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There are 3 main sections to the SAT: Writing, Critical Reading and Mathematics.  For each section of the test, there is a scale of 200-800 marks.  The final score for the test consists of the scores from each section added together.  The test usually takes about 4 hours in total – about 15 minutes of this time is taken up with the administration for the testing session and the actual testing time is 3 hours and 45 minutes.

The reasons for requiring SAT scores for university entrance instead of relying on high school grades solely is the belief that the combination of SAT scores and a high school grade point average (GPA) is a more reliable indicator of likely success at tertiary level.

Why is the SAT important? Despite numerous changes in the US university application process, some truths remain the same -- namely, you need to ace your SATs if you plan to attend a top-notch university in the USA. Taking the SAT provides more benefits than just satisfying the requirements for university entrance. It will help you develop useful test taking skills which can be applied to similar testing situations in other contexts. It is often a requirement if you plan to apply for a scholarship.

• It can help you get ahead in the university admission process.

• It will let you keep your options open if you are uncertain about your choice of universities.

When are the SAT exams held?  -  2010 - 2011, the SAT test and registration dates Online registration for SAT exams College Board: Online SAT Test Registration - College Board Important information for students registered to test in Hong Kong.

What SAT score is good enough to get into my top choice schools? 

• SAT scores for admission to Ivy League schools
• SAT scores for admission to top liberal arts colleges
• SAT scores for admission to top public universities

Which SAT Test Preparation Option is right for You?

Private Tutoring: takes place at our school in Central,  on a mutually agreed schedule. Whether a student needs only verbal or only math help, or a full SAT course, we are ready to help with one-on-one attention to your child's needs. Private tutoring allows three advantages over a class:

1. Direct supervision - the tutor can monitor the student's progress at all times.
2. Scheduling preference - the tutor can meet at a time convenient to you.
3. Tailoring - during a lesson, and within the course as a whole, the tutor can adjust to the student's individual learning needs.

Fees for private tutoring - $690 per hour.

Small Group Tutoring: is an economical alternative. If you are in a position to put together a small group of students who'd be interested in taking a SAT course together, we are happy to accommodate you. In many cases, two, three or four students have joined to take advantage of the course, thus substantially reducing the cost of private tutoring because the hourly rate of the instruction is split among the students involved. If your son or daughter has friends who are at a similar academic level, as diligent as your child and have similar aims, this small group tutoring option presents a great way to maximize your results while keeping your costs low.

Fees for small group tutoring (hourly) - 2 students, $460 per student. 3 students, $410 per student. 4 students, $380 per student.

For 40 hour course - 2 students, $15,000 per student. 3 students, $13,400 per student. 4 students, $10,800 per student.

Full Classroom Courses:with a maximum of 8 students in one class, our course is the most comprehensive and intensive available. SAT classes are structured as a 40 hour course, consisting including practice tests.  The total course length is 10 weeks and is made up of 2 x 2 hour sessions per week. 

Fee for classroom course - $8500  (Approximately $200 per hour) (Plus $300 for the text book)

About the course:

The course is designed for anyone preparing to take the SAT. It is intended to strengthen your test taking skills so that you can get a score which truly reflects your ability. We introduce you to the format of the you SAT and guide you to develop test taking strategies including managing test panic, increasing confidence and speed. A review of test content includes math, algebra, geometry, reading comprehension, grammar and essay writing. You will receive weekly practice with real, timed SAT test selections. By the end of this 40 hour course you should have:

• Become familiar with the SAT format, including test directions and scoring.

• Refined critical reading and thinking skills tested by the SAT. Developed an individual test taking strategy.

• Learned how to apply the strategies taught in this training course.

• Increased your test taking confidence and reduced your anxiety.

Many non native English speakers have particular difficulty with the Verbal section in the SAT (Sentence Correction, Reading Comprehension and the Essay Writing section). Hence we have designed a course which takes this issue into consideration concentrating on verbal strategies and practice while also covering the quantitative section.

Topics and areas covered will include:

SAT MATH - The Quantitative Section  

The Mathematics section of SAT is widely known as the Quantitative Section. it consists of three scored sections. There are two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section, as follows.

One of the 25-minute sections is entirely multiple choice, with 20 questions.

• The other 25-minute section contains 8 multiple choice questions and 10 grid-in questions.

• The shorter section is all multiple choice, with only 16 questions.

The quantitative comparison questions on the math section have now been omitted from the SAT, leaving only questions with straightforward symbolic or numerical answers. Many test-takers felt that these quantitative comparison questions were well-known for their deceptive nature—often turning on the student's recognition of a single exception to a rule or pattern— so this omission suggests a philosophical shift away from "trickery" and toward "straight math" on the SAT.  Many test experts have attributed this change, like the addition of the new writing section, as an attempt to make the SAT more like the ACT (American College Testing program). There is certainly a correlation between ACT scores and SAT scores.

In Math (Quant), the SAT preparation class covers topics in Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry. The SAT classroom course lays special emphasis on learning different math shortcut techniques that will save time while solving math problems.

Around 15 top level topics are covered in the theory classes. In each of the topics, basic concepts are taught and are followed by examples solved in class that are representative of questions that appear from these topics in the SAT test.

SAT Writing Section

The writing section of the SAT, based on but not directly comparable to the old SAT II subject test in writing, includes multiple choice questions and a brief essay. The multiple choice questions include error identification questions, sentence improvement questions, and paragraph improvement questions. Error identification and sentence improvement questions test the student's knowledge of grammar, presenting an awkward or grammatically incorrect sentence; in the error identification section, the student must locate the word producing the source of the error or indicate that the sentence has no error, while the sentence improvement section requires the student to select an acceptable fix to the awkward sentence. The paragraph improvement questions test the student's understanding of logical organization of ideas, presenting a poorly written student essay and asking a series of questions as to what changes might be made to best improve it.

The essay section, which is always administered as the first section of the test, is 25 minutes long. All essays must be in response to a given prompt. The prompts are broad and often philosophical and are designed to be accessible to students regardless of their educational and social backgrounds. For instance, test takers may be asked to expound on such ideas as their opinion on the value of work in human life or whether technological change also carries negative consequences to those who benefit from it. No particular essay structure is required, and the College Board accepts examples "taken from [the student's] reading, studies, experience, or observations." Two trained readers assign each essay a score between 1 and 6, where a score of 0 is reserved for essays that are blank, off-topic, non-English, not written with a Number 2 pencil, or considered illegible after several attempts at reading. The scores are summed to produce a final score from 2 to 12 (or 0). If the two readers' scores differ by more than one point, then a senior third reader decides. The essay score accounts for roughly 30% of the writing score; the multiple choice component accounts for roughly 70%.

The areas covered under this section would be Improving Sentences, Identifying Sentence Errors, Improving Paragraphs and Essay Writing. Rules of grammar and common usage will be taught in the class alongside improvement of language and application of the rules of the language. Essay writing techniques and the rules of essay writing will be delved into in great detail.

SAT Critical Reading Section.

The Critical Reading, formerly verbal, section of the SAT is made up of three scored sections, two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section, with varying types of questions, including sentence completions and questions about short and long reading passages. Critical Reading sections normally begin with 5 to 8 sentence completion questions; the remainder of the questions are focused on the reading passages. Sentence completions generally test the student's vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure and organization by requiring the student to select one or two words that best complete a given sentence. The bulk of the Critical Reading questions is made up of questions regarding reading passages, in which students read short excerpts on social sciences, humanities, physical sciences, or personal narratives and answer questions based on the passage. Certain sections contain passages asking the student to compare two related passages; generally, these consist of short reading passages as well as longer passages. Since this is a timed test, the number of questions about each passage is proportional to the length of the passage.

Students will be trained to handle Passage Based Reading questions and Sentence Completion questions under this section from the basics to an advanced level. Learning to use your word power effectively will be addressed as part of classroom exercises for this section. The tutor will take students through the correct answers and explain each step involved in arriving at the answer. Techniques and tips to solve questions faster will also be covered in the class.

Beginning Vocabulary Building.  The course will provide the inspiration and beginnings of a unique vocabulary that will help academic development in every way: including SAT preparation, essay writing, and critical reading.  Click link for more details: Vocabulary courses for SAT preparation

Related Article: Preparing for SAT in Hong Kong

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