Private Schools: Preparing Your Student To Succeed On The SAT
If your child is a junior or senior at a private high school, they are likely to speak in the future tense; describing the lives they will lead or the goals they will achieve.
However, to attain these future lofty goals, they have a number of hurdles to climb. These hurdles often come in the form of standardized tests and one standardized test looms more prominently than any other for most high school juniors and seniors: the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test).
As a parent, you have the power to empower your child to succeed on the test with the following tips:
Understanding the Test
The SAT consists of three equally weighted sections:
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Critical Reading-this portion of the test consists of three sections (two 25-minute sections, followed by one 20-minute section) designed to test your child's vocabulary, reading comprehension, and analytical reading skills.
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Mathematics-this portion of the test consists of two sections (one 25-minute no calculator section and one 55-minute calculator section) designed to test your child's ability to solve word problem and algebraic equations.
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Writing and Language-this portion of the test consists of two sections (one 25-minute multiple choice section and one 50-minute essay writing section) designed to test your child's grammatical and essay writing skills.
Each section is worth a total of 800 points. Thus, a "perfect" score on the test is 2400. It's important to remind your child that each section of the test is equally weighted, but the score for each section can also serve as a stand-alone score for admissions and scholarship purposes.
Testing Strategy
Because each section of the test can serve as a stand-alone score, your child can cobble together their highest score for each section from multiple tests. Strategically, this changes how your child should take the test. Although they should give their best effort every time they take the test, they can focus on one particular section of the test each time they choose to take it. This is particularly important if your child is attempting to earn a merit-based scholarship that requires them to achieve a specific threshold on one portion of the test (normally, the mathematics section).
For instance, if your child scores a 550 the first time they take the test on the mathematics section, but only 440 the next time they take the test, the 550 score can be added to their other highest scores.
It is critical that you and your child take the test early enough to allow them to take it multiple times before scholarship and/or college application deadlines occur. This means that very early in their junior year of high school they should take the SAT to generate a baseline score. With this baseline score, they can then focus on achieving the scores they need, in total and in part, on the test to earn admission to the colleges of their choice and/or scholarships. Contact a school like International School of MN for more info.
