SATs? What are they? What do they look like?

Factual Questions
1

Well, I know basically what they are, from having it refered to in numerous movies and tv shows. A good score will mean you can get into great schools, get scholarships and coast through life. A bad score…

So anyway, I was googling to see if there was an older test online, and some general info on the subject. It would be interesting to know how tough these tests are ASF. However, I came across a few 100k of websites offering books and schemes on how to beat them, and student loan application and… well I couldn’t really making anything out of it. Maybe this is something everyone learns, just from being raised in the US, but I’m not, so simply asking fellow dopers for a SAT 101. And if someone should know of a place online where I can actually read, or even take, such a test, that would be nummy too.

2

They are basic, high school achievement tests. They used to be called “aptitude” tests, but finally had to admit that, in fact, they were testing knowledge. I took them about 25 years ago, but they probably haven’t changed all that much. There are two parts: Verbal and Math. The verbal test covers vocabulary and reading comprehension, there may be some analogies, too, I can’t recall. The Math part covers basic high school math up through algebra/trigonometry. I don’t think there was any calculus, since that’s not usually a required subject.

Don’t know about online versions.

3

They are basic, high school achievement tests. The initials used to stand for Scholastic Aptitude Tests, but they finally had to admit that, in fact, they were testing knowledge, so now the “A” stands for “achievement.” I took them about 25 years ago, but they probably haven’t changed all that much. There are two parts: Verbal and Math. The verbal test covers vocabulary and reading comprehension. There may be some analogies, too–I can’t recall. The Math part covers basic high school math up through algebra/trigonometry. I don’t think there was any calculus, since that’s not usually a required subject. The maximum score is 800 on each, and colleges will proudly boast about the average combined scores of their applicants.

Don’t know about online versions.

4

Oops, sorry. The hamsters had their caffeine this morning, apparently.

5

I went to school in England until right up until I was about 14, so I can provide something of a rough comparison in degree of difficulty…

The total score range is from 0 to 1600- as cher said, mathematics and verbal reasoning are each worth 800. There are analogies, as well as basic reading comprehension and logic puzzles.

I assume there are international baccalaureate programs in Sweden… an ‘A’ student in IB (at least in the UK program) would probably score between 1400 and 1600 on the SAT… drop maybe 150 points for each letter grade you’re trying to compare. (this is very rough, of course… it doesn’t take into account whether your grades are more based on effort or native ability and such, but its the best I can do).

If you had a firm grasp of basic mathematical principles and English grammar and vocabulary, it would essentially be a poor IQ test- but based on mine and my friends’ scores measured against their tested IQs, I’d say an IQ of over 130 or so will translate to an SAT score of above 1300.

6

The SAT I (there’s also a SAT II, which I’ll get to) is the most well known and most widely taken standardized test for high schoolers here in the U.S. It calls itself a reasoning test.

One SAT I test actually consists of several different tests taken at one sitting, each of which has a fixed time limit. Each separate subtest is either about math (“quantitative reasoning”) or English (“verbal reasoning”). Every question is multiple choice.

The math section asks you to solve various problems involving arithmetic, basic algebra, and basic geometry (I can’t remember if they have any trigonometry on it). There’s also a section where each question asks you simply to compare two quantities. Oh, right, and they give you all the formulas you might need, so nobody has to memorize any. There’s no calculus at all, and if there’s any trig, there’s very little. The questions aren’t all that tricky. To its credit, the questions do require you reason quantitatively, as opposed to learning a bunch of formulas.

The verbal section has different types of questions. For some, you need to read a passage and then answer questions testing your comprehension. There are also analogies which you must complete. I forget what else there is, but I do think there are more types of questions. This part always gave me the most trouble. You have to know what words mean :expressionless:

The scoring is a little weird. First, for both verbal and math, you get a “raw score,” which is the number of correct replies - (0.25)*the number of incorrect replies (questions left blank are not counted either way). (The scoring is done this way as a correction for guessing. Also, they might add some constant number to avoid theoretical negative scores; I don’t remember exactly.) Then, for each particular administration of the SAT I, they do a statistical analysis of all the scores nationwide (verbal and math separately) and determine a correspondence between raw scores and “normalized scores,” which are in the range from 200 to 800. Thus, the best possible score is 1600 (800 math + 800 verbal).

The SAT II is similar to AP exams, though far easier. Different subjects have different SAT II tests. For example, there’s a SAT II in chemistry, as well as in biology, and there are a couple in math. There’s also a writing test (tests grammatical knowledge as well as requiring a very brief essay) and tests of many foreign languages, including French, Spanish, and even Chinese. The SAT II tests are designed to test more specialized knowledge in specific subject areas. The final scores for each test are on the same 200-800 normalized scale.

Unfortunately, I don’t know of any place online where these tests can be read or taken. There’s good money made in that business…

I hope that helps somewhat.

7

Here is the fact sheet for the SAT I. The reason it’s called SAT I is that College Board, the company in charge, also produces a set of tests known as the SAT II, which test people in certain subjects, like Biology or French. The SAT I is more general, and whenever you hear someone talk about “the SAT”, it’s the general test they’re referring to.

What exactly the acronym stands for is a little tricky. Here’s the lowdown from the College Board FAQ:

As I understand it, test scores in each part are normalized to a mean of 500 with a standard deviation of 100. They impose a cutoff at 3 standard deviations, so the score on a single section must be between 200 and 800. Thus the total scores range from 400-1600.

Someone will likely come in here and say that the SAT is a horrible test because it doesn’t accurately reflect intelligence. I would just like to point out that College Board never claims that they’re trying to measure intelligence; they’re trying to measure aptitude. I’ve known plenty of smart people who do horribly in college, so the two things are quite clearly not the same.

8

The other type of question on the verbal section is sentence completion–they give you a sentence with one or two blank spaces, and you choose the word(s) that fit best.

9

Actually, it might be 0 - 800, a 0 resulting if you were to answer each question incorrectly and a 200 resulting if you were to leave every question blank. I admit, I’m a bit hazy.

10

I doubt you’ll be able to find sample tests for free, since there’s such a market for them, and anyone with sample tests will want to make money. There may also be copyright issues.

But I can describe them. There are two categories, verbal and math. On test day, you usually take five or six sections (I may be misremembering on this part, it’s been a while), two each on verbal and math which count for your score, and another verbal or math section which doesn’t count for your score, but is used for statistical purposes (you don’t know when you take it which section this is, so you have to put in full effort on all of them). Each section has a time limit of (I think) 30 minutes. Within a section, you can do the questions in any order you wish, skipping over some and possibly coming back to them later, but once the time is up, you can’t go back to any of the questions on that section.

The format is multiple choice. I think they’ve added some essay questions, too, but that was after my time (thank Heavens). You have a newsprint booklet which contains all of the questions and five answer choices each, and you record your answers on a separate bubble-sheet with a number 2 pencil. A calculator and (I think) a straightedge are allowed for the math part, though there are restrictions on what sort of calculator you can use (when I took it, you weren’t allowed a graphing or programmable calculator, but I think the requirement is more lax now). Your score is based on the number of questions you get right, minus a quarter of the number you get wrong, so on average, random guessing won’t improve your score. So if you have no clue at all on a question, leave it blank. But if you can eliminate one wrong answer, or have a hunch, then it’s to your advantage to guess. Your raw score for each subject (math and verbal) is converted to a number ranging from 200 to 800, incremented by 10, by an arcane and incomprehensible formula. The formula is supposedly designed in such a way that scores from one year mean the same thing as scores from any other year (that’s where those statistical sections come in). Nobody knows why the scores are 200 to 800, other than just that that’s the way it’s always been done.

The subject matter is fairly straightforward. The math questions don’t go any higher than what they call trigonometry, but you need never touch a sine or cosine. All you need know is the Pythagorean Theorem and that the sum of angles of a triangle is 180 degrees. There are also some basic algebra problems (2x + 3 = 7; what is x?), and some basic logic problems. In the verbal section, there are reading comprehension questions (you read a few paragraph passage, and answer questions based on it), analogy questions (cat is to fur as snake is to ____), and lots of vocabulary questions (a synonym for “pulchritudinous” is ____). You can take the test as many times as you like (and can afford); generally, only your best score will count.

There are a few other similar tests. The PSAT is taken earlier in high school, and serves primarily as practice for the SAT, and also as the first step in the National Merit Scholarship Program. It’s identical to the SAT, except that the scores for each subject are 20 to 80 instead of 200 to 800.

And the ACT is another test which serves the same purpose as the SAT: Some colleges require one or the other, some require both, and some give you a choice of which one to use. The ACT is divided into five subjects, rather than three (science, math, and reading are three of them; I don’t recall the other two), and the scoring for each subject is from (I think) 1 to 32. Like the SAT, the ACT is primarily or totally multiple choice, but unlike the SAT, there is no penalty for guessing. Your score is based solely on the number of questions you get right, and a wrong answer counts exactly the same as an answer not filled in. So when you get to about a minute left, you should just go through and fill in “c” on every question you don’t know (or fill in “a”, or make pretty patterns in the bubbles, or whatever).

Finally, there is the SAT II, made by the same people who make the SAT, which is a collection of different tests on specific subjects. There’s one for Latin, for instance, and one for physics. These usually aren’t required to get into the college, but they may be required for the major you’re going into. Typically, a good score on such a test may let you get out of one of your first-year courses. These are primarily multiple choice, but when I took them, they all had essay sections as well.

11

I don’t know of any college that will let you out of first year courses for taking SAT II tests… you need CLEP testing for that.

12

I noticed a previous poster said you could take the takes as many times as you like…and can afford.
Does it means you’ve to pay to pass the test? Whom exactly are you paying? Who is actually organizing the testing? The colleges? Are there several different SATs, with different whatever proposing its own or only one, “official” nation-wide SAT?

13

I got course credit for Spanish and English for my SAT II score at UNC. In general, a top score on the SAT II will not earn as much as a top score on the AP exam. IIRC, AP scores are also favored over IB scores.

14

There is a fee for taking the SAT, as for AP exams. The money goes to the College Board, a company based in Princeton, New Jersey, U. S. A (but in no way affiliated with Princeton University)that produces these tests.

15

I’m glad that this question has been asked, as I’ve become extremely curious too lately.

What else are students tested on - are there more internal individual subject tests or are the SAT IIs it? What will a university typically look at to differentiate between applications in terms of academic work - just the SATs?

16

The fee goes to The College Board, which administers the test. It is given 4 or 5 times each year at thousands of locations nationwide (usually high schools). You pre-register and pay the fee (approx. $25-30) and sign up for a specific testing location. As part of the fee, they will send your scores to up to 4 colleges or universities that you specify. For additional fees they can send the scores to other schools.

A similar test is the ACT (American College Test) which is preferred over the SAT by some universities (mostly in the west).

If you check Amazon.com or other booksellers, there are a number of books designed to prepare students for the SAT/ACT exams, with sample questions, etc. Many come with a CD-ROM which includes a sample test.

17

MrThompson - high school grades are probably the best indication of applicants’ academic work, and I believe most colleges give these the most consideration of all the academic factors. There’s nothing here like the “bac” of France.

18

You could try the Sat I Mini-Test; I found that while I was looking for help before taking the SAT about a month ago. Didn’t do too well, but I know how to improve my score now. I also used the book 10 Real SATs ($20US) that was pretty helpful, and also came with a CD containing even more SAT questions.

19

Four, actually: English (i.e. grammar, vocabulary, etc.), math, reading, and science reasoning. I don’t think the subject matter on the ACT is much different from the SAT; it’s just broken up into four sub-scores instead of two.

In case it needs saying, these are timed tests: you only have a certain number of minutes (in the case of the ACT, 45, 60, 35, and 35, for each section respectively).

It may be worth pointing out that the major appeal of the SAT and ACT is that they are standardized (as opposed to, say, a person’s high school grades): everyone everywhere takes the same tests under (as nearly as possible) the same conditions.

20

This website, run my College Board, the company behind the SATs, has many practice questions along with hints and tips for various sections of the SAT I.