More students turn to test prep for the SAT.
Practice makes perfect. Or at least a better score. Test prep works - but the student must be PROactive in the preparation and not REactive like in a high school course.
Most students walk into high school classes unprepared. The teacher expects this and spoon feeds them everything that they need for an exam. The teacher writes the exam, or at a minimum know what the questions are going to be and can 'teach to the test.'
Not so with the SAT. All that we know are the general subjects for math & common questions for reading. There is no teacher that can give you a BIG HINT that, "This is very important, you may see this again." Basically telling you what is on the test.
On the SAT, a student can learn a lot about the test, but cannot work the same way that they do for a high school class.
In my opinion, those students who take a prep course and only go up a little bit face the course as if it was any other high school class. They expect the teacher to spoon feed them.
Learning methods that work, requires practice outside of the prep class and the DESIRE to score. More to follow...
Monday, March 24, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
The Waiting Game
SAT's are taken, Transcripts are sent.
Now the WAIT. Here is a good article on anticipation for college acceptance.
Now the WAIT. Here is a good article on anticipation for college acceptance.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Another blow to SAT Subject Tests
If the proposal reported in this article goes through, the College Board will take a major hit against "Subject Tests." I believe that subject tests were originally produced for the UC system, and remains their largest customer.
Well, good riddance! I am in the business of putting myself out of business. Though I've always been the kind of student who benefits from standardized tests, I do not believe that they have any real value. I'd love to see them go by the wayside, especially SAT Subject Tests. They have no real value.
Neither does the regular SAT, but I do not see that going away anytime soon.
Well, good riddance! I am in the business of putting myself out of business. Though I've always been the kind of student who benefits from standardized tests, I do not believe that they have any real value. I'd love to see them go by the wayside, especially SAT Subject Tests. They have no real value.
Neither does the regular SAT, but I do not see that going away anytime soon.
Campus visits
Here is a nice article about dragging your teen to a campus for a visit.
I never went through it personally. I went on my own campus visits (with my dad's car & a few friends piled in ~ thanks dad, that was an awful lot of trust). Most articles that I have read report that for the average student, visiting the campus is very important. Many students get a "feel" for their college and decide that it is right for them walking around.
I like that. I did that too.
I remember my first time on Penn State's main campus. I had already been accepted, it was fall, the weather was perfect, I could afford to go without any help from my parents and there was somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 thousand women under the age of 25. To my seventeen year old eyes, that was pretty amazing. Oh, and there was a football game on Saturday; that seemed fun too.
I never went through it personally. I went on my own campus visits (with my dad's car & a few friends piled in ~ thanks dad, that was an awful lot of trust). Most articles that I have read report that for the average student, visiting the campus is very important. Many students get a "feel" for their college and decide that it is right for them walking around.
I like that. I did that too.
I remember my first time on Penn State's main campus. I had already been accepted, it was fall, the weather was perfect, I could afford to go without any help from my parents and there was somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 thousand women under the age of 25. To my seventeen year old eyes, that was pretty amazing. Oh, and there was a football game on Saturday; that seemed fun too.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
BAMN protests the SAT
Members of "By Any Means Necessary" [BAMN] protested against the use of the SAT in California today. Pretty interesting article.
Get the QAS for your SAT
College Board offers the ability to purchase what they can the "Question and Answer Service."
BUY it
Even if you just got your scores back from Jan, spend the $18. You receive a new question booklet - not your actualy one, but one that has the same questions in the same order that you took them on the SAT.
If you plan on taking the test again, working on the actual SAT exam questions is valuable.
Also get the Official SAT Study guide & then go to my website: www.mccaffreytutoring.com and do my "Cheat Sheets" that list exact problems to do like slope, functions, geometry, probability, etc.
Good luck on your test prep
BUY it
Even if you just got your scores back from Jan, spend the $18. You receive a new question booklet - not your actualy one, but one that has the same questions in the same order that you took them on the SAT.
If you plan on taking the test again, working on the actual SAT exam questions is valuable.
Also get the Official SAT Study guide & then go to my website: www.mccaffreytutoring.com and do my "Cheat Sheets" that list exact problems to do like slope, functions, geometry, probability, etc.
Good luck on your test prep
Sunday, March 16, 2008
UC dropping SAT Subject Tests?
I am often asked about SAT Subject Tests; are they necessary, are they useful, etc?
They have been around for awhile and used to be called SAT II. Their biggest customer is the University of California system.
Now it appears that UC may be looking to drop the SAT Subject tests. Will other schools follow.
Here is the article from today's LA Times.
They have been around for awhile and used to be called SAT II. Their biggest customer is the University of California system.
Now it appears that UC may be looking to drop the SAT Subject tests. Will other schools follow.
Here is the article from today's LA Times.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Clayton gets a 2400
From Union-Tribune of San Diego:
Clayton Greenberg scored a 2400!
Last year, 2.2 million students took the SAT, and 269 seniors earned a top score, including 45 in California, according to the College Board, which administers the test. Figures for how many juniors earned a top score were not available.
Clayton attributes his success on the test to hard work and lots of preparation (Never heard that before on this site!). Linda Greenberg, his mother, said her son “puts his heart and soul into everything he does.”
Do you?
Look, don't psych yourself out by saying only geeks get high scores. That is simply not true, average students can beat ANY test - if they know how to take a test.
Clayton Greenberg scored a 2400!
Last year, 2.2 million students took the SAT, and 269 seniors earned a top score, including 45 in California, according to the College Board, which administers the test. Figures for how many juniors earned a top score were not available.
Clayton attributes his success on the test to hard work and lots of preparation (Never heard that before on this site!). Linda Greenberg, his mother, said her son “puts his heart and soul into everything he does.”
Do you?
Look, don't psych yourself out by saying only geeks get high scores. That is simply not true, average students can beat ANY test - if they know how to take a test.
Students Still Believe in the SAT
This article last week in the LA Times highlights how students still believe that the SAT matters - as does test prep.
Test prep works, as long as you work it.
So work it, even if all you do is practice problems in a test prep book.
Test prep works, as long as you work it.
So work it, even if all you do is practice problems in a test prep book.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Feb 27 Official Question of the Day
I have all of my students sign up for Collegeboard.com's Question of the Day. If you want to have a high score on the SAT, then practice, practice, practice!!!! Did I say practice?
Well what better to practice than to get an actual question from the test writers.
Today's question is [I hope that CollegeBoard does not get mad at me for showing this question - but heck, I tell everyone to read their stuff & buy their book. So, I think that they should be happy with me - I make them money]:
Hard questions also have hard answers. So if the numbers in the problem appear in the answer choice, like A & E, they are usually wrong.
Also if you can find an answer choice with one easy math step, like D. 35 which is the average of 40 and 30, it will most likely be wrong as well.
Think about it: How could this be a hard problem if the math was short and easy?
So here we are having eliminated A, D & E - leaving us with a 50/50. NOW is the time to make a good guess.
B. smells fishy, it looks too close to 30. The answer has to be somewhere around the middle of the two numbers but less than the average (because 30 is slower than 40, it hogs more time).
C. fits the bill. It looks just right, being an "ugly" answer that is around the average.
It is the correct answer.
Less than 40% of 50,000 people answered correctly - yet it is one of the easiest "Hard" questions to guess the correct answer!
On guessing: if you have absolutely NO clue, then do NOT guess. It will hurt you. But if you can eliminate 2 or 3 answer choices, then I say: GO FOR IT!
Well what better to practice than to get an actual question from the test writers.
Today's question is [I hope that CollegeBoard does not get mad at me for showing this question - but heck, I tell everyone to read their stuff & buy their book. So, I think that they should be happy with me - I make them money]:
A woman drove to work at an average speed of 40 miles per hour and returned along the same route at 30 miles per hour. If her total traveling time was 1 hour, what was the total number of miles in the round trip?
-
30
-
-
-
-
Hard questions also have hard answers. So if the numbers in the problem appear in the answer choice, like A & E, they are usually wrong.
Also if you can find an answer choice with one easy math step, like D. 35 which is the average of 40 and 30, it will most likely be wrong as well.
Think about it: How could this be a hard problem if the math was short and easy?
So here we are having eliminated A, D & E - leaving us with a 50/50. NOW is the time to make a good guess.
B. smells fishy, it looks too close to 30. The answer has to be somewhere around the middle of the two numbers but less than the average (because 30 is slower than 40, it hogs more time).
C. fits the bill. It looks just right, being an "ugly" answer that is around the average.
It is the correct answer.
Less than 40% of 50,000 people answered correctly - yet it is one of the easiest "Hard" questions to guess the correct answer!
On guessing: if you have absolutely NO clue, then do NOT guess. It will hurt you. But if you can eliminate 2 or 3 answer choices, then I say: GO FOR IT!
Grid-In Fractions
If your answer is a fraction, do not bother to reduce.
2/4 is as good as 1/2 ~ the grading computer calculates the equivalent decimal and compares it to the acceptable answer automatically. [Thank you Princeton Review ~ their "Math Workout for the New SAT" is an excellent resource, one that I refer to often. If you can complete all of the problem types that they have in that book, you can score 600+]
I personally like using fractions [but hey, I'm a math geek]. The SAT makes it easier to use fractions and often there is very little math involved other than some simple multiplication and CANCELING, my favorite math activity. There is just something so enjoyable in striking through a number!
The one thing to consider is that 1/2 is three bubbles to fill in, whereas its decimal equivalent .5 is only two bubbles to fill in. It may sound trivial but less bubbles to fill in means more time solving problems.
2/4 is as good as 1/2 ~ the grading computer calculates the equivalent decimal and compares it to the acceptable answer automatically. [Thank you Princeton Review ~ their "Math Workout for the New SAT" is an excellent resource, one that I refer to often. If you can complete all of the problem types that they have in that book, you can score 600+]
I personally like using fractions [but hey, I'm a math geek]. The SAT makes it easier to use fractions and often there is very little math involved other than some simple multiplication and CANCELING, my favorite math activity. There is just something so enjoyable in striking through a number!
The one thing to consider is that 1/2 is three bubbles to fill in, whereas its decimal equivalent .5 is only two bubbles to fill in. It may sound trivial but less bubbles to fill in means more time solving problems.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Tolerance Problem
The “Tolerance Problem.”
Monday January 28, 2008’s SAT Question of the day, goes something like this:
The weights of 12 sacks of potatoes range from 14.75 pounds to 15.15 pounds. If P is the weight, in pounds, of one of these sacks, which of the following must be true?
A. P – 14.75≤ 0.2
B. P – 14.95≤ 0.2
C. P + 14.95≤ 0.2
D. P – 0.2≤ 0.2
E. P – 12≤ 0.2
**** SORRY ****** For some reason, Blogger will not recognize the absolute value sign. For a better view of the problem, please download the pdf (link at bottom)
Solution:
Sorry, there is no “solution technique,” that I know of, to solve this medium level SAT algebra problem. Less than half of the SAT students have selected the right answer to this medium level difficulty question. You have to know the specific content of what is being asked in the Tolerance Problem. The answer is an algebraic expression that defines the acceptable tolerances or limits for something that is produced or sold. I happen to like this problem because I studied manufacturing as an undergrad and despite never working in the field I have retained this specific content (that and the reason why McDonald’s chairs used to be bright orange; oh my professors would be so proud).
Here is how the Tolerance Problem works. You are given the range of two units of measurement, in this case weight in pounds, of multiple items, produce like potatoes or apples or something being manufactured like the size of a bottle opening or the width of a nail. Rarely does the number of items have anything to do with the problem; it is just there as a statistical sample size to show you that there is more than a couple of the thing being measured. The combined weight of the 12 sacks is not mentioned, you are working to solve the acceptable tolerance limit for an individual sack, defined by an algebraic expression using absolute value ( P )and a less than or equal to inequality (≤).
When you buy a bag or box of anything at the store that is sold by weight not by volume, you do not get the EXACT amount. Instead, you purchase an amount that is ABOUT the weight listed. If it is produce like potatoes or apples in a bag, the store sets a limit to what the bag can weigh and still be sold. This RANGE of weight is the acceptable lower limit (any less and the consumer does not get enough) to the upper limit (any more and the store is giving away too much).
To find the RANGE, take the UPPER LIMIT (larger measurement, here: 15.15) and SUBTRACT the LOWER LIMIT (smaller measurement, here: 14.75)
· RANGE = UPPER LIMIT – LOWER LIMIT
· RANGE = 15.15 – 14.75 = 0.04 pounds
· The TOLERANCE is expressed as the AVERAGE of the LIMITS plus or minus
one-half of RANGE.
· The AVERAGE of the LIMITS = (UPPER LIMIT + LOWER LIMIT) ÷ 2
AVERAGE = (15.15 + 14.75) ÷ 2 = 14.95 pounds
· Expressed in algebra, using absolute value, an individual potato sack would be:
P – (AVERAGE of the LIMITS)≤ RANGE/2
So our solution today is: B. P – 14.95≤ 0.2
The TOLERANCE is 14.95 ± 0.2 pounds
Download the TOLERANCE PROBLEM pdf file
Monday January 28, 2008’s SAT Question of the day, goes something like this:
The weights of 12 sacks of potatoes range from 14.75 pounds to 15.15 pounds. If P is the weight, in pounds, of one of these sacks, which of the following must be true?
A. P – 14.75≤ 0.2
B. P – 14.95≤ 0.2
C. P + 14.95≤ 0.2
D. P – 0.2≤ 0.2
E. P – 12≤ 0.2
**** SORRY ****** For some reason, Blogger will not recognize the absolute value sign. For a better view of the problem, please download the pdf (link at bottom)
Solution:
Sorry, there is no “solution technique,” that I know of, to solve this medium level SAT algebra problem. Less than half of the SAT students have selected the right answer to this medium level difficulty question. You have to know the specific content of what is being asked in the Tolerance Problem. The answer is an algebraic expression that defines the acceptable tolerances or limits for something that is produced or sold. I happen to like this problem because I studied manufacturing as an undergrad and despite never working in the field I have retained this specific content (that and the reason why McDonald’s chairs used to be bright orange; oh my professors would be so proud).
Here is how the Tolerance Problem works. You are given the range of two units of measurement, in this case weight in pounds, of multiple items, produce like potatoes or apples or something being manufactured like the size of a bottle opening or the width of a nail. Rarely does the number of items have anything to do with the problem; it is just there as a statistical sample size to show you that there is more than a couple of the thing being measured. The combined weight of the 12 sacks is not mentioned, you are working to solve the acceptable tolerance limit for an individual sack, defined by an algebraic expression using absolute value ( P )and a less than or equal to inequality (≤).
When you buy a bag or box of anything at the store that is sold by weight not by volume, you do not get the EXACT amount. Instead, you purchase an amount that is ABOUT the weight listed. If it is produce like potatoes or apples in a bag, the store sets a limit to what the bag can weigh and still be sold. This RANGE of weight is the acceptable lower limit (any less and the consumer does not get enough) to the upper limit (any more and the store is giving away too much).
To find the RANGE, take the UPPER LIMIT (larger measurement, here: 15.15) and SUBTRACT the LOWER LIMIT (smaller measurement, here: 14.75)
· RANGE = UPPER LIMIT – LOWER LIMIT
· RANGE = 15.15 – 14.75 = 0.04 pounds
· The TOLERANCE is expressed as the AVERAGE of the LIMITS plus or minus
one-half of RANGE.
· The AVERAGE of the LIMITS = (UPPER LIMIT + LOWER LIMIT) ÷ 2
AVERAGE = (15.15 + 14.75) ÷ 2 = 14.95 pounds
· Expressed in algebra, using absolute value, an individual potato sack would be:
P – (AVERAGE of the LIMITS)≤ RANGE/2
So our solution today is: B. P – 14.95≤ 0.2
The TOLERANCE is 14.95 ± 0.2 pounds
Download the TOLERANCE PROBLEM pdf file
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
How about some Vocab?
Here is a nice list of 1000 SAT Vocab Words; have fun stormin' the castle! (do you think it is going to work? It'll take a miracle) b' bye!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
'Twas the week before Christmas . . .
"Twas the week before Christmas Break and all through High Schools, not a SAT prep book was stirred, not even by an over-achieving geek.
Well, it doesn't rhyme very well and it would be painful if I kept it up, even for me. Seriously, this week is usually a time to let down a bit and relax. Most schools are in the holiday spirit and know that minds are elsewhere. So Mr. Grinch may give you a test before Dec 20, but the majority of work will not be tough. So, relax and enjoy the week.
This Christmas break is a nice long one, with Dec 25 on a Tuesday, we get two weekends. It is an excellent time to do some prep work - WITHOUT PRESSURE!
Take the Big Blue Pillow and begin doing some problems. Let me set the stage for you... wake up some time after 10 or 11am, eat cookies or left-overs for breakfast, curl up on the couch and turn on the tv -- then get down to some serious, or not so serious work.
Here is how to tackle working during the break. Do as many problems as you can until you fall asleep - then take a nap. If you can do the problem - skip it. Only work on problems that you can't do! And here painful part, go look up the concept covered by the problem and read it!
Merry Merry
Well, it doesn't rhyme very well and it would be painful if I kept it up, even for me. Seriously, this week is usually a time to let down a bit and relax. Most schools are in the holiday spirit and know that minds are elsewhere. So Mr. Grinch may give you a test before Dec 20, but the majority of work will not be tough. So, relax and enjoy the week.
This Christmas break is a nice long one, with Dec 25 on a Tuesday, we get two weekends. It is an excellent time to do some prep work - WITHOUT PRESSURE!
Take the Big Blue Pillow and begin doing some problems. Let me set the stage for you... wake up some time after 10 or 11am, eat cookies or left-overs for breakfast, curl up on the couch and turn on the tv -- then get down to some serious, or not so serious work.
Here is how to tackle working during the break. Do as many problems as you can until you fall asleep - then take a nap. If you can do the problem - skip it. Only work on problems that you can't do! And here painful part, go look up the concept covered by the problem and read it!
Merry Merry
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Another Parabola
Here is another parabola problem that has a square labeled PQRS with an area of 64. The top corners intersect a parabola that sits on the bottom side.
The function of the parabola is y=ax^2
The key to solving this problelm is remember that parabolas are symmetrical. Since the square root of 64 = 8, then all sides have a length of 8. QR = 8, and so the point R is (4,8)
Substitute these two points into the equation and solve
8 = a*(4)^2
8 = a* 16
8/16 = a * 16/16 a = 1/2
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Fun with Parabolas
To get a good handle on SAT parabolas - download my cheat sheet. It covers the basics and has questions from the BBP listed on the bottom.
Fun with Parabolas
Fun with Parabolas
Email me any question
Hi - thanks for reading SAT - Tutor
If you can think of the problem, email it to me.
If you can sketch it & scan it all the better
My email address is phil@mccaffreytutoring.com
I'd love to hear from you
If you can think of the problem, email it to me.
If you can sketch it & scan it all the better
My email address is phil@mccaffreytutoring.com
I'd love to hear from you
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