from the choices.

There are tonnes of little tricks like this that I learned via the GRE book, it has 13 sections for math and goes over every type. Worth its weight in gold.

I did not buy that SAT book, only the GRE book as it has tonnes of questions which are harder but similar.

What about for the writing section? I'm not a native speaker and have always struggled with grammar, so I'm finding some of the writing a bit hard at the moment.

Thanks for the advice about maths, btw :smile: I usually find the answer first and then see which choice that is but, like you said, occasionally I'll just substitute the number back in because it's much easier.

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