
Since January 2006, all of my students' scores improved from the PSAT / initial SAT to the current SAT with combined Reading / Math / Writing scaled score increases ranging from 40 to 570 points.
Link: SAT Website
Link: ACT Website
SAT Prep
Students who learn how to effectively recognize and eliminate obvious incorrect answer choices on the Reading, Writing, and Sentence Completion sections have a chance to improve their combined SAT score by 200-500+ scaled points.
Sample SAT Reading Question:
It can be most reasonably inferred from the passage that (A) similar folk beliefs are based on identical logic and reasoning (B) modern cephalopods will one day be believed to have been caused by lightning (C) all modern cephalopods have bullet-shaped inner shells (D) belemnites are considerably larger than ordinary pieces of gravel (E) during extremely violent storms, stones can occasionally fall from the sky
In the above example:
“Identical” makes (A) too extreme.
“Will one day be believed” makes (B) too speculative
“All” makes (C) too extreme.
“Fall from the sky” makes (E) farfetched.
Even if the test-taker is unsure of (D), elimination strategies have rendered the other choices invalid.
During individualized SAT/ACT prep sessions, I use my 10+ years of teaching / test prep experience to:
1) Help students fill Sentence Completion holes by purging erroneous choices through a systematic process of deduction.
2) Help students distinguish from among the 6-7 recurrent types of Reading questions, and quickly identify key words that expose well-disguised inaccurate answer choices (see 'Sample SAT Reading Question' above).
3) Help students pick numbers (Math questions with variables) and work backwards (great for multiple-choice tests) to decipher questions that would ordinarily require long forgotten algebraic formulae.
Though it is advantageous to have taken Algebra II and writing/reading-intensive secondary Language Arts and Social Studies classes, the SAT/ACT is more about commitment, hyper-focusing, and, well, how good you are at taking the SAT/ACT. In other words, the SAT/ACT is 50% what you’ve learned (over the past 10 years), and 50% what you’ve practiced (over the past 10 weeks)!
Links:
SAT Math Practice Test: 20 Questions / 25 Minutes
SAT Reading Practice Test: 24 Questions / 25 Minutes
Use the chart at the bottom of this page to convert Raw Scores to Scaled Scores
SAT Scaled Score Admission Ranges for Western Universities
|
College |
Reading |
Math |
Writing |
|
Arizona |
480 – 600 |
490 – 600 |
|
|
Arizona State |
480 – 620 |
490 – 620 |
|
|
Cal State Fullerton |
430 – 530 |
440 – 560 |
|
|
Cal State Long Beach |
440 – 550 |
450 – 580 |
|
|
Fresno State |
390 – 510 |
410 – 540 |
|
|
Hawaii |
480 – 580 |
510 – 610 |
470 – 570 |
|
Oregon |
490 – 600 |
500 – 620 |
|
|
Oregon State |
470 – 590 |
480 – 610 |
|
|
San Diego State |
460 – 570 |
480 – 590 |
|
|
San Jose State |
430 – 530 |
450 – 580 |
|
|
Stanford |
650 – 760 |
680 – 780 |
670 – 760 |
|
UC – Berkeley |
580 – 710 |
620 – 750 |
590 – 710 |
|
UC – Davis |
490 – 630 |
540 – 660 |
500 – 630 |
|
UC – Irvine |
510 – 610 |
550 – 670 |
520 – 630 |
|
UC – Riverside |
450 – 560 |
470 – 610 |
450 – 560 |
|
UC – San Diego |
540 – 660 |
600 – 700 |
560 – 670 |
|
UC – Santa Barbara |
530 – 640 |
540 – 660 |
530 – 640 |
|
UCLA |
560 – 680 |
600 – 730 |
570 – 690 |
|
USC |
620 – 720 |
650 – 740 |
640 – 720 |
|
Washington |
520 – 640 |
550 – 680 |
|
|
Washington State |
490 – 600 |
510 – 610 |
470 – 570 |
Breakdown of Math Topics Covered on the SAT
1. Number and Operations
2. Algebra and Functions
3. Geometry and Measurement
4. Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability
1. Number and Operations
- Basic properties of numbers and their terminology
(e.g. negative numbers, prime numbers, factors, integers, sets, sequences)
- Squares, square roots and exponents
- Order of Operations
- Fractions and decimals
- Percents
- Ratios and Proportions
- Averages
- Arithmetic Word Problems
2. Algebra and Functions
- Simplifying algebraic expressions
- Operations on Algebraic expressions (including factoring of quadratic equations)
- Equations and inequalities involving roots, exponents and absolute values
- Solving systems of equations and inequalities
- Direct and inverse variation
- Algebraic word problems
- Functions (domain, range, translations of graphs, functions using special symbols)
- Equations of lines (slope, intercept)
3. Geometry and Measurement
- Properties of parallel and perpendicular lines
- Coordinate Geometry (slopes, distance between points, midpoints of lines)
- Triangles (area, angles, properties of equilateral, isosceles, right and special triangles, the congruency and similarity of triangles, Pythagorean theorem)
- Quadrilaterals and other polygons (including area, interior and exterior angles, perimeters)
- Circles (area, circumference)
- Solid geometry (volume and surface area of solids)
- Transformations (translations, rotations, reflections)
4. Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability
- Data interpretation (reading tables and line, bar and other graphs)
- Descriptive statistics (mean, median, mode, weighted average)
- Probability (of one event or two or more independent or dependent events)
- Geometric Probability (probability that a random point chosen will fall within a particular geometric figure)
Raw Score to Scaled Score Conversion Chart
Raw Score = Total Number Correct – ( Total Number Wrong / 4 )
Note: An actual full-length SAT exam contains 3 Critical Reading sections and 3 Math sections. This conversion chart is based on a single Critical Reading section and a single Math section.
| Raw Score | Math Scaled Score | Reading Scaled Score |
| 24 | 800 | |
| 23 | 780 | |
| 22.75 | 760 | |
| 22.5 | 750 | |
| 22.25 | 740 | |
| 22 | 730 | |
| 21.75 | 720 | |
| 21.5 | 710 | |
| 21.25 | 700 | |
| 21 | 690 | |
| 20.75 | 690 | |
| 20.5 | 680 | |
| 20.25 | 680 | |
| 20 | 800 | 670 |
| 19.75 | 670 | |
| 19.5 | 660 | |
| 19.25 | 660 | |
| 19 | 760 | 650 |
| 18.75 | 740 | 650 |
| 18.5 | 720 | 640 |
| 18.25 | 710 | 640 |
| 18 | 700 | 630 |
| 17.75 | 700 | 620 |
| 17.5 | 690 | 620 |
| 17.25 | 680 | 610 |
| 17 | 670 | 610 |
| 16.75 | 660 | 610 |
| 16.5 | 660 | 600 |
| 16.25 | 650 | 600 |
| 16 | 650 | 590 |
| 15.75 | 640 | 590 |
| 15.5 | 640 | 580 |
| 15.25 | 630 | 580 |
| 15 | 630 | 580 |
| 14.75 | 620 | 570 |
| 14.5 | 610 | 570 |
| 14.25 | 610 | 560 |
| 14 | 600 | 560 |
| 13.75 | 600 | 550 |
| 13.5 | 590 | 550 |
| 13.25 | 590 | 540 |
| 13 | 580 | 540 |
| 12.75 | 570 | 540 |
| 12.5 | 570 | 530 |
| 12.25 | 560 | 530 |
| 12 | 560 | 520 |
| 11.75 | 550 | 520 |
| 11.5 | 550 | 510 |
| 11.25 | 540 | 510 |
| 11 | 540 | 510 |
| 10.75 | 530 | 500 |
| 10.5 | 520 | 500 |
| 10.25 | 520 | 500 |
| 10 | 510 | 490 |
| 9.75 | 510 | 490 |
| 9.5 | 500 | 480 |
| 9.25 | 500 | 480 |
| 9 | 490 | 470 |
| 8.75 | 490 | 470 |
| 8.5 | 480 | 470 |
| 8.25 | 480 | 460 |
| 8 | 470 | 460 |
| 7.75 | 470 | 450 |
| 7.5 | 460 | 450 |
| 7.25 | 460 | 440 |
| 7 | 450 | 440 |
| 6.75 | 450 | 430 |
| 6.5 | 440 | 430 |
| 6.25 | 440 | 420 |
| 6 | 430 | 420 |
| 5.75 | 430 | 420 |
| 5.5 | 420 | 410 |
| 5.25 | 420 | 410 |
| 5 | 410 | 400 |
| 4.75 | 410 | 390 |
| 4.5 | 400 | 390 |
| 4.25 | 400 | 380 |
| 4 | 390 | 380 |
| 3.75 | 380 | 370 |
| 3.5 | 380 | 370 |
| 3.25 | 370 | 360 |
| 3 | 360 | 350 |
| 2.75 | 350 | 350 |
| 2.5 | 340 | 340 |
| 2.25 | 340 | 330 |
| 2 | 330 | 330 |
| 1.75 | 320 | 320 |
| 1.5 | 320 | 310 |
| 1.25 | 310 | 300 |
| 1 | 300 | 290 |
| 0.75 | 290 | 280 |
| 0.5 | 280 | 270 |
| 0.25 | 270 | 260 |
| 0 | 260 | 250 |
| -0.25 | 250 | 240 |
| -0.5 | 240 | 240 |
| -0.75 | 240 | 230 |
| -1 | 230 | 230 |
| -1.25 | 220 | 220 |
| -1.5 | 220 | 210 |
| -1.75 | 210 | 200 |
| -2 | 200 | 200 |




