The SAT is one of the main prerequisites for an admission into a college or university. It is a standardized test which assesses the test-taker's preparedness for college-level education. Scoring high on the SAT is a priority for most high school students. A good score may get them admitted into the college of their choice and win them merit-based scholarships, thereby making college a financially feasible option.
The SAT takes 3 hours and 45 minutes to finish. The test assesses a student's skills in three sections: writing, math, and critical reading. There is also a fourth section, which is not scored and could be on writing, math, or critical reading. The objective is to test a candidate's ability to think critically and to analyze and solve problems.
The three sections are worth 800 points each and the total maximum score that a test-taker can obtain is 2400. The SAT score calculator estimates scores based on a bell-curve, which means that a test-taker's median score on each of the three sections will be approximately 500.
A candidate's score report will also have his/her score's percentile rankings. For example, if his/her score in the reading skills is in the 90th percentile, then it means that he/she did better than 89 % of the test-takers in the country in the reading section.
There are many ways to prepare for the SAT and some may appeal to you more than others based on your learning style and preferences. The College Board, a nonprofit organization which owns the SAT, offers various study guides and online courses for the students. In addition, there are many SAT prep course providers in the market with different modes of instruction, fees, program durations, and ratings. The Comparison Tool at our website will help you find the right prep course for you. These test prep course providers offer one-to-one tutoring, online lessons, and practice materials. You should consider availing these services especially when reviewing previous SAT questions.