SAT (REASONING TEST) |
| Overview - Critical Reading Section - Math Section - Writing Section - Official SAT Preparation Booklet |
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| It is important to note that there is the SAT reasoning test, in addition to the SAT subject tests. This page covers the SAT reasoning test. The SAT reasoning test measures your critical thinking and problem solving skills, in math, critical reading and writing. The SAT is administered 7 times a year (6 times internationally) and it is not administered by computer. There are 10 sections on test day, and you have a total of 3 hours and 45 minutes to complete the test. All multiple choice questions on the MCAT are scored the same. You get 1 point for correct answers, you lose a quarter point for wrong answers, and you don’t lose or gain a point for unanswered questions. On test day, you will need a number 2 pencil (no mechanical pencils), a calculator (some restrictions but graphing calculators allowed), a soft eraser, your admissions ticket and a photo ID. The registration fee in 2007 was $43, and registration deadlines are typically 4 weeks prior to the test dates. Tests are typically offered in October, November, December, January, March, May and June. The highest possible test score is a 2400, and you can take the test more than once if you desire a higher score (about half of SAT takers, take it twice). |
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In 2007, almost 1.5 million students took the SAT, with the following average scores: Math 515; Critical Reading 502; Writing 494. |
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| On test day you take 10 sections total. The first section is always the 25 minute single essay question, and the last section is always a 10 multiple choice questions writing section. |
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| The critical reading section (70 min's total: Two 25-min sections & one 20-min section) |
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| The critical reading sections assess how well the student understands what they read. Specific reading questions assessed include identifying main and supporting ideas, determining the meaning of words, understanding author’s purposes and understanding the structure and function of sentences. Reading passages used to assess the above concepts, are related to different fields including humanities, social sciences, literary fiction and natural sciences. There are two types of questions in this section, passage-based reading (48), and sentence completion (19) questions. There are a total of 67 critical reading section questions, and about 42-50 cover extended reasoning, 4-6 cover literal comprehension, and 12-16 cover vocabulary in context. The critical reading score ranges from 200-800. |
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| The mathematics section (70 min's total: Two 25-min sections, & one 20-min section) |
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| This sections measures the student’s mastery of mathematical concepts and reasoning. It is intended to cover three years of basic high school math to include exponential growth, absolute value, functional notation, linear functions, manipulations with exponents, and properties of tangent lines. There are two types of questions in this section, standard multiple choice (44), and student-produced response (10) questions. There are a total of 54 mathematics section questions, and about 11-13 cover number and operations, 19-21 cover algebra and functions, 14-16 cover geometry and measurement, and 6-7 cover data analysis, statistics and probability. The mathematics score ranges from 200-800. |
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| The writing section (25 min's for the single essay, one 25-min, & one 10-min section) |
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| This section measures the students mastery of standard written english, starting with the essay, which is always the first question on the SAT. The goal of the essay is to assess a student’s ability to develop and expressing a point of view on an issue, and counts for about 30% of your writing score. The multiple choice questions measure a student’s ability to to use language in a coherent and clear manner, and to improve something already written by revising or editing and asking students to find errors, choose the best versions of written statements, and to improve paragraphs. There are two types of questions in this section, a single essay for which you have 25 minutes to complete, and multiple choice questions (49) for a total of 50 questions. Of the multiple choice questions, 25 cover improving sentences, 18 cover identifying sentence errors, and 6 cover improving paragraphs. The writing section score ranges from 200-800 with an essay sub score of 2-12, and a multiple choice sub score of 20-80. |
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