Many colleges and universities use the SAT test for their assessment purposes. The exam is a part of the requirements for admission processes in the school. It evaluates the academic strengths and preparedness of the candidates for college. It is essential to point out that the SAT exam serves the same purpose as the ACT test.
These exams are used by institutions to form a part of their admission process requirements along with other factors, such as class rank, high school grades, extracurricular activities, recommendations, and community service. The purpose of the SAT is to evaluate the capability of the candidate in the core areas of mathematics, reading, and writing.
The passing score ranges from 200 to 800 on each section. In total, there are seven exam dates for the SAT in the United States, the United States Territories, and Puerto Rico.
What is the format of the SAT exam?
The core sections of the Writing, Critical reading, Mathematics test include Mathematics, Critical Reading, and Writing. There are multiple-choice and also some grid-in questions in the Mathematics area. The Writing section also has an essay part. Let us look at these parts in detail.
Critical reading section
This part is based on passages and includes multiple-choice questions. You can expect both short and long reading passages in this section. The core areas that you will be measured include your skills in sentence completions and passage based reading. It checks your ability to analyze and use information, which is important for college education.
Mathematics section
This section contains calculator and no-calculator parts. It covers fundamental mathematics skills that are common to the students at the end of their junior year. They will be tested on algebra and functions, number and operations, data analysis, probability, geometry and measurement, and statistics.
Some questions are multiple choices but some are grid-in. The section measures whether you are able to solve math problems quickly finding the most appropriate approach.
Writing section
These are of the SAT exam is made up of questions that are based on passages and a multiple-choice format.You must have editor skills to cope with this part. Your task here is to find mistakes and correct them. Informational graphics are also included in this section to be interpreted. The passages are dedicated to different areas, including history, career, science, and etc.
How can one register for the SAT exam?
The SAT test is administered only on Saturdays and it is available seven times within a year. In other words, you can only write it on Saturday in October, November, December, January, March, May, and June.
Many students in high schools usually take their SAT exams for the first time in the spring of their junior year. In case you don’t pass the test, you can retake it. For registration, you will need to visit the SAT official website and create an account. You will be required to provide some basic personal information to validate your account.
You should write your full name, you can also give some details if you want that educational organizations are able to find you. Decide if you choose the SAT with Essay and upload your photo.After creating it, you can go ahead to register for your exam. Follow the requirements attentively.
You will get the Admission ticket, which you must bring with you on your test day along with the photo ID.
It is worth mentioning that online registration is the easiest one, but some students must mail a registration paper form. The reasons include the situations when the candidates can’t sit for the test on Saturday (for religious reasons) or want to take it closer to their home. One more reason is the age under 13.
How much is the SAT registration fee?
There are different fees associated with the SAT exam registration. The general basic registration fee is about $50. Apart from the standard registration fees, there are also some additional ones that are charged for changes to test types, phone registrations, dates or locations changes, and late registrations.
You may also be required to pay some fees that are associated with sending your test scores to institutions. If you require additional information about specific questions and answers relating to your test, you will also have to pay a fee. It is essential to mention that all the registration and exam fees are non refundable.
How are the SAT test scores computed?
The SAT exam is made up of three different sections, namely, Mathematics, Writing, and Critical Reading. Each section is scored on a scale of 200-800. The total potential score of the students on the SAT test is 2400. Additionally, the candidates will receive two sub-scores on the Writing section, that is, an essay score that ranges from 2 to 12.
There is also a multiple-choice score that is from 20 to 80. The main scores on the SAT is generated by giving each student one point for every correct answer and deducting ¼ point for every incorrect answer. When you skip a question, it is not counted towards your potential scores.
The scores obtained from the above are referred to as the raw scores. After computing your raw score, it will be adapted into a scaled-score in the 200-800 range through a statistical method known as ‘equating’.
You will be able to determine your performance in the SAT exam by comparing your scores with those of others who have written the test with you. You can do this by looking at the rank of your percentile. It is recommended that you compare your scores with those students who enrolled in your prospective colleges.