Testing times: SAT facts

Kamaljit Kaur Multani

Students applying for any undergraduate course are required to furnish their SAT scores, though it is not the only criteria for taking admission in the US universities. Other criteria vary from one university to the other. These include the academic scores of grade X and XII, IELTS/TOEFL score, SOP/ESSAY, Portfolio and Interview. 

Some universities also ask for a SAT Subject Test Score. This is a one-hour multiple-choice test. The syllabus structure of SAT includes English — reading, writing and language; maths — with and without calculator; an essay paper, which is optional. For both English and maths, the minimum score is 200 and the maximum score is 800.The essay is scored separately on a scale of 2 - 8. 

Duration: If a student were to opt for the essay paper, the duration of the test would be three hours and fifty minutes. If a student opts out of the essay paper, the duration of the test is three hours. There is no negative marking in the test. The test is not adaptive and is available in pencil-paper mode though the College Board has plans of coming up with an online version soon.        

Fee: SAT Registration fee for Indian Students is $94 without essay, $106 with essay. The payment method is through credit card (American Express, Visa, MasterCard). 

Preparation: Time Management is the key and studentss can opt for online preparation classes. Some well known names are Manhattan, Khan Academy, Kaplan among others. Extramarks SAT preparation online classes with tutorials, test series, question papers is also a good option where students get to interact with expert faculty through webinars and get their doubts clarified. They also get to learn tips as well as strategies for scoring well in the examination.  

Though, SAT can be taken any number of times, it is advisable not to appear too many times as the average scores do not reflect much variation. The best strategy is to prepare well, so that you score the maximum at one go.

Once the results are out, the focus should be on getting into good universities. The top destinations in the US for Indian students are Texas, New York, and California. Other top cities are Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Indiana and Florida.