CATES Blog

What is Score Choice? What is Super Scoring? What’s the difference?

When you are taking the SAT exam many hours go into studying and preparing for the exam.  You take mocktests, work on practice problems, and formulate your perfect strategy to beat the test. Then you take the SAT test and, for many people, the work ends here. Don’t be one of these people. You still have a couple strategies you can consider.

One of them is Score Choice.  The College Board, the company that creates and administers the SAT, allows you to implement Score Choice if you so choose.  Essentially, Score choice allows you to elect which SAT score you can submit to colleges.  If you take the SAT multiple times, Score Choice enables you to select your best score and submit that score, and that score alone, to colleges.  There are some schools that require you to submit all your test results and your college counselor will know which ones, but Score Choice allows you, whenever possible, to put your best foot forward.

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How do I choose the right test center to take the SAT?

When taking the SAT, it doesn’t matter which test center you choose, since you’ll either know the material or you won’t, right?  Well, not quite.  While it’s true that you’re not going to magically remember what a function is the minute you set foot on a well-run testing site, a poorly run site can really shake you up.  This aspect of taking the SAT is often under appreciated, and you should take it seriously.

At certain public school testing sites in Manhattan, for instance, you’ll have to walk through a metal detector and you may need to wait in the gym for as long as an hour before the test begins.  These aren’t the kinds of distractions you want to have on the day you finally take the SAT.

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What do I need to know about signing up for the SAT?

You’ve been working with a CATES tutor, doing Math, Reading, and Writing practice sets in between sessions, and taking advantage of the free CATES mock tests.  You’re ready to take the SAT.  So where do you go to sign up, and what do you need to know?

The SAT is offered at the end of January and in early March, May, June, October, November and December.  The test isn’t always offered on the exact same date, each year, but as soon as it is scheduled, in August, you can sign up for it.  In other words, you can sign up for the June SAT as early as the summer before you take it.  Don’t wait until the last minute.  As soon as you know when you’re taking the SAT, sign up for the test.

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When should I take the SAT exam?  How many times should I take it?

The SAT exam is offered several times each year: in January, March, May, June, October, November and December.  There’s no limit to how many times you can take the SAT (though there’s an additional fee each time you do).

So if you can take the SAT over and over and over again, until you get the score that you want, there’s no need to study, right?  Wrong.  Without taking the time to prepare for the SAT, you won’t understand how to take the test.  You won’t know the vocabulary covered in the Critical Reading Section or the rules of grammar you’re expected to know for the Writing Section.  You won’t know how to write an SAT essay, or what material is covered on the SAT Math.  There’s no substitute for making the effort to prepare effectively.

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What should I do after the SAT Test?

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