<p>Hello everyone! I'm an international student from Poland. I've decided to start getting prepared to the SAT. Now I'm looking for the best material. My English is quite good I think, so are my Maths skills, but I know it's essential to get proper preparation. I can afford the official sat online course and some books. My question is: what is the best choice in your opinion? Should I pay attention to broadening my vocabulary range? Is it advisable to read many books and magazines in English to be really familiar with the language?</p>
<p>Bart</p>
<p>No matter how good your English is, you should spend time increasing your vocabulary. Plenty of native English speakers falter on the SAT’s vocab. </p>
<p>Yes read, but don’t read books, read essays. Easiest way to do that is to access the editorials at the New York Times’ website every day. Practice understanding the main ideas of the arguments…this skill is much closer to what the SAT expects of you than book reading. </p>
<p>Of course, you should also take lots of practice tests…Blue Book is the best in my opinion. That’s the one with the real tests.</p>
<p>What about the online course from collegeboard? Is that a good way, too?</p>
<p>The College Board’s online course isn’t bad, but you should supplement it with some other resources as well. The big value there will be exposure to the kinds of questions you’re going to see, but you’ll probably find better advice about test-taking techniques elsewhere. That said, I haven’t taken the online course myself. </p>
<p>I’m just thinking that if I wrote a test myself and had a vested interest in its continued success, the course I’d offer FOR that test might leave out some of the most powerful tricks. If I made the course TOO good, I’d put myself right out of business.</p>
<p>Could you give some examples of the ‘other resources’? And what do you mean by saying ‘exposure to the kinds of questions you’re going to see’? Do you mean that I should complete at home as many practice tests as I can?</p>
<p>I know some people like erikthered’s stuff (google him to find his site). I’m trying to build a bit of a website myself, but I don’t know that it’s ready for prime time yet. You can google my username for that one. And then of course there’s this very message board we’re on right now, which gives you access to a lot of knowledgeable people who are willing to help.</p>
<p>By “exposure” I simply mean it’s a great idea to see as many College Board-written questions as you can before you take your SAT. Those guys write the real test, obviously, and if you see enough from them, there’s a decent chance you’ll see some similar questions on your real exam. </p>
<p>So yes, you should definitely complete as many practice tests as possible, but also make sure you take time to review those practice tests afterwards to understand the mistakes you made, and how not to get tricked again the same way.</p>