<p>alright folks I just started this forum as a precursor to any final last minute strategies/ suggestions to study/ etc. for this week's NEW SAT.</p>
<p>post up.</p>
<p>LABEL STRATEGIES MATH, READING, OR WRITING on the top of the post to make it easier for people to access.</p>
<p>also compilations of really good examples that can be used for anything on the essay are welcome.</p>
<p>MATH
This sounds kind of obvious, but know how to use your calculator! My friend left hers at school so she borrowed her brother's, and then spent a looong time trying to figure out how to get out of a game. hahahaa</p>
<p>WRITING - specifically, essay
Come up with a couple of broad examples beforehand, and you can usually twist them around to accomodate the prompt. It's just good to have somewhere to start so you don't have to waste time thinking of supports. </p>
<p>Recently read books are always good, as long as they're somewhat known... and I like to use the example, "When I ran for student council president..." because you can twist it around for stuff like determination, honesty, failure, politics, and stuff, even if it's a bunch of lies!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>speaking of calculators, put in new batteries, or take some spares!</p>
<p>Hmmmm here's what i've got to say: :)</p>
<p>Writing: (specifically essay) --> have examples ready, usually questions on the essay are pretty broad, and a lot of things can work as examples. People who take/took American History, theres ALWAYS something that you learnt in APUSH that can work with an essay.</p>
<p>Verbal: (this is just what works for me) --> don't read the whole paragraphs beggining to end, just skim, the go to the questions, see what they want, then go hunt for the answer. I used to read the whole passage first, but I do better new that I don't read it intensely/completely right away.</p>
<p>Math --> Don't get a cool calculator specially for the SAT, use the one you're used to :) </p>
<p>GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE TAKING IT, I'M SURE WE'LL ALL DO GREAT :D :D :D !!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>good ones for WRITING here is a simple chart I made while back....if it helps use it.</p>
<p>feel free to add more and use the ones you are MOST COMFORTABLE with...appreciate it if more people submit similar charts etc. thanks</p>
<p>Current Events:
-Gaming Industry
-Google Search Engine
-9/11 Security
-NJ Lottery
-New MP3 Fad
-Standardized Tests
-HTML/PHP Languages</p>
<p>Science
-Article about [topic] enhancing daily function</p>
<p>History:
-American Revolution
-Mahatma Gandhi
-Martin Luther King Junior
-Andrew Carnegie
-John D. Rockefeller
-Henry Ford
-Oregon Trail
-Product demand after a war
-Compromise of Tarrifs in our History
-FBI
-Civil Rights Movement
-Franklin D. Roosvelt and his programs for America (success and failures)
-Adolf Hitler
Thomas Paine Common Sense/ American Revolution</p>
<p>Politics:
-No Child Left Behind Act</p>
<p>Literature
-Death of Salesman
-Hamlet - Shakespeare
-Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare
-The Jungle Upton Sinclair
-Matilda Roald Dahl
-Harry Potter and Sorcerers Stone - J. K. Rowling
-Matrix
-Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
-Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne
-E.T. Steven Spielsburg
-Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne
MacBeth - Shakespeare
-Emperors New Groove The Child in the Story
-Grapes of Wrath - John Steinback</p>
<p>Personal Experience
-Family Business
-Family members success story
-Computer
-Internet</p>
<p>Business
-Bill Gates
-Business Attributes/Industry Goal</p>
<hr>
<p>That's it for now...I leave it to you to add more. Would be great help to others if you could post on this forum. Peace</p>
<p>WRITING: (essay)</p>
<p>Don't write a 5-paragraph essay. If you can be witty, DO IT.</p>
<p>I would say don't use the examples that were just listed, although those are great fallbacks. My teacher reads stuff like this and says he gets so sick and tired of the Thoreau-Gandhi-King/Mandela hierarchy that he automatically marks stuff like that down. [IB (like AP if you don't know) actually has a rubric mark for its essays that says, "does not used tired metaphors."] For a teacher reading a hundred of these essays, I imagine it gets really old really fast.</p>
<p>My advice would be to use a local example and a more international one. For example, one could say something like, "It is integral that a leader remain confident, as the president of my student body did in his fight to keep a relaxed and free dress code. However, when victory cannot be realistically expected, a leader must know when to withdraw. King Philip II of Spain did not listen to his hesitant advisors before sending his "Invincible" Armada to its doom."</p>
<p>That way, one shows that one can think originally and one is globally aware.</p>
<p>very well stated Inkling229 ... my mistake for not clarifying that these are supporting examples to support ones own original thoughts....</p>
<p>the best way to go about it to use the "tired metaphors" as support examples for your real life experiences or use ones that aren't used THAT OFTEN.</p>
<p>I got a 12 on my essay in March, and what I found helpful was definetly writing on science because I could sort of bs my way through some details since most essay graders are English Profs. So if you plan on writing on Shakespeare, make sure you know your stuff. But things like Biology and Chemistry you can kind of 'guess' on specific details and they won't really notice. But of course know for sure a couple scientists when you're talking about something to make it sound that you DO know what you're talking about.</p>
<p>Also I suggest a 4 paragraph essay, into, 2 body paragraphs, and conclusion. And be sure to mention your 2 examples in the body paragraphs. Just follow the structure of essays you learned in 2nd grade and you should be good.</p>
<p>Inkling229 or anyone else..</p>
<p>i am a weak writer and i think writing but id like to somehow write the way you suggested in your post. how would i be able to create an introduction for that though without repeating the argument for 4 or 5 sentences. normally i just write the argument and then list examples and throw some transitions in.</p>
<p>Lbtg47:</p>
<p>English teachers teach English wrong, no offense to them. They say that an introduction should be an "overview" of what you're going to write. Don't do that. If you can summarize in one paragraph what you are going to say in the next six, then you only need to write the first one!</p>
<p>Instead, start off with that all-important hook. For example, if the topic is whether creativity or perserverance is more important, begin with: "The first eighty pages of Samuel Stevenson's novel (NOTE: I made that name up) were eloquent, loquacious, profound, and beautiful...in short, the greatest American literature ever written. Unfortunately, he did not have the stamina to write more and the book was never published."</p>
<p>What I'm saying is that you should start with an example, preferably witty and original, and then move into your thesis. You needn't present your argument until the last sentence of the paragraph. Then write a counterthesis which you can easily bash a bit later!!!</p>
<p>Writing isn't that hard as long as you don't listen to formulas!</p>
<p>greymatter- interesting</p>
<p>Can you give me an example of using science in an essay? How did you use it?</p>
<p>bump .</p>
<p>here's my advice (would have helped me)
- DON'T DRINK A VENTI COFFEE RIGHT BEFORE THE TEST! =)</p>
<p>and also..these are kind of obvious but helpful still
- Make sure to have a watch! So many people seem to have ran out of time on the essay.
- Don't get freaked out and focus too much on problems you don't know...learn to move on quickly. I know sometimes people will get fixated on a problem because they're about to lose their 800..but don't.
- Look back on old SAT threads and realize that a lot of people end up using the same essay examples. Don't be afraid to throw in something a bit odd...as long as you follow it up with a lot of explanation. Oh and on that note make sure your essay is mostly YOUR commentary...not just details about a book. Don't over-introduce (woohoo not even a word) the example. </p>
<p>ok maybe I'll think of more later...GOOD LUCK! =)</p>
<p>For the March essay (majority as a guide) I used Spontaneous Generation and the old belief that DNA actually made polypeptides (when it only codes for them). I knew the spontaneous generation fairly well, but for the DNA one I just made up a bunch of details that I was not sure if they were right.</p>
<p>lol nice...that's the way to go.</p>
<p>I don't know if others agree or not, but this is something I noticed. Don't be afraid to be sort of informal on the SAT essay. I tried to avoid using I, and personal opinion type wording like I believe, or I think. I noticed a lot of high scorers tended to be a little informal, but made their essay's more interesting, and still flow well. Don't get stuck in the 5 paragraph format like I did. </p>
<p>Another thing I noticed was a lot of people did not introduce their points for the essay in the opening. I was guilty of this, and I think it cost me. If you make your points in each paragraph as it goes along, you aren't forced to add things you planned to mention in the beginning, but ran out of time. </p>
<p>Write AS MUCH detail as possible about your points, and relate it back to your thesis. Try to take up a lot of space, and add facts that make you look like you really know what you are talking about, even if you pulled them out of your ass. Don't waste time thinking, just write, and try to use good transitions. Don't be afraid to use a quote you made up, or an interesting anecdote you just thought up.</p>
<p>MATH
Check your answers at the end. I missed 0 questions because when I went back through the test, I saw that I had gotten like 3 messed up and I fixed them and I got an 800.</p>
<p>WRITING
Go with your instinct. If you know an answer, put it down. Doubting yourself will make you miss tons of questions. If you can't find a good reason for changing it, don't.</p>
<p>ESSAY
Write about what you know. Don't try to impress the grader by using your little knowledge of Shakespeare or Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Just write about something you know a lot about and clearly. Be concise, don't use too many big words, and BE CLEAR!!! Clarity is the biggest thing. Make sure what you write makes sense.</p>
<p>FAKEOUT</p>
<p>good info fakeout...yeah especially for MATH ... I get 800s consistantly on practice tests so one thing I've learned is that sometimes simple problems can get you if you aren't carefull so CHECK YOUR WORK...and well programs help (for like speeding up last 4 problems or so on each math section)...but those aren't going up until after this SATURDAY.</p>
<p>PHYSICS</p>
<p>memorize formulas</p>
<p>US HISTORY</p>
<p>memorize book</p>
<p>MATH IIC</p>
<p>memorize calculator</p>
<p>lol good use of the word MEMORIZE</p>