How should I prepare for the SAT test?

SAT I has three parts:

1. Critical Reading, with 19 sentence completion questions and 48 questions based on paragraphs.

2. The Writing part has an essay to be written in 25 minutes, and is followed by 49 questions on sentences with a grammatical error in most sentences.

3. The Mathematics part has 54 questions.

- The entire test has 10 sections (including an "experimental section").

- Along with breaks, the test takes almost four hours. Many educators feel that since school students never take a four-hour exam, the SAT I is unnecessarily long and extremely taxing.

Before I give specific guidelines on self-preparation, I can state with assurance, based on my 20 years experience in preparing 5,000 students for the SAT, that 95 per cent of all students will score much higher (300 to 500 points higher) if prepared by an experienced instructor with an established track record.

For a "do-it-myself student" I recommend the Kaplan series of textbooks and workbooks on each part, supplemented by ARCO books and the College Board's "The Official SAT I Study Guide".

The sequence of preparation:

- Do the first full test in the College Board book as a Diagnostic test.

- Take careful note of the scores per section.

- Attempt to learn to get right the questions you got wrong.

- Compute your starting score per section and for the whole test.

- Also examine where you were too slow.

- Start preparing with the maths section. Read the approach in the Kaplan text, and then work through the entire Kaplan Maths Workbook. Then do a maths only test, and your score should have risen significantly from the Diagnostic score.

- Always learn by correcting every wrong answer in each test or exercise. n Problem types often repeat in subsequent tests

- Do successive maths tests, until your score reaches 700 plus or 200 above the Diagnostic score, whichever is lower.

- Repeat the sequence with the grammatical errors in the Writing Section.

- Here, develop your expertise with the typology of "16 mistakes". It is far easier to spot errors if you have a checklist of all errors and examples to help you identify types.

- Do one writing test and the score should be considerably higher than on the Diagnostic test.

- Make sure you properly identify every error you made, by its name from the list of 16 errors.

- Do tests in sequence, until you are scoring close to or above 40 correct after negative marking.

The essay:

- SAT I essays are scored high if they address the exact issue posed, and if one, two or three substantiating pieces of evidence are cited.

- Discussion on a logical basis alone is not enough. For example, consider that the essay assignment is ‘Does adversity help to bring out the best in us'? A good essay, assuming the writer agrees with the issue, could cite details of Lance Armstrong's fight with cancer for months, and then rising to the top and winning seven Tour de France cycling titles in a row. The writer can also cite Nelson Mandela's fight against Apartheid, his being put in jail for years, and finally winning his freedom and becoming the president of a united South Africa.

Critical Reading:

- The most difficult section to improve in. Those students who have read many books, including difficult literature, are better equipped to do well in this section.

The only aids are:
- Learn speed reading;

- First select all line reference questions (easiest).

- Then word in context questions;

- Leave to the last the inference questions.

- Doing test after test, analysing after each and every mistake, is the best way to get your score to improve.

PRACTICAL TIPS ON EFFECTIVE SELF-STUDY:

Concentrate on one section at a time.

- Start with maths.

- If your score gets to 700 plus, start essays and writing. Then critical reading. Concentration increases the rate of increase of scores.

- Critical Reading is usually the lowest scoring section for 90 per cent of students. Learn speed reading and scanning techniques.

- Do not read a long passage in its entirety.

- Select questions to answer in the sequence listed earlier. You will end up with more correct questions in the given time.

- Essay: Substantiate your selected position on the issue.

- Writing: Mastering the 16 Mistakes list is essential

- Maths: Speed-up tricks are available for many questions; unfortunately few books have many, as these are easier to demonstrate live than in writing.

- To increase speed in any section, go into "force mode": if a section allows 25 minutes, force yourself with a stop watch to do three in sequence in only 20 minutes. Count how many you got right in each of the three sections. Then go back to 25 minutes for the next. You will find you get quite a few more right than at the beginning. You have trained your mind to work faster.

- During 10 to 12 days before your SAT I test, do a full test, and correct as many errors as you can. Then do another. Do 5 in all. This will build up your mental stamina for a four-hour test.

- The brain works on sugar. After 2 plus hours of concentrated work, all the sugar in your system has been depleted. So in the break, replenish with chocolate or sweets.

- The brain also works less efficiently if your blood supply is poor in oxygen, which happens after two hours of concentrated work. So do some exercises such as yoga and deep breathing to restore a rich supply of oxygen in your blood. These two tips will make you perform much better for the last three or four sections of your test.

- The next SAT test will be held on January 27.

- The writer is the CEO of Excellence in education