Facing the Challenge
of the New SAT I
By Katherine Cohen, Ph.D.
The
SAT I will experience a facelift on March 12, 2005, but it
isn’t
going to be without wrinkles. The impact of the new test will greatly affect
this year’s high school juniors who will test for 3 hours and 45 minutes,
instead of just 3 hours, and take a third writing section.
The
test will not only change in length and format, it will change
in content. The Math section is changed insofar as the tedious
quantitative comparisons are being eliminated, but there
will be harder math problems, including topics from third-year
college preparatory math or Algebra 2. Luckily, calculators
will be permitted. What used to be called the verbal section
will now be called critical reading because the dreaded analogies are eliminated
(one piece of good news). The bad news is that the added short reading passages
require more minutes of concentrated reading (70 total). Finally, the new
writing section (60 minutes long) will include multiple-choice questions
to test grammar and usage in addition to a student-written essay. For the
essay, students will be asked to respond to an open-ended statement or concept
like “the pillars of success are built upon the steps of failure.” A
college receiving the new SAT I test scores will be able to view and print
the essay, which seems very invasive.
Some tips: First, this year’s high school juniors, or the graduating
high school class of 2006, should only take the new SAT I. Most selective colleges are only accepting
the new test for the high school class of 2006 and younger students. Second,
prepare, prepare, prepare! The Princeton Review published a new book called 11
Practice Tests for The New SAT and PSAT and The College Board has their own book The Official SAT Study Guide
For The New SAT.
I advise taking at least 8 practice tests, the 8 Saturday mornings preceding
the real test, for students to psychologically prepare for waking up early
Saturday mornings and concentrating for 4 straight hours. Third, put the
test into perspective. While it is certainly a factor for college admissions,
it counts about half as much as the rigorousness of a student’s high
school curriculum and grades. #
Katherine Cohen, Ph.D. is the President of IvyWise, an educational
counseling service headquartered in New York City. More information is
available by calling toll-free to (877) IVY-WISE, or at www.ivywise.com.
