If you’re a high school student interested in scoring well on the SAT, you need to get to work ASAP. You need to be ready to take the test in the Spring of your Junior year of high school and you should take it again in the Fall of your Senior year.
As a former SAT Prep teacher, I can tell you that there is no easy way to prepare for the test. It’s a great test that’s designed to challenge high school students and sort them into groups for the sake of college admission. It does so very effectively.
Based on the quality of your education and your own intellectual strength, you’ll be able to identify your score range with practice tests. When you learn where you’re at, you can raise your score 100 points or so by working on SAT prep activities during your last two years of high school. By the time you’re a junior, it’s too late to make any major improvements to your education and a lot of this depends on your personality. So, if you are working through high school studies and take a few SAT practice tests and score 1000, you can work to get your score up to 1100, but you’re not going to score 1400. You have to learn what your score range is and then work to reach the top of it. That’s honest SAT prep advice.
High School Studies
The SAT is designed by very smart people to predict future college success. There are specific “college success skills” that the SAT is designed to measure–and it does so very effectively. The SAT is not like a high school content test and is designed to confuse ordinary, lazy and immature high school students. If you’re the kind of student who is “checking the boxes” in high school (“Joe Blah”), then you’re in trouble. If you’re the kind of student the best colleges describe in their admission resources, then you’ll do better. You’ll also do well if you’re a resourceful hacker who makes the effort to prepare specifically for this important test. The kids who are the teacher’s pets in high school are not the kinds of kids who do well on the SAT (or in college). It’s a real-world test.
I. Reading Comprehension
The SAT will test your language and reading comprehension skills because college is for researchers, not bookworms. Nobody cares that you “love to read” when reading means novels and stories. That’s entertainment, not college reading. If you’re going to attend a great university, you’re going to need to study a wide range of subjects, taught by experts in those fields. You’re going to be challenged to read the writings of researchers, not story books. You’re going to have to read about subjects you’ve never learned about before. You’re going to have to figure out the meaning of words you’ve never seen before, as you read them. You’re going to need to read difficult content, and lots of it. The SAT is checking to see if you can do that.
To prepare for the SAT, you have become comfortable with the ideas and language of scholars. If you don’t, you’ll struggle on the SAT.
II. Writing & Language
If you attend a great university, in a capitalistic and democratic society, you’ll be surrounded by intelligent, ambitious students from around the world. You will be in class with students who don’t agree with, and you’ll have professors whom you don’t agree with. The problem is that they will all be smart and lazy, prejudiced opinions won’t influence them. You will need to be able to reason and communicate with accuracy. You will need very strong language (grammar) skills. The SAT will test whether you have the language skills needed for the challenges of life at a great university.
To prepare for the SAT, you need to study grammar and attain mastery of the English language. If you’re struggling with spelling and punctuation as a junior in high school, you’re in trouble. You need to be able to identify errors in written text and identify corrections.
III. Mathematics
We live in a high-tech society where the economy is driven by scientific research, algorithms and statistics. Natural sciences like Physics and Chemistry assume the knowledge of Algebra and Geometry. Social sciences like Psychology and Political Science make use of complicated Statistics. If you’re struggling with multiplication facts as a high school junior and don’t understand Algebra, you’re in trouble. The SAT requires the knowledge of Algebra II and Geometry, but it is not like a high school Math test. It tests your ability to use the principles of the mathematical sciences to solve problems that you’ve never seen before.
To prepare for the SAT, you cannot simply take the required courses for a high school diploma. You have to go beyond them to study the principles of the mathematical sciences and know how to use theory creatively to solve problems.
The Classical Liberal Arts Academy
One of the reasons I was encouraged to start the CLAA was because I taught SAT Prep courses in expensive college prep schools and saw students struggling on the SAT. As a Classicist, I was able to help them prepare for the SAT by leading them beyond the normal high school curriculum into subjects like classical Grammar, Reasoning, Rhetoric, classical Arithmetic, theoretical Algebra, Euclidean Geometry, etc. The classical Catholic curriculum addresses the skills needed for success on the SAT.
SAT-Specific Preparation
If you’re working through a great high school education, you’ll be in good shape. Nevertheless, because the SAT is s such a unique (and important!) test, you will need to prepare specifically for the SAT because it is not like high school tests. You have to study the SAT to understand its goals, how it works and how to take it to get the highest score you can.
What I recommend is that you use the SAT Prep resources available on the Khan Academy website and in an SAT Prep book published by Kaplan or the Princeton Review. Study these resources and take practice tests. You’ll begin to get an idea of what your score range is.
SAT Tutoring
When you have an idea of what your SAT score range is, remember that your goal will be to get the highest score in your range that you can. With SAT tutoring, you can raise your score 100 points.
I am happy to provide this tutoring to Catholic students. Arrangements can be made here.
God bless your studies,
Mr. William C. Michael, O.P.
Classical Liberal Arts Academy
