The SAT is a joke

Test Preparation
1

<p>My original test was cancelled due to a power outage, so I had to take some special version today, which meant waking up early which I am not happy about to begin with. I’ve always had my complaints about the test, which were mostly:</p>

<li>The test is too long and not only tests skills, but also attention span.</li>
<li>The test is constructed in a way that knowledge rather than abilities are tested, thus lowering the low chances that (especially non-minority) city students have of getting into college and making studying an actual option for doing well on the test.</li>
<li>The proctors do not have a clue about the test.</li>
</ol>

<p>So at 8:??, we begin on the essay because our instructor tells us to do so. What do I see? Something about achieving success through risk, very dull topic. Hey, why don’t you give us a topic in which we can choose to write about things that we like, as we will need to do in college? After 24 minutes of frustration, the proctor says “2 minutes left.” Let me tell you, there is no mention of an ending time until this point as the proctor was silently watching his own watch. I scramble to right a conclusion after a disastrous 3 paragraphs. Great start.</p>

<p>Let’s then talk about the rest of the test:</p>

<p>Critical reading:
In the critical reading sections, there actually is an ending time on the board, so thats good. However, as soon as I begin work on the section, I am then bombarded with 10+ words I have never seen nor need to know what they mean at any point in my life. The whole point of the SAT is that you arent supposed to be able to study for it, but I’m sure if I knew what the hell those words meant, I would be able to do much better. As always, there are some passages that follow the ridiculousness of the vocab, and while the questions are very easy, the passages are so boring especially by the end that I can’t even remember what I am reading. Still, they weren’t to bad except for the word meaning questions, in which I am asked to define a word with words I don’t know. That’s another brilliant idea from College Board. All in all, the section is easy, but quite terribly written. I do hope for future students that they actually bring analogies back into this section, so once more it will contain deductive reasoning and logic. Oh, I must add one more thing. There actually are questions that ask what is the intent of the author. Sorry, ■■■■■■■, there is no way the reader knows what the hell the author is intending, we can only see what the hell he wrote.</p>

<p>Math:
I thought there were supposed to be hard questions in math. Apparently not so as long as you know geometry. May I also mention that geometry is like half of the math test? Then there’s the trick questions. In one of them, I solved for x, but then when I reread it saw that it was asking for 2x. Who the hell solves for 2x? x is the variable, stupids. I was able to do every problem without even turning my calculator on, and after rechecking every question, I still had over 3 minutes to spare every single time. Please College board, make the math section HARDER? For us people that can actually do elementary math, this should not be the “who can make less stupid mistakes because the curve is low?” section. I would say this is the worst section of the test, if only the other ones weren’t as stupid.</p>

<p>Writing:
What is even being tested in this section? As I open up the booklet, I see sentences that even my dog would laugh at. Unless you are planning to become an elementary school teacher, you don’t need to know how to correct complete crap. I can write on my own and use correct sentence structure, why do I need to find the mistakes of some ■■■■■■■■ kids? Then the last page is correcting paragraphs, which is quite a ridiculous section too. Some more crappy writing is there, only you have to actually decipher what the hell they are trying to say so it makes sense to you. At certain points, I didn’t even know what was trying to be said because the writing was so terrible. Can’t you do better than this?</p>

<p>The “New (improved) SAT?” More like “Test made by dummies, for dummies”. Bring some integrity back to this test. Let those who are truly smart be able to truly shine…</p>

<p>After all that said, I am hoping for 700+ on Critical Reading, 800 on Math, and 700+ on writing which really isn’t bad, but I think its time College Board got a freaking clue. My college admissions depend on this steaming pile of turds.</p>

2

<p>How the hell do city kids have lower chance of doing good on a knowledge test?</p>

3

<p>By:</p>

<h1>1. not having the motivation to read and study a lot</h1>

<h1>2. having substandard schools unless they are rich</h1>

<h1>3. not having any advanced language at all in their everday dialogues</h1>

4

<p>So basically, you're saying that people who grow up in not academically friendly environments and have no motivation don't do good on a test. No kidding. (how does that relate to city kids, anyhow? The vast majority of college students come from urban areas, not to mention most notable high schools are in cities. Stuyvesant and Bronx Science, anyone?</p>

<p>Somehow, if they were tested on "ability" rather than knowledge (which is pretty much impossible), I doubt they'd do any better.</p>

5

<p>Dude, stop complaining. If the test is such a joke, do well on it, go be sucessful, then change the world or whatever you want. The SAT is not an IQ test; that's not disputed anymore, but it does test knowledge as well as innate intelligence. What the test actually tests is unkwown, other than it correlates to GPA, college sucess, and intelligence somehow. (btw you're supposed to be able to solve every math question without a calculator). k that's all. pointless topic.</p>

6

<p>Ray, you are confused. The term "city kids" is what is misleading you. The correct term is "inner city." Of course regular middle-class kids who live in cities can do fine. It's the kids in the real urban crappy schools that fail</p>

<p>Edit: I also think the OP is a sore loser. Get a better attitude. The SAT is not "a joke." Yeah, it has its problems, but the vocab. it tests is pretty decent. Trust me, I aced it, and I need all those words on a regular basis.</p>

7

<p>Maybe what bothers me is the common misconception that the SAT measures intelligence. It does moreso than GPA, but IQ tests also fail at that. You simply cannot measure intelligence in my opinion, but what the SATs measure is hardly even acquired skill. What I want is probably quite impossible, but the College Board makes little effort to fix the problems with the test. The math section is so easy you aren't even allowed one simple math error, the critical reading section tests on vocab that I don't need (apparently b4nnd20 does), and the writing section tests how well you can correct and decipher 3rd grade level writing.</p>

<p>Also, I am damn sure that you know who I mean when I said city kids. I mean poor inner city kids, so copy whatever I posted to Notepad and replace "city kids" with "poor inner city kids" to satisfy your little whiny self.</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
How the hell do city kids have lower chance of doing good on a knowledge test?

[/quote]

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/education/16reportcard.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/education/16reportcard.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Stuyvesant and Bronx Science are hardly representative of all urban schools.</p>

9

<p>


</p>

<p>Why not let you write about things you like? That's a moronic idea. The point of the essay is to see how well people are able to argue a point which they may not have considered beforehand - ironically, exactly like you will often need to do in college.</p>

<p>As for your time issues, boohoo. Keep track of time yourself, it's something you should learn to do at approximately 6 years of age.</p>

<p>


</p>

<p>It's called reading. The more you read, the more vocabulary you pick up, the more expressive you are, and the better you do on SATs. *****ing about tests testing things you don't need to know in life is stupid as hell - it's not about what you need to know, it's about what you need to be able to know it, and that's what counts. </p>

<p>


</p>

<p>Oh? You were asked to define a word with words you don't know? Maybe you should know them! And maybe, just maybe, if you don't, you don't deserve to get this question right. Jee, what a novel concept - you're unable to answer a question, so you get it wrong. As for not being able to know what an author intends, that's a simple skill you pick up through reading. Meaning depends on numerous literary devices, and generally, to be considered a good reader, you must be attuned enough to these to be able to pick up on subtle clues about what the author really means - not necessarily just what he says. It's a useful life skill too - one that you apparently lack. So sorry.</p>

<p>


</p>

<p>That's to check if you're actually reading the question. Good thing you were.</p>

<p>


</p>

<p>The point is that the test is trying to assess how well you are able to use sentences to directly convey meaning. Of course anyone can write structurally correct sentences - but just because sentences are structurally correct does not mean they are good sentences. So you need to find the mistakes of some "retarded kids", because the true point of that exercise is to make you objectively determine what is problematic in a sentence. </p>

<p>


</p>

<p>"Test made by dummies, for dummies"? Interesting that you're taking it then - and ironically, your last phrase ("steaming pile of turds") seems to accurately describe your post.</p>

<p>You whine, whine, and then whine some more, and when you're not busy whining (often about stuff that really doesn't matter), you're wasting pointless bandwidth and storage space making misguided social commentary, which you have neither the arguments nor the intelligence to substantiate. Furthermore, you contradict yourself - stating in the same post that the math section is too easy and that the test disdvantages inner-city kids.</p>

<p>Overall, this post is basically a lot of *****ing about things you didn't like on the test. Would you like to cry us all a river, or would you prefer I provide you with some razor blades so you can go off and cut yourself in a corner? I'm going to be honest, I prefer the second option, since then none of us have to watch you sermonize about issues you are not anywhere near intelligent or knowledgeable enough to comprehend.</p>

10

<p>floyd, don't forget to report here what your scores are when you get them, especially math and writing. You may surprise us!</p>

11

<p>Life is so unfair</p>

12

<p>
[quote]
However, as soon as I begin work on the section, I am then bombarded with 10+ words I have never seen nor need to know what they mean at any point in my life.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's your problem. Don't not study vocablary them complain that you don't knoe the words.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Sorry, retards, there is no way the reader knows what the hell the author is intending, we can only see what the hell he wrote.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It's called the critical reading section. It's to see if you can think critically. To see if you can see between the lines. </p>

<p>
[quote]
I solved for x, but then when I reread it saw that it was asking for 2x. Who the hell solves for 2x?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Why not try READING THE QUESTION?! If you slowed down for just a second, you'd see the 2 and you wouldn't make careless errors.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I was able to do every problem without even turning my calculator on, and after rechecking every question, I still had over 3 minutes to spare every single time.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>If you read the Blue book, you would know that they tell you that NO question on the Math section on the SAT requires a calculator. They only RECOMEND the use of the calculator to save time.</p>

<p>
[quote]
At certain points, I didn't even know what was trying to be said because the writing was so terrible. Can't you do better than this?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It's meant to be badly written. Why else would they want you to correct it?</p>

13

<p>after reading the OP's post I was going to make a long reply, but it looks like 1of42, and stuck-on-1700 pretty much said what I was planning to.</p>

<p>I will be very interested in your scores though.</p>

<p>And if the SAT is such a bad test then don't take it. since you're at such a higher intelligence level than everyone else just tell colleges you didn't need the test.</p>

14

<p>Haha I liked his post - funniest thing I've read all day.</p>

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<p>i didn't even read the post it was too long</p>

<p>all i have to say is: LOUD NOISES!!!!!!!!</p>

16

<p>

I got 800/670/670 last time, so I'm just hoping for a score that's only marginally higher as I haven't worked on improving my score at all and take very undemanding English courses in school.</p>

<p>

Sometimes if you ask an author what they really were trying to do, they will tell you something completely opposite of what everyone would expect. There obviously is a way to guess what they were thinking, but there is sometimes no way you can prove that the "correct" answer is really correct.</p>

<p>

I have a great way to test someone's mathematical ability. What is it? Oh, try to trick them into putting down a different answer by sneaking a coefficient on the variable even I know what they are thinking.</p>

<p>

It isn't at all unfair that there's a clock on the wall and I don't know at what minute the section is going to end. I (don't) see your point.</p>

<p>

What if I don't? It doesn't affect my ability to "critically reason" which is what I am supposed to be tested on.</p>

<p>

This rebuttal is taking me the longest because I can't stop laughing. I'll start with a few quotes.

What conclusion are you coming to? The reason why inner city kids are disadvantaged in the math section is that it is all dependent on your knowledge of geometry, which they don't have. Not too long ago, the College Board bumped up the level of math that they would test in the SAT for whatever moronic reasons they do other things. This only makes the math section more knowledge based, which means that if you do have a strong knowledge about geometry, you should be fine even if your "critical reasoning" skills aren't so great.
That's an easy conclusion to come to, but I wasn't even going in that direction when I was complaining about the math section. I still believe that disadvantages that inner city kids face are more of a problem in the other two sections. Notice how I didn't mention anything about them at all when I discussed the math section. Either way, the conclusions don't contradict unless you misread what I was saying. You need work on those critical reading skills 1of42!</p>

17

<p>
[quote]
I'm complaining about the fact that this is not supposed to be a vocab (knowledge) test, but rather a "Critical Reasoning Test", which it is obviously not.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>you are supposed to critically reason to find the meaning of that word in context . It isn't dependand on memorization.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Sometimes if you ask an author what they really were trying to do, they will tell you something completely opposite of what everyone would expect. There obviously is a way to guess what they were thinking, but there is sometimes no way you can prove that the "correct" answer is really correct.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>In the blue book (I'll get to it in a minute) it says that you are supposed to pick the best answer; not necessarily the correct one. In many cases, two or more answers may seem right. But you have to pick the closest one to what the question is asking (That's were critical thinking comes in).</p>

<p>
[quote]

What? This is supposed to be a fair test and I know nothing of the book you speak of that's supposed to help me?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I don't know a single person who's taken the SAT and doesn't know what it is.
It's actually called the "Official study guide for the New SAT." it's made by the collegeboard and is sold for 20 dollars.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Being able to interpret and correct elementary school literature is one of the most important skills that helps one excel in college. Well, that is so if you are going to college for elementary school education.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Who said anything aobut elementary school? It's just a piece of writing they got from somewhere. It could be from a HS student (which it most probably is btw).</p>

<p>why did you quote and critisize yourself in the end of your post?</p>

18

<p>"you are supposed to critically reason to find the meaning of that word in context . It isn't dependand on memorization."</p>

<p>If you've never seen a word before, there's no way you can "critically reason" its meaning. Unless you mean learning roots and all that, which most teachers don't even teach anymore.</p>

<p>And I know of TONS of people who take the SAT without the Blue Book. In fact, I'm the only one I know of that has the BB or has even heard of it. And when I ask people if they studied for the SAT, they laugh at me. Why? Because the SAT isn't supposed to be a test people sit home all summer and study for. It's supposed to test ability, but unfortunately so many kids don't do that.</p>

<p>floydisgod, you should try the ACT. Although your SAT scores are good, it's a lot more straightforward and actually has math questions that are somewhat challenging (tests through pre-calc). With 60 questions in 60 minutes, timing is tight. As far as the other sections, who knows what you'd think of them, but they are certainly not as tricky and geared towards reading the authors' minds.</p>

19

<p>To figure out what a word meant in context in a sentence would require critical thinking. It's really just common sense; you don't have to know what a word means to figure out what it meant in a sentence.
If all else fails; just plug in the 5 answer choics and see which one fits best.</p>

<p>Both times I mentioned the blue book, I wasn't saying "use it and you'll get a higher score". I was pointing out some basic knowledge abot the test that the OP would have if s/he had the book and/or read about it on the college board website.</p>

20

<p>If you're presented with 5 words you've never seen before and have ZERO clue what they mean, how the hell is plugging them into a sentence and "reasoning" going to help at all?</p>