How to Deal With the New SAT

The New SAT

You may have heard that in 2005, there were some changes made to the SAT. Some of the changes made things easier for you; certain questions (like analogies) were removed from the test. But overall the test was actually made more difficult, because too many kids were getting perfect scores on the exam! A brand new writing section was also added to test student's writing abilities. On the writing test, you must develop a point of view on a provided topic and write a persuasive essay.

Many students are concerned about this new essay section, but it's nothing to fear! First of all, you do not need to have any prior knowledge about the topic to successfully write an essay. You will, however, need to take a point of view on the topic and back it up with concrete examples based on your past readings, studies or experiences. Check out some helpful essay strategies at: www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/prep_one/essay/pracTips.html.

The best way to ace the writing portion of the SAT, is to practice and prepare. A great place to start is with some prep test books on the SAT writing section. In these texts, you will find more detailed essay information, practice tests and strategies for writing high-scoring essays.

Looking for more help? Here are some more test prep tips. Find tons of test prep tips and advice at CareersandColleges.com!

You can also check out these helpful books:

McGraw-Hill's Conquering the New SAT Writing

Writing Workbook for the New SAT

Kaplan SAT Writing Workbook (Kaplan Sat Writing Workbook)

This blog was written by Valerie Anderson

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