In today’s generation everyone wants the best education and from best college, Indian students each day dream for abroad education. Everyone wants usually stay in a pure English environment, Everyone wants get an eye-opening experience, Everyone wants to receive more advanced educations and finally Everyone wants to obtain better treatments by employers in their homeland after graduation SAT exam is one solution for all above among numberless solutions.
The SAT Reasoning Test (formerly Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test) is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a non-profit organization in the United States. The current SAT Reasoning Test, introduced in 2005.Being immersed in an entirely new cultural setting is scary at first, but it’s also exciting. It’s an opportunity to discover new strengths and abilities, conquer new challenges, and solve new problems.
The SAT is a college entrance test like no other it is Nationally-recognized college entrance exam that tests a student’s ability to logically reason. The full name of the SAT I, in fact, is the SAT Reasoning Test. It is designed to determine your intelligence and aptitude for rational thinking. Each year, more than two million students take the SAT. You will encounter situations that are wholly unfamiliar to you and will learn to adapt and respond in effective ways. Educating students internationally is an important way to share the values of their country, to create goodwill for their country around the world, to work toward a peaceful global society, and to increase international trade.
Before 2008 it was a bit easier but in and after 2008, applicants to most colleges were required to submit all scores, with some colleges that embraced Score Choice retaining the option of allowing their applicants not to have to submit all scores. However, in 2008, an initiative to make Score Choice universal had begun, with some opposition from colleges desiring to maintain score report practices. While students theoretically now have the choice to submit their best score (in theory one could send any score they wish to send) to the college of their choice, some popular colleges and universities, such as Cornell, ask that students send all test scores. This had led the College Board to display on their web site which colleges agree with or dislike Score Choice, with continued claims that students will still never have scores submitted against their will. Despite many colleges that may or may not request their students to abide by the Score Choice policy, those who send all scores, good or bad, will not usually be penalized, as many universities, such as Columbia University and Cornell University, promise to overlook those scores that may be undesirable to the student and to focus more on those scores that best exemplify the student’s achievement and academic potential.
SCOPE of SAT exam
Every year, we hear about two different types of college-bound students. One applies to his state school, gets accepted, and attends. His parents worry about paying for college, he has less discretionary spending money, and he has to take out a loan. The other applies to his state school, gets accept, and also attends. However, his parents are vacationing and have more money to give him for smoothies and snacks.
What is the difference between these two students?
It could very well be SAT score. Virtually all scholarships require you to report your SAT score in order to apply, and some of them even specify score cutoffs. You will be unlikely to receive a great scholarship with mediocre scores, but putting in the extra effort can really pay off in a tangible and rewarding way.
Recent research has linked high family incomes to higher mean scores. Test score data from California has shown that test-takers with family incomes of less than $20,000 a year had a mean score of 1310 while test-takers with family incomes of over $200,000 had a mean score of 1715, a difference of 405 points. One calculation has shown a 40-point average score increase for every additional $20,000 in income.
Eligibility for SAT exam
The SAT is offered seven times a year in the United States; in October, November, December, January, March (or April, alternating), May, and June. The test is typically offered on the first Saturday of the month for the November, December, May, and June administrations. In other countries, the SAT is offered on the same dates as in the United States except for the first spring test date (i.e., March or April), which is not offered. In 2006, the test was taken 1,465,744 times.
Candidates may either take the SAT Reasoning Test or up to three SAT Subject Tests on any given test date, except the first spring test date, when only the SAT Reasoning Test is offered. Candidates wishing to take the test may register online at the College Board’s website, by mail, or by telephone, at least three weeks before the test date.
The SAT Subject Tests are all given in one large book on test day. Therefore, it is actually immaterial which tests, and how many, the student signs up for; with the possible exception of the language tests with listening, the student may change his or her mind and take any tests, regardless of his or her initial sign-ups. Students who choose to take more subject tests than they signed up for will later be billed by College Board for the additional tests and their scores will be withheld until the bill is paid. Students who choose to take fewer subject tests than they signed up for are not eligible for a refund.
The SAT Reasoning Test costs $45 ($94 International). For the Subject tests, students pay a $20 Basic Registration Fee and $9 per test (except for language tests with listening, which cost $20 each). The College Board makes fee waivers available for low income students. Additional fees apply for late registration, standby testing, registration changes, scores by telephone, and extra score reports (beyond the four provided for free).
Candidates whose religious beliefs prevent them from taking the test on a Saturday may request to take the test on the following day, except for the October test date in which the Sunday test date is eight days after the main test offering. Such requests must be made at the time of registration and are subject to denial.
Students with verifiable disabilities, including physical and learning disabilities, are eligible to take the SAT with accommodations. The standard time increase for students requiring additional time due to learning disabilities is time + 50%; time + 100% is also offered. The SAT is offered seven times a year in the United States and six times at international sites. The test:
- Takes three hours and 45 minutes
- Consists of 10 separately timed sections:
- Three sections test critical reading (70 minutes total)
- Three sections test mathematics (70 minutes total)
- Three sections test writing (60 minutes total)
- One variable (unscored) section tests critical reading, mathematics, or writing (25 minutes total)
Exam structure
SAT consists of three major sections: Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing. Each section receives a score on the scale of 200–800. All scores are multiples of 10. Total scores are calculated by adding up scores of the three sections. Each major section is divided into three parts. There are 10 sub-sections, including an additional 25-minute experimental or “equating” section that may be in any of the three major sections. The experimental section is used to normalize questions for future administrations of the SAT and does not count toward the final score. The test contains 3 hours and 45 minutes of actual timed sections, although most administrations, including orientation, distribution of materials, completion of biographical sections, and eleven minutes of timed breaks, run about four and a half hours long. The questions range from easy, medium, and hard depending on the scoring from the experimental sections. Easier questions typically appear closer to the beginning of the section while harder questions are towards the end in certain sections. This is not true for every section but it is the rule of thumb mainly for math and sentence completions and vocabulary.
Most of the questions on the SAT, except for the essay and the grid-in math responses, are multiple choice; all multiple-choice questions have five answer choices, one of which is correct. The questions of each section of the same type are generally ordered by difficulty. However, an important exception exists: Questions that follow the long and short reading passages are organized chronologically, rather than by difficulty. Ten of the questions in one of the math sub-sections are not multiple choice. They instead require the test taker to bubble in a number in a four-column grid.
The questions are weighted equally. For each correct answer, one raw point is added. For each incorrect answer one-fourth of a point is deducted. No points are deducted for incorrect math grid-in questions. This ensures that a student’s mathematically expected gain from guessing is zero. The final score is derived from the raw score; the precise conversion chart varies between test administrations.
The SAT therefore recommends only making educated guesses, that is, when the test taker can eliminate at least one answer he or she thinks is wrong. Without eliminating any answers one’s probability of answering correctly is 20%. Eliminating one wrong answer increases this probability to 25%; two, a 33.3% probability; three, a 50% probability of choosing the correct answer and thus earning the full point for the question.
| Section | Average Score | Time (Minutes) | Content |
| Writing | 493 | 60 | Grammar, usage, and diction. |
| Mathematics | 515 | 70 | Number and operations; algebra and functions; geometry; statistics, probability, and data analysis |
| Critical Reading | 501 | 70 | Critical reading and sentence-level reading |
Test preparation
SAT test preparation is a highly lucrative field. Many companies and organizations (such as the Princeton Review, the College Board, Kaplan, etc.) offer test preparation in the form of books, classes, online courses, tutoring and only recently, board games.
Scores and Admission criteria
Raw scores, scaled scores, and percentiles
Students receive their online score reports approximately three weeks after test administration (six weeks for mailed, paper scores), with each section graded on a scale of 200–800 and two sub scores for the writing section: the essay score and the multiple choice sub score. In addition to their score, students receive their percentile (the percentage of other test takers with lower scores). The raw score, or the number of points gained from correct answers and lost from incorrect answers (ranges from just under 50 to just under 60, depending upon the test), is also included. Students may also receive, for an additional fee, the Question and Answer Service, which provides the student’s answer, the correct answer to each question, and online resources explaining each question.
The corresponding percentile of each scaled score varies from test to test—for example, in 2003, a scaled score of 800 in both sections of the SAT Reasoning Test corresponded to a percentile of 99.9, while a scaled score of 800 in the SAT Physics Test corresponded to the 94th percentile. The differences in what scores mean with regard to percentiles are because of the content of the exam and the caliber of students choosing to take each exam. Subject Tests are subject to intensive study (often in the form of an AP, which is relatively more difficult), and only those who know they will perform well tend to take these tests, creating a skewed distribution of scores.
The percentiles that various SAT scores for college-bound seniors correspond to are summarized in the following chart:
| Percentile | Score, 1600 Scale (official, 2006) |
Score, 2400 Scale (official, 2006) |
| 99.93/99.98* | 1600 | 2400 |
| 99+ | ≥1540 | ≥2290 |
| 99 | ≥1480 | ≥2200 |
| 98 | ≥1450 | ≥2140 |
| 97 | ≥1420 | ≥2100 |
| 88 | ≥1380 | ≥1900 |
| 81 | ≥1280 | ≥1800 |
| 78 | ≥1200 | ≥1770 |
| 72 | ≥1150 | ≥1700 |
| 61 | ≥1090 | ≥1600 |
| 48 | ≥1010 | ≥1500 |
| 36 | ≥950 | ≥1400 |
| 15 | ≥810 | ≥1200 |
| 4 | ≥670 | ≥990 |
| 1 | ≥520 | ≥790 |
| * The percentile of the perfect score was 99.98 on the 2400 scale and 99.93 on the 1600 scale. | ||
The older SAT (before 1995) had a very high ceiling. In any given year, only seven of the million test-takers scored above 1580. A score above 1580 was equivalent to the 99.9995 percentile.
Admission colleges
The College Board, an association of colleges from Harvard to SUNY, determines the content and questions that the SAT will feature. Therefore, most colleges hold SAT scores in a high esteem.
The way that colleges view SAT scores varies from school to school, but here is a basic rundown:
Third-Tier Schools
State and public schools, along with some private schools, ask you for an SAT score while giving you the “cutoff” score for entrance. Generally speaking, a school that offers such a “cutoff” score is unlikely to consider an application with a score lower than the “cutoff,” but is likely to view an application with a very high score in a very high regard. That is, a high score is most effective at a less selective institution.
Second-Tier Schools
Elite public schools and most private schools do not offer cutoff scores, but they have their own internal guidelines for cutoff scoring. Most of these schools consider applications with low scores somewhat negatively but leave room for consideration of other factors, such as athletic prowess or academic achievements. On the other end, these schools receive more high scores so high scores are not held in such a high regard. Still, high scores do hold merit in and of themselves.
First-Tier Schools
Elite private schools such as the Ivy League schools, Stanford, Duke, and other well-known universities do not publish a cutoff score. They are very likely to consider the totality of an applicant (with regard to features other than his score) because they receive mainly applications with higher scores. These institutions are very unlikely to admit an applicant on the basis of his high scores alone; in fact, Harvard routinely rejects 2400 scorers.
SAT Exam dates for 2010-2011 can be found here==> http://sat.collegeboard.com/register/sat-dates
100 Top SAT words ==> http://www.vocabulary.com/lists/23400
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