<p>1) How are they graded? Like...there are three sections, each worth 800 points. Does that mean each question is worth like 10 or 20? (I actually dont even know the number of questions per section...LOL) Does one have to get EVERY QUESTION right in order to get a perfect score, or is there a room for a couple wrong before they start takin points off your score? </p>
<p>2) How long did you guys study for the SATs? (both SAT I and SAT II if you can tell me :)) </p>
<p>3) For SAT II's, they are like exams for specific subjects, right? I see that most people take SAT II's in their sophomore/junior/senior years. What is the level of SAT II's? Do they cover the entire American high school curriculum?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot everyone! =)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Fundamentally, there is a raw score for each section. You start with no poitns for the raw score: a correct answer = 1 point, a wrong answer = -.25, except for non-mc questions, and a blank = 0 points. Your raw score is then scaled to the scaled score (the 800 scale), depending on the difficulty, etc.
Therefore, depending on how hard your test was, and how the other people do, you MAY miss one or two questions. However, in my PSAT sophomore year, I missed one math question, and that dropped me four (40 for SAT) points.</p></li>
<li><p>I started SAT I preparation in eight grade, and I am a rising Junior. For the three SAT II's that I took, I was a retard and thought that AP exam preparation was enough. so I did horribly (730 chem,760 chinese,770 us history CRAP) , and only studied for like a week.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, SAT II's are specific subjects, so I don't know what you mean by "entire high school curriculum". MOST of these tests are on par with introductory college level material, so AP classes are good preparation (but remember: study for the SAT II's as well, or you'll screw yourself)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>1) There is leeway for error; you can miss a few questions and still get a 800. If you want an example of grading/scales, find a copy of "Real SATs."</p>
<p>2) None for the SAT II. For SAT I, I took a few practice SAT math sections to boost my math score. </p>
<p>3) Take the SAT II after you take the course. For example, take Math II after pre-cal. I took mine (Math II, Writing, Chem) in June after my junior year.</p>
<p>wow. . .1000 posts. . .</p>
<p>for 2)</p>
<p>I like to think that I studied long-term, so I didn't need a lot of intensive studying a month before. It's either that or pure luck on my behalf (and it may be just that.) </p>
<p>The best advice for verbal is read - it's always the life-long readers who score amazingly well. I scored 75, 77 on two PSATs and a 740 on my one and only SAT. That's typical for me - I'm a reader, but during high school I spent less time reading. Seriously, start reading a few pages or a chapter of a good book every day. It really helps - those passages become much easier, and you improve your vocabulary. No need for annoying long list of words. </p>
<p>It also helps for writing - you understand the various tricky idioms and expressions that writing does. It gives a sense of naturalness to the writing test, where I fared much better (80,76,800).</p>
<p>For math, I've been into math competitions since much earlier, and this really helps. Speed and familiarity with the fairly easy problems is crucial. I've made one stupid mistake, and afterwards I was all set (77,80,800).</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>(May I also suggest Xiggi's method, which is stickied on the top of this forum?)</p>