SAT Changes for March 2009

This story in US News and World Report discusses the fact that students will be able to choose which SAT scores a college sees, beginning in March.

The Most Important Word in an SAT/ACT Essay

Because.

That's it -- the most important word. You are more persuasive if you provide a reason for something. You will earn a better score on your essay if you are more persuasive.

A Harvard behavioural psychologist (Ellen Langer) did a study to determine how important the word "because" is. The gist of it is that when a person asked to cut in line to make five copies, 60% of people said OK.

When the same person asked to cut in line to make five copies because she was in a rush, 94% of people said OK. When that same person asked to cut in line to make five copies because she needed to make copies, 93% of people said OK.

So, even though that second reason isn't compelling, the person was vastly more persuasive when she had a reason than when she didn't. 33% more people said OK, even when the reason was bad. 33%.

I've been telling students for years that the two most crucial elements of thesis writing are to answer the question asked and use the word "because" before giving a reason. Explaining WHY you think what you think is critical to success.

Even Harvard psychologists say so.

I haven't read the whole study yet --and I sure would like to -- but I found the information about the study here, among other places.

Another Easy SAT Math Tip from Your Austin Tutor

Use all the information in a problem.


That's it -- that's the whole tip. In the SAT and the PSAT, there is no extra information in math problems. So if you solve the problem without using the fact that AB is congruent to BC or the fact that ABCD is a square, then you've got the wrong answer. You need to use all the information.

One way to be sure that you are using all the information is to cross out pieces as you use them. As you use each piece of information in your calculations, go back to the problem and softly cross out the information. (You don't want the word to be unreadable, in case you come back to the problem....)

Easy PSAT/SAT Math strategy from your Austin tutor

There are several tips/strategies that everyone agrees help with the math section -- picking real numbers and using them to replace variables in abstract problems, for example.

One strategy that I haven't seen much talk about is using formulas.

It's so easy and basic -- and it's helped all of my students. Essentially, if you are stuck on a problem, you write down the formula and then just substitute information in.

Here's an example. (This is a very hard SAT math problem...)


The average of six numbers is 210. If all the numbers are distinct positive integers and one of the numbers is 24, what is the greatest possible value of one of the remaining five numbers?

This kind of question has freaked out a lot of students, but it's really, really easy to set up -- if you use the formula.

average = sum of terms divided by the number of terms

In this case, that would be

75 = [24+x+y+z+a+b]/6

Cross multiply and you get

450 = x+y+z+a+b+24




OK, this next part requires a little thinking:

In order to simplify, first we subtract 24 from both sides and get

426 =x+y+z+a+b

(This is a step that most students miss if they haven't used the formula).

In order to figure out what the GREATEST possible value of one of those variables is, we have to think for a second. For one number to be really big, the rest would have to be small. And if all the numbers are distinct, positive integers, then the smallest they could be is 1, 2, 3, and 4. (Remember each number has to be distinct -- otherwise, we could just use 1,1,1,1).

So if x =1, y=2, z=3, and a=4,

then

426 =1+2+3+4+b

and b = 416.

There's your answer -- that's the biggest possible number that could make the equation true...

Austin PSAT results

The results for the PSAT should be mailed to your high school in early December...

Which Test? ACT vs. SAT

This story in the NYTimes offers a thoughtful comparison backed up by research.

Five Differences Between ACT and SAT

1. Length

The SAT is 3 hours, 45 minutes long, plus breaks, etc.
The ACT is 2 hours, 55 minutes long, plus breaks, etc. This does not include the writing portion, which adds another 30 minutes if you choose to take it.

2. Format

The SAT has ten sections: 3 critical reading, 3 math, 3 writing, and one unscored section they use to try out new test questions. The test always begins with the essay and ends with a 10-minute writing section. The second section through the seventh are 25 minutes long; sections eight and nine are 20 minutes. They can come in any order -- reading, math, reading, writing, etc.

The ACT has four sections that always appear in the same order:

English: 45 minutes

Math: 60 minutes

Reading: 35 minutes

Science: 35 minutes

3. The ACT English tests punctuation, grammar, and syntax. The SAT focuses on vocabulary as well as grammar.

4. The ACT has a science section. The SAT does not.

5. The SAT claims to test reasoning and problem-solving ability. The ACT claims to test curriculum-based knowledge.

Here is what the College Board says about the SAT:
"It tests students' knowledge of subjects that are necessary for college success: reading, writing, and mathematics. The SAT assesses the critical thinking skills students need for academic success in college—skills that students learned in high school."

Here is what the ACT makers say about the ACT:
"The ACT is curriculum-based. The ACT is not an aptitude or an IQ test. Instead, the questions on the ACT are directly related to what students have learned in high school courses in English, mathematics, and science. Because the ACT tests are based on what is taught in the high school curriculum, students are generally more comfortable with the ACT than they are with traditional aptitude tests or tests with narrower content."

ACT vs. SAT and practice tests

Want to know which test you should take?

The answer is easy: both.

The tests are really different. Some students do better or one than the other. There is no good way to predict who will do well on the ACT vs. the SAT, so take them both. If you don’t want to sign up for the official tests, no problem. Buy a practice book (get the ACT book from the ACT test makers and whichever SAT book you prefer) and take the test. Here are a couple things you need to do when you take the practice tests:

1. 1. Get sleep for two nights running before the taking the tests.

2. 2. Get up by 6 or 6:30 the morning you plan to take the test.

3. 3. Eat a good breakfast.

4. 4. Read something to wake up your brain.

5. 5. Go somewhere incredibly quiet to take the practice test –perhaps one of your parents’ offices on a Saturday morning. I hear the engineering library at UT is really quiet too. It is imperative that the place you take the practice test be quiet, just like the room for the real test will be.

Time yourself meticulously, or ask someone to do it for you. When your time is up, stop. If you finish a section early, wait until the full section time has elapsed. Do not go on to the next section until the the entire time for that section has elapsed.

In other words, take a practice test just exactly as if it is a real test. Exactly. That will give you a much better sense of how well you’re doing on the test than if you take a section here and there.

With the SAT, you can grade the vast majority of the practice test yourself -- and I can grade your essay quickly. With the ACT, you can grade the whole thing yourself and get your score.

Tests Getting More Important to College Admission

In Inside Higher Ed, I read that some colleges are thinking about dropping the test requirement altogether. And at the same time, the percentage of colleges that say testing is very important has grown by more than ten percent since 1995. Of course, very few current high school students will be affected by this call to do away with standardized tests, but their younger siblings might be.

Here's the whole story:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/09/22/testing

A couple of interesting highlights:

"Calling on colleges to 'take back the conversation,' a special panel convened by the National Association for College Admission Counseling will this week encourage colleges to consider dropping the SAT or ACT as admissions requirements."

"And in May, Wake Forest University announced it would go SAT-optional. Wake is No. 30 on the U.S. News & World Report list of top national universities and however much most educators may dispute the meaning of that list, it is influential with many prospective students, and this marks the first time that an institution that high on the list for universities has ever dropped its standardized testing requirement."

"

Colleges Attributing ‘Considerable Importance’ to Admissions Factors

Factor	1995	2000	2005
Grades in college-prep courses/strength of curriculum	80%	78%	74%
Admission test scores	47%	58%	59%
Essay	21%	20%	23%
Class rank	39%	34%	31%
Extracurricular activities	7%	7%	8%

SAT/PSAT Critical Reading Tip

Everyone always says that you should read a lot in order to do well on standardized tests. I can’t disagree—reading a lot helps on a lot of fronts, including the SAT. But many of my students have had much better luck with practicing *critical* reading skills. Think about it -- is the name of the section on the test "Reading" or is it "Critical Reading?" (It's critical reading...)

In order to become a great critical reader, you can practice asking questions as you read. You can read most anything – a newspaper article, a blog entry, the latest Pulitzer-prize-winning poetry – and ask yourself a few key questions in order to help raise your score. This whole process can take no more than fifteen minutes, and it’s great for raising scores, especially if you do it regularly – twice a week, for instance.

Here’s how to do it.

--Read an article. (Or blog entry or poem or what-have-you.)

--Identify a fact or a concrete image. (Any one will do.)

--Ask yourself WHAT the purpose of that fact/image is. What is its job in the article?

--Is the fact there to support a point that the author is trying to make? (This is often the case.)

--Consider what the author’s main point/thesis is. What is the author trying to get across?

--Does the fact or image support the main point?

Going through these steps will help you become a better critical reader. As you get started, choosing articles that are well-written is often a good idea because well-written articles will have more logic and order, so reading them critically is much easier. As you get good, you may realize that you can learn as much from badly-written stories as well-written ones (‘this fact has no point at all – why is it in here??’).

So, read something good. Determine the author’s main point. Choose a detail. Identify the detail’s job. Become a critical reader. Raise your SAT reading score.

Upcoming Test Dates -- ACT/SAT 2008-2009

SAT
November 1, 2008
December 6, 2008
January 24, 2009
March 14, 2009
May 2, 2009
June 6, 2009


ACT
October 25, 2008
December 13, 2008
February 7, 2009
April 4, 2009
June 13, 2009

PSAT/SAT Writing Section Tip: Comparisons

Students often miss comparisons. What’s important to remember that when you make comparisons, you need to compare apples to apples and oranges and to oranges.

For example, if the sentence says that Mick Jagger's voice is better than Aretha Franklin, you know it's wrong because Mick Jagger's VOICE is being compared to Aretha Franklin, not Aretha Franklin's voice. You can't reasonably compare a voice and a person – you can only compare a voice to a voice.

Here's an example from the College Board's website:

After the music recital, Alexandra enjoyed listening (A) to her friend Mohammed's insightful interpretation, which she(B) thought was more sophisticated(C) than the other performers.(D)

No error (E)

The answer here is D. Alexandra enjoyed listening to an interpretation – which is, in this case, being compared to performers, not performers' interpretations. An interpretation is being compared to performers – in other words, apples are being compared to oranges. Here is a corrected version of the sentence:

After the music recital, Alexandra enjoyed listening (A) to her friend Mohammed's insightful interpretation, which she(B) thought was more sophisticated(C) than the other performers' interpretations.(D )

Or this:

After the music recital, Alexandra enjoyed listening (A) to her friend Mohammed's insightful interpretation, which she(B) thought was more sophisticated(C) than the other performers'. (D)

Note that in this second correction, the word interpretation is dropped. Often, the way this kind of question gets complicated is through the use of possessives and dropping a word. Possessives are indicated by the use of the apostrophe s ('s) or s apostrophe (s'). If you have a sentence than involves a comparison and a possessive, check it especially carefully. And always make sure that things are compared to things, people to people, and apples to apples.

PSAT/SAT Writing Tips: The Dangling Modifier

Learning what the dangling modifier is and how to fix it is a quick way to get more points on the writing section. There are usually several of these in the first two parts of the grammar/writing section, and students usually miss them.

Essentially, when a sentence starts off with a phrase that has an action or description in it, the subject of that phrase needs to come immediately after it. Here's an example:

Having finished dinner, it was time for bed.

Yowzers -- that's not right. Look at the introductory phrase "having finished dinner." Who or what has finished dinner? Well, we don't know from the sentence, but we do know that the subject needs to be a person. Mary finished dinner, Bedilia finished dinner, someone finished dinner.

What we do know is that "It" did not finish dinner (how can an “it” eat dinner???), but "it" is the first word after the introductory phrase. That's wrong. Plain old wrong. So we need to fix it.

Having finished dinner, Mary went to bed.

This works. We have introductory phrase with an action – finishing dinner. Who or what finished dinner? Mary. Is “Mary” the first word after the introductory phrase? Yup. OK, problem solved.

Let's try another one.

Getting out of the shower, the doorbell rang.

We have an introductory phrase with an action or description: “Getting out of the shower.” We need a subject. Who or what was getting out of the shower? Well, the first word after the phrase is “the doorbell.” Was the doorbell getting out of the shower? No? Then the sentence is wrong. A fix might be:

Getting out of the shower, James heard the doorbell ring.

Who was getting out of the shower? James. Ah...the first word after that introductory phrase is the subject of it. Yay-- that works.

FYI: Dangling modifiers can occur at the ends of sentences but nearly always happen at the beginning.


Want to learn more about this? (And who wouldn't??) Check out the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL). It's a fantastic resource for all grammar quandaries:

The main site:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

The dangling modifier page:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_dangmod.html

SAT Essay Prep: Brainstorming

Ideally, before you begin writing the essay or even the thesis, you’ll brainstorm for two-three minutes.

(See the previous post on writing a thesis for the essay prompt.)

For many students, the easiest way to brainstorm is to think of examples. In this case, start naming celebrities: George Clooney, Paris Hilton, Brad and Angelina, A-Rod, Shaq, Paul Newman…then start to think about whether or not these people are happy. Once you determine that, go back and look at the question again. It’s not asking if these folks are happy, it’s asking if their fame brings them happiness. There’s no way to know for sure – and the prompts never have right or wrong answers – so take your best guess and decide whether you want o argue that fame does or does not bring them happiness.

What you want to be sure that you do is think of your examples. Oftentimes, even if you’re not sure what exactly you think, coming up with a few examples in response to the prompt will lead you to taking a side – and getting started on your thesis.

New: SAT Writing Workshop

I'm putting together an essay writing workshop -- we'll meet from 6-8:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 9.

The first hour will be straight class about how to write an SAT essay. The second part will involve students writing an essay, grading/critiquing a student essay, and then grading their own essays. Nothing helps students understand a grading rubric better than grading actual work.

Workshops are terrific for getting a broad understanding of the SAT essay process -- plus workshops are really, really fun. I will also continue to provide detailed feedback on essays in one-on-one tutoring sessions or over email.

If you are interested in this writing workshop, let me know (testpreptexas@yahoo.com), and I'll send you more details.

Some Helpful Links

I'll be adding to this as I come across more helpful links, but here are some good ones for getting started...

PSAT: College Board’s website
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/about.html

SAT: College Board’s website
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/about.html

ACT: Official website
http://www.act.org/

Comparing ACT and SAT scores
http://professionals.collegeboard.com/research/pdf/concordance_between_s_10502.pdf

SparkNotes – 1000 SAT words
http://img.sparknotes.com/content/testprep/pdf/sat.vocab.pdf

SAT essay prompts June 2007
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2007/09/20/sample_essay_questions_on_the_sat/

SAT essay prompts October 2008
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/after/essay_prompts.html

SAT Essay Prep: Thesis, part 1

Writing a good clear thesis is essential to a successful essay. You want a thesis that does several things:

1. Answers the prompt
2. Takes a side
3. Explains WHY you think what you think

Number three is the tough one. Let's take a look at the first two first.


Here's a prompt from the June 2008 SAT, which I'm quoting directly from the College Board website:

Prompt 1

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

Most of us are convinced that fame brings happiness. Fame, it seems, is among the things people most desire. We believe that to be famous, for whatever reason, is to prove oneself and confirm that one matters in the world. And yet those who are already famous often complain of the terrible burden of fame. In fact, making the achievement of fame one's life goal involves commitments of time and effort that are usually wasted.

Adapted from Leszek Kolakowski, Freedom, Fame, Lying, and Betrayal: Essays on Everyday Life

Assignment:

Does fame bring happiness, or are people who are not famous more likely to be happy? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

OK, so after reading this, you brainstorm for two or three minutes and think of some famous people: Paris Hilton, Paul Newman, George Clooney, George Bush, Brad and Angelina. Are they happy? Well, it's not like you know them and can say for sure, but it seems like they're happy. WHY are they happy? Is it because of the fame? It seems like maybe that's true for Paris Hilton, but not for Brad and Angelina or for Paul Newman. So, you decide to write that no, fame does not bring happiness.

OK. great. You have taken a side and answered the prompt, so your thesis might look like this:

'As evidenced by the lives of celebrities, fame does not bring happiness.'

OK. That's good. It's clear, it's direct, it answers the question asked.

What it still needs to do to be a knockout is explain WHY you think that fame does not bring happiness. Which brings us to item number 3.

So, WHY don't you think that fame is responsible for making people happy? Well, though people pursue it, they also complain about it and try to escape it -- Brad and Angelina went all the way to Africa to have a baby, so they could escape their fame. Paul Newman was happiest at his camp for disabled children -- where no one knew who he was. If fame brought them happiness, why would they want to escape their fame??

So your revised thesis might look like this:

"If you look closely at the lives of celebrities, it's clear that fame does not bring happiness because the celebrities often try to escape their fame, and few people run away from things that bring them happiness."

Here's the magic piece: "Because."

If you can answer the prompt and then add the word "because" and then explain the reasons that led you to choose the side that you did, your thesis will be much stronger. I repeat: What's important here is that you can articulate WHY you have chosen the side that you did -- in this case, WHY you think that celebrities aren't happy because of fame.

End of part 1.

Next post: More on Brainstorming...