CATES Blog

PSAT exam

“Let Go Of That Score”

If you are worried about your college entrance exam scores – namely the standardized tests – you should be…somewhat.  For those suffering from score-induced panic, know that your scores, while important, should never infiltrate your self-esteem, let alone be a measure of it.

Let the others worry about themselves; you’ll have enough to manage!  First up in your unique standardized testing path is taking the PSAT in October of 11^th grade.  A shortened version of the SAT, the 2 hour and 10 minute PSAT serves two main purposes: 1) to give you a rough (and ONLY ROUGH!) idea of your overall multiple choice questions performance, and 2) to qualify the top 1% scorers for National Merit Semi-finalist eligibility.  While prestigious, National Merit is a separate, later series of steps to take.  Right now, dismiss that concept altogether.  Take the PSAT with as much focus as possible.  The outside, overwhelming world only compromises your best efforts if you let it!

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Which SAT II exam should I take?  When should I take it?

Of all the crazy making parts of the SAT Process that exist outside of the test itself, none can be more stress inducing that the decision making about the SAT II exams.

The SAT Subject Tests are a group of tests in different academic disciplines. The College Board currently administers exams in Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics Chinese, Literature, U.S. History, World History, French, German, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin and Spanish.

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College Sat Exam

When is guessing a good idea on the SAT Test?

The SAT is a very tiring and lengthy exam. At times, when you take the SAT exam you will be unsure which answer choice to select or how to even approach a problem..  These are critical moments in your test taking and it integral to your success on the SAT test that you have a clear guessing strategy.

On the SAT exam you are awarded one point for each correct answer, deducted a quarter of a point for each incorrect answer, and neither awarded nor deducted points for leaving a question blank. So, basically, it really matters when you choose to answer questions on the SAT and how you come to that decisions. If you make wild guesses on questions on the SAT when you have no idea of the answer you seriously jeopardize your score.

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Exams via Flickr: Alex France

How much is too much? When it comes to the SAT, it’s a question that a lot of students (and their parents) wonder about. Few people just take the test only once; most take it several times, but how many times is too many? If twice, or three times, is good, wouldn’t four, five, or six times be even better? Well…probably not. A couple of factors come into play when you’re deciding how when, and how many times to take the SAT, so here’s a short guide to your testing schedule.

Take it More Than Once

Would it be great if you could just take the test once, and be finished? Of course it would. I mean…that would be great. That does occasionally happen, but unless you get a near-perfect score the first go-round, it’s smart to try again. Why?

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SAT Testing Sign via Flickr: methodshop.com

In the last post, we established that you should probably take the SAT more than once, unless you knock it so far out of the park on your first shot that it really is unnecessary. In a college admissions market where competition and pressure are sky high, however, it’s easy to let things get out of hand. It’s hard to know when to stop, when enough really is enough.

The SAT is offered in January, March, May, June, October, November, and December. Theoretically, you could start in January and go straight through the year, taking it month after month. There are a number of reasons why this would be a bad idea, not the least of which being that it would probably drive you completely crazy. Here are a few others:

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