<p>4 hours is way too much for a single test! I can barely go through a regular 1 hour test, let alone 4!
Wasn't the goal of the new, now one year old, test to give a better idea of the test taker's abilities? But now that it's 4 hours long, it fries your brain, and you get a low score anyway. so what's the point?</p>
<p>I just treat the SAT like it's a game on paper with a huge reward at the end. This thought is enough to keep me going and my brain suffers minimal frying.</p>
<p>I agree. .</p>
<p>You do realize that in most countries most exams do stretch for 3 hours right? (And that's without any breaks of any kind). 3 hours 45 minutes, with breaks in between is, to be frank, not that challenging or exhausting.</p>
<p>you know what??
in korea..the standard test is about 10hours(including maybe 1hour of lunch time...) and you can only take it at the end of the high school year. after high school, you only have one chance a year to take...believe it or not some people take it more than 5 times(5years...)to go to seoul international university...if i remember corretly,only top 3% can apply there(corret me if im wrong)
so dont complain..</p>
<p>10 hours? Whoah, that's roughly 2.5 SATs!</p>
<p>10 SATs X 4 hours each = 40 hours of SAT.</p>
<p>3 hours of one subject, where you concentrate on one subject matter= managable. however,</p>
<p>4 hours alternating between English and math with only a 3 minute break= fried brain.</p>
<p>If it's too long for you then it's too long for everyone else. It's a curved test anyways.</p>
<p>Perhaps the ability to focus upon a task for an extended duration is something colleges are interested in knowing.</p>
<p>yeah a i agree. in the end, being able to stay focused on work will be a better indicator of success than just natural abilities so colleges are definitely interested in the focus factor.</p>
<p>Good thing you are not taking the MCAT (medical school entrance test) and is 6 hours long and has 200 questions (including 2 essay topics)</p>
<p>/rant
Just because Korea has a 10 hour test, doesn't mean that these types of tests are taking too long to complete. I hope I don't come off as attacking with this post, but it really means absolutely nothing. </p>
<p>While other parts of the world seem to be excelling at education in the high, secondary, and elementary level, in contrast it has been statistically shown that American children tend to succeed in their futures more often then children from those parts of the world because we have a more social aspect within our education system.</p>
<p>We had a exchange student one year who, if I'm not mistaken, was Korean (I didn't really know her), and was having trouble with the language aspect of the courses. She got extremely frustrated, but due to the learning customs of that part of the world she never asked questions to the instructor. It took her a very long time to realize that it isn't frowned upon in this country if you need a little bit of help to understand a concept.</p>
<p>In order to succeed, one must be able to communicate. It doesn't matter if you are the smartest person in the world, if you can't socially express your knowledge. There are too many differences within the two countries to really make a statement like that as shown above with my social example. While they may have a 10 hour test and we hear about how that region of the world has such high test scores with year round schooling and lots of work, theres a cost benefit ratio going there. Nothing comes without a negative of some way.</p>
<p>Now, I can't say this is the case everywhere, of course. I'm sure there are examples that could be argued in place here. However, this is NOT a competition. I do not live in that part of the world, or have I gone to school there. This is also not an argument based on race, so much as the traditional customs of this region of the world. I've had exchange students tell me about how strict schools are in those areas and how hard it can be to adapt (as in any culture) due to how the schools are run.</p>
<p>Please keep in mind that this is not Korea, and that this conversation is arguing that 4 hours is too long for a test in America. The fact that Korea has a 10 hour test means absolutely nothing in the end, except to try to prove that we are just being whiny because some other culture does it this way. Well, this is a different culture and we can complain all we want on it. The fact that Korea has a 10 hour test doesn't negate any feeling that I shouldn't.</p>
<p>Please let us formulate our own opinions instead of trying to use a jejune comparison contrasting what our part of the world is like to somewhere else. It's just like someone trying to coerce you into eating the rest of the food on your plate because some starving child somewhere far, far away would eat it. Your argument isn't good, because it is not backed up with why 10 hours is even a suitable duration of a test. If you want someone like me to take it seriously, please give your thought reasoning so I'll seriously take it into consideration.</p>
<p>/rant off =P</p>
<p>Back on topic, I do think the test is a bit long, but with practice it gets easier to take. At the same time however, if the test is too short then it may not give enough detail as to an accurate measurement of what the test is trying to show of your ability of a student. I think extending the tests may be stretching it a bit, but for a length of a test you take one Saturday morning... I think it's a bit strenuous, but about right.</p>
<p>Any exam is going to last between 1-3 hours in our school systems, and this is just an exam. We even get a break and can eat during it. Perhaps you can find creative ways to keep yourself focused. (guess I'm too tired of typing now to go too far into it XD)</p>
<p>The time limit does not make the SAT hard, but the amount of sections really make it hard. Ten sections really screws with your hard, and when you get to four, you start to think, when will this be over. That's why I like the ACT. They use time effectively to make the test harder, but at the same time, because there are only four or five sections (writing or no writing), you can stay patient.</p>