<p>way cool! Thanks for sharing.</p>
<p>could u show how to do that sum problem using ur formula, i was able to do it without it and just got more confused with it.. but i'd still like to learn ur technique.</p>
<p>Godot, a bit earlier I talked about how students posted questions in the SAT forums and others answered, usually a few minutes later. You may recognize your first strategy and the ... complete solution to the problem. </p>
<p>This is from October 2003 </p>
<p>Q:
By Akaflex (Akaflex) on Sunday, October 05, 2003 - 05:59 pm:
The sum of the positive odd integers less than 100 is subtracted from the sum of the positive even integers less than or equal to 100. What is the resulting difference?
can sum1 explain </p>
<p>A:
By Xiggi (Xiggi) on Sunday, October 05, 2003 - 06:27 pm: </p>
<p>The answer is 50.
Look at what happens to
1,3,5 = total 9
2,4,6 = total 12
All the even numbers are 1 more than the odd numbers. Since there are 3 numbers, the total is simply 3 more. </p>
<p>Now, how many odd numbers are there between 1-99? The answer is 50. That is the same number of even between 2-100.
So the answer is 50 x 1 = 50. </p>
<p>Another way is to calculate the sums via the following operations:
[(1+99)/2]x50=2500
[(2+100)/2]x50=2550 </p>
<p>2550-2500 = 50 </p>
<p>This is a good problem for a calculator but can be solved easily thru a bit of logic. </p>
<p>And since I started this trip down memory lane, this is a thread showing the discussions we used to have about "remainders". The CC SAT forum was a FUN place during the Summer of 2003. Some of the best moments were the discussions about hard sequences.</p>
<p>/wink</p>
<p>Godot, here's a great problem -if you like infinite series:</p>
<p>"Two trains 150 miles apart are traveling toward each other along the same track. The first train goes 60 miles per hour; the second train rushes along at 90 miles per hour. A fly is hovering just above the nose of the first train. It buzzes from the first train to the second train, turns around immediately, flies back to the first train, and turns around again. It goes on flying back and forth between the two trains until they collide. If the fly's speed is 120 miles per hour, how far will it travel? "</p>
<p>Xiggi, what you think about the online CB course?</p>
<p>Ok, Here is my take from a former tutor of SATS.
I certainly can't argue with Xiggi's approach. It is rock solid.However, self studying lots of "actual" exams might prove difficult for the student that is already under a time crunch with lots of AP courses already. In addition, some of the answers to the SAT books were somwhat obscure or actually wrong!</p>
<p>I also never thought that cramming for 14 hours ( as one tutor noted) does that good a job. Yes, it may increase scores by 50 or 100 points,but that is about it. Wouldn't it be better to increase scores by 250,300, or even more points? The question is how do you do this, and how do you get the time to really do the indepth work need to achieve these higher scores?</p>
<p>My answer is to provide a course of instruction or tutoring that is at least one year in length and preferably more! In one or two years of working once a week, plus some homework, the student can go over every exam in existance, cover a multitude of volcabulary needed for sentence completions and critical readings and thoroughly cover the new writing section, which I believe is eminently coachable. The key is to put in the time!</p>
<p>Can a good job be done over a shorter period of time? Yes, it can,but it is much tougher, and takes a lot more work and time that most kids really don't have available. Besides these are kids; they need a life too! Preparing for the SAT over the course of a year or two would solve the time problem and provide the indepth instruction that I believe would be needed. It is too bad that, at least around here, there are no long term courses of instruction that are offered. ( This is a hint to you professional tutors out there).</p>
<p>I should note that I do disagree with those who do not advocate memorization of volcabulary. Sentence completions certainly do require a good volcabulary as does other questions. Over a long period of time, most of the words that would be encountered on an SAT could be covered.</p>
<p>I should also note that I completely agree with the tutor who noted that reading the choices in a critical reading passage is very crucial. In fact, I would recommend reading them first before reading the applicable passage. One or two words in a choice can easily disqualify the passage.</p>
<p>Finally, I do know that taking a year or two in order to prepare for the exam is a very long time. Moreover, if a course is offered or tutoring is provided, it won't come cheaply. However, I believe the benefits would be worth the cost for those that can afford it.</p>
<p>Xiggi,</p>
<p>Thanks for digging that problem up. I guess it just goes to show that there is nothing new under the sun. :) Actually, I'm not surprised that the formula has been given here before; I would have been shocked if it hadn't.</p>
<p>To answer the train problem, you don't really need to delve into infinite series. Taking another perspective, you can simply calculate the time the fly is in the air before it is crushed by the collision of the two trains (a nice fate!). The two trains combined are closing the distance between them at a rate of 150 miles per hour, so the total time should be 1 hour. The fly's rate is 120 miles per hour, so it covers a distance of 120 miles before it's untimely death.</p>
<p>Taxguy, I've worked with students on and off (not continuously, as in weekly) for over a year and gotten very good results from them. Such a long-term preparation can be very valuable and can pay off BIG, but I've also gotten very good increases (more than 300 points of improvement) in 2 to 3 months (meeting about once or twice a week). In fact, I ran an SAT classroom course for a high school for the March 12 exam for four months, from November through March. The class only met once a week, and we took breaks for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and January final exams. Students actually started forgetting some material between sessions since the course ran for so long and there were some long breaks. It was a little frustrating, and I actually think the students would have improved even more had the course run for, say, 2 months, instead of 4 months. So a longer time is not always better. At the same time, cramming is definitely not the way to study for the SAT.</p>
<p>Godot, frankly, I don't see how you can do an adequate job in 2-4 months especially when you now have to cover the writing section, unless you have some very, very bright motivated kids.</p>
<p>There were some Asian kids (3 kids at a time) whose parents have hired a tutor for 1.5 years going over all aspects of the exam. They started this project at the beginning of their junior year and kept going in the summer and beginning of their senior year. They have performed miraculously. Obvously, this is not a statistical study,but the resulls from this project were fantastic. Maybe you should consider trying this approach and see what happens to different types of kids. I can't imagine that kids would forget a lot IF they are constantly exposed to similar themes over and over again.</p>
<p>By the way, I think that they also incorporated the ACT as part of that tutoring project. They actually have two tutors. One for math and science and one for verbal and writing. I don't know if they met once a week or once a week with each tutor. It might even have been for two hour sessions: one session for each tutor per week.</p>
<p>Taxguy,</p>
<p>I can cover the SAT, including the writing section, more than adequately in 2 to 4 months. It's all about taking an efficient approach, which is one reason that self-study, while it can be an effective method for those who are motivated and who cannot afford tutoring, does not necessarily produce results in the shortest amount of time. Of course, I would love to work for a solid 6 to 12 months with some students -- I know that I can push some students to a 2400 or close to it with that time -- but, financially and logistically, this is not always possible. I am in Buffalo, where I cannot command $200 or more per hour for tutoring, as tutors can in other major cities; economically, the city is not doing very well. I don't currently hire specialists for the SAT; my tutors are required to know all the sections thoroughly.</p>
<p>Xiggi, Could you comment on the ACT. Ths</p>
<p>Godot, I was just having some fun with the fly problem. I hinted to the infinite series because it is an old story and somewhere relates to the famous John Von Neumann:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Another mathematician knew the quick solution to the Fly problem and wanted to see von Neumann struggle with it. He posed the question and von Neumann responded with the right answer in a few seconds. </p>
<p>"Interesting," said the first mathematician. "Most people try to sum the infinite series." </p>
<p>"What do you mean?" von Neumann replied. "That's how I did it."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The full story and the details about solving the puzzle through infinite series can be found here: </p>
<p>There is indeed little new under the sun. When it comes to the collective knowledge and wisdom of the CC members, reading the old board would show that it would be very, very hard to find a published SAT question that has not been beaten to death. However, it is not hard to see why a forum like the CC SAT represents unfair competition for book publishers or independent tutors. Students simply go to the same sources and then challenge one another to make the solutions better and faster. As I said, it is unfair ... but fun!</p>
<p>To the people who support the EXTENDED study of vocabulary, may I ask if you have done any statistiscal analysis of word occurrences, or wonder what happens in Princeton? </p>
<p>Allow me to add a few numerical elements and comments:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How many questions do you believe are DIRECTLY related to the knowledge of a vocabulary? Even in the old SAT, the number was less than 25%, if not much smaller. The bulk of the Reading test is made of critical reading questions, and that is where most students lose points. The easy part of the test has ALWAYS been the section with sentence completions. Why could that be? </p></li>
<li><p>How many words does ETS have in its arsenal? If they wanted they could write tests that hardly repeat a word except for "the" or "and".</p></li>
<li><p>What do you consider a HIGH occurrence of a word? Two times in the past ten tests? Three times? Four times? The answer of how many times a word has been repeated WILL surprise you, if you ever spent the time to compile the past tests. </p></li>
<li><p>ETS could write an amazingly difficult test that would NOT use a single word of the so-called SAT must-know list. For instance, they could have written analogies using words of five to seven letters that would have been extremely hard to solve, and this using words that not a single list would have mentioned. If you are interested, I'll post a couple of analogies that illustrate this point. However, the idea is rather simple: only use the secondary and tertiary meaning of SIMPLE words. I have mentioned words such as "air" and "low" in the past. How would you approach the following combinations: rank/vegetation or rank/offensive? Do you think that ANYONE would ever see the word rank listed in a specialized list? Nah, it is way too simple! Obviously, in my example, rank has NOTHING to do with "ranking" or "order". </p></li>
<li><p>The only reason ETS does not feel compelled to make the test more difficult is that the average verbal scores have increased VERY slowly. Having to respect the longitudinal integrity of the test forces ETS to keep the test reasonably easy. Does anyone believe that ETS is entirely oblivious to the list of words that circulate in books or on the web? The reality is that the "recommended" lists must give them a continuous source of belly laughs. The claims that anyone can accurately predict the FUTURE occurrences of words on the SAT are absolutely unproven, and blatantly false. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>There is no denying that the knowledge of a deep vocabulary is beneficial on the SAT. The only question is the extent of its impact on the final score, and it is worth trying to correct a prior lack of attention to the study of vocabulary. There is no substitute for a lifelong habit of reading critically and reading words in their natural context. </p>
<p>As far as the predictability of words, I challenge any author of a list of words to post his or her list the day before the next SAT test that will have the QAS. Let's then compile the results for absolute occurrence and measure the relative importance of the vocabulary on the result. I have done this in the past, but let's check the future. </p>
<p>This should go much farther than arguing ad nauseam about this issue, and continue to split hairs.</p>
<p>Xiggi,</p>
<p>But you forget efficiency again. Yes, you could spend a few months reading through 300 to 500 threads to collect a few strategies, methods, and solutions, which still does not include time for practice and review and does not give you the luxury of an expert looking over your shoulder, giving you instant feedback and advice and assigning you the right work. You can target exactly what you want with a human expert, whereas the process is more haphazard and less efficient by reading through old threads. You also do not necessarily get information on precisely the questions you want to cover (as they may not have been discussed yet on the threads), and, even if you do, it would take at least 1 or 2 days to get useful feedback. It can be a slow, painful, and time-consuming process. The beauty of professional assistance is that it makes the process much more efficient and effective (and even fun!). Additionally, if a student were to collect and buy all the SAT prep books and past exams on the market (which, by the way, is definitely not necessary, as some are just plain bad) -- as you did -- the total cost can easily run to $400 to $600, the price of a modestly priced classroom or tutoring course. And who would want to read through 20 SAT books to distill the strategies that will work for them??</p>
<p>Xiggi,</p>
<p>I agree that vocabulary study is only a SMALL part of preparation for the Critical Reading section. It's one component, but I do not emphasize it over understanding the strategies and techniques and I definitely do not emphasize it over working Reading Comprehension questions meticulously (which can involve some vocab words, by the way). That's why I give my students only about 300 words, not 700 or 1000 words.</p>
<p>You should talk to the students who have taken the Test Masters SAT course. Past students claim that some word lists have covered up to 100% of the words appearing on the exam (in the correct answers).</p>
<p>"You should talk to the students who have taken the Test Masters SAT course. Past students claim that some word lists have covered up to 100% of the words appearing on the exam (in the correct answers)."</p>
<p>Godot, didn't I address this ... yesterday? </p>
<ol>
<li>The claim IS false and misleading. The correlation was high but VERY far from 100%</li>
<li>The 2004 PSAT list demonstrated the futility of offering predictions. Only a handful of words appeared on the test. </li>
</ol>
<p>However, it is undeniable that TestMaster(s) and his owner DID demonstrate their uncanny knowledge of the SAT and the idiosyncrasies of TCB. They gambled in selecting sections of past tests that could be good candidates for "recycling" and used ETS focus on the new test to their benefit. You know what they say about hogs and acorns!</p>
<p>PS I agree with your approach regarding words and vocabulary. :)</p>
<p>I am a new poster, but I have been lurking and learning since December. This thread is extremely interesting and instructive. I do have a few questions that might help parents. 1) Can anyone address the natural gains achieved through separate sittings without prepping? Believe me, I do not advocate this approach; this is just happened to be our bumbling, method for a number reasons. 2) Given our highly stressful (for us parents, never bothered S) approach, how can you evaluate the quality of tutoring before hiring services?</p>
<p>Heres our seat-of-the-pants story (warning, it is long). Due to a variety of factors such as a rigorous AP curriculum, traveling sports schedule, and general over confidence (bright kid, straight A student, avid reader, intellectually engaged and efficient student), my S had no time for prep and honestly felt he did not need it. S took PSAT on a Saturday morning in the middle of an out-of-state tournament. He flew to the tournament, competed, flew home, took the test, and flew back to the tournament. My S knew little about National Merit, but he noticed it mentioned in several of the player profiles at the colleges hes interested in. Good enough for him he reasoned, he should take the test (his coach felt otherwise).</p>
<p>Jump forward to when I discover CC in December after my H reads about it in Wall Street Journal. Now the stress beginsproves the adage that ignorance is bliss. Oh my gosh! Were doing everything wrong; we learn he should have taken SAT II after he took AP World History his sophomore year contrary to the specific advice given by his GC (thats another thread). And here we were learning about college recruiting and felt early in the game only to find out that it was already the last inning! Now Im worried and begin to research tutoring and test prep services as I cannot rely on advice of GC. I would have been willing to hire help for efficiency and experience. </p>
<p>Then S gets e-mail from college coaches outlining time-table and importance of testing. What? He should take the Jan. old SAT. Thats next month and no prep, forget about it! Focus on March! Im frantically buying books recommended on CC and calling people; S is managing a rigorous curriculum and ECs and seems characteristically unconcerned (boys!). Im overwhelmed and feeling inadequate to evaluate the number of options. They all sound so promising. The night before the Jan old SAT, S proclaims that he is taking the SAT tomorrow that he and my H signed up for after the contact with the coach. Mom, relax, S tells me, I think I can score at least 1380 (a benchmark set by a bright Senior player on his team and S believes he can do betterperiod). We dig out his sophomore PSAT test from the year before that he shoved in his back pack and left to the dark of his closet along with the remains of a lunch. He doesnt remember ever looking at his scores; someone handed them out at school. To make a long story short, that is the approach he followed to the present. He signs up for all the tests, he takes them, he moves on. No analysis in between because student score services did not come in until after the next sitting. </p>
<p>Here is how it turned out (not as bad as youd think).</p>
<p>My S scored PSAT 203
Dec SATII World History 730
Jan. old SAT 1460 (M 740, V 720)
Mar new SAT 2200 (M 710, CR 800, WR 690, 11 essay)
May new SAT 2310 (M800, CR 800, WR 710, 11 essay)</p>
<p>Heres where it gets interesting. Ss friend hired a private tutor for an entire year in order to prep for PSAT and SAT. He scored 194 PSAT and 2270 new SAT. This is not a disciplined, high achieving student, and Id say tutoring proved essential. Good for him!</p>
<p>Other competitive students in his class that have taken PR and Kaplan test prep classes seemed to plateauPSAT, and two sittings of new SAT yielded consistent 2000-2100 results, all want to break 2200-2250. Strategic prepping is probably in order.</p>
<p>The highest scorer is a professional studenta Xiggi-method extraordinaire. Since elementary school his Dad had him studying next years math, not to accelerate and test out but to get the highest A. Its just what it is. S has learned to compete with all types.</p>
<p>After seeing this thread, and in the spirit of allying some of the anxiety I experienced once I found CC, I asked my son to read through your methods and try to assess what worked for him.</p>
<p>First, he attributes his gains from becoming more familiar with the test. He knows that his strength is that he is a long time avid reader and is actively engaged in learning, gets his work done the first time. In contrast, he says his fellow classmates are almost frenetic when it comes to SAT test prepping, taking loads of AP courses, joining as many clubs as possible, and paying for expensive summer programs, and doing everything to gain an edge except mastering coursework with depth and complexity. </p>
<p>My S has been a consistently high test taker. He would have benefited from a short focused class like some posters present. There is no way he would bother with the repetition of Xiggis method. He would be bored to tears and doesnt have the time anyway. Xiggi-method would have been perfect for me. You have to know your student. He acknowledges that his friends that took PR & Kaplan would benefit from the self-diagnostics that Xiggi and others recommend. Perhaps Xiggi-lite is in order. His friend that had the year long tutor seemed the most relaxed despite never being a good test taker.</p>
<p>In retrospect he will tell you he wishes he knew more than he did in the early going. He believes he left points on the table for PSAT and SAT II that should have been taken in his sophomore year. He now believes he could get a 2400, by wrestling those last few points as ohio_mom puts it. He is done though. Curmudgeon, my S felt that taking the May SAT after a week of AP testing actually was a benefit. He feels like you get into a testing zone. Since all of these tests are so close together, he feels that youre more likely to see a gain from close succession rather than putting this behind and then having to wind up again. Plus, he feels that your daughters competitive streak will hold her in good stead. His opinion, FWIW. As for the short cuts mentioned, he finds them interesting but distracting as time has never been a factor for him.</p>
<p>S is done and on to his other SAT IIs. My conclusion is that prepping either with self-study or with professional help should be started before Junior year so that fine tuning is all that is needed during a very demanding junior year. I would have gladly paid someone to avoid our trial-and-error approach. I certainly paid as much in prep books that never got read.</p>
<p>What I have learned is that CC can be daunting at first, but here too there is a natural progression. We have learned so much from all you, and I thank you. Sorry for the long post.</p>
<p>Godot</p>
<p>I plan to address this in next week's posts. The benefits of the CC forum increase through ACTIVE participation. A few posters have been known to post several questions a day and gain tremendously from their participation. I understand that it would take a long time to read months of past posts to address a few issues. </p>
<p>As far as buying books versus taking a class, I do not believe that everyone has to buy as many books as I did, or keep all the books. Many books are available at huge discounts in the secondary market. I also mentioned that, after a while, it is pretty easy to identify the good and the bad books. In the end, there are really that many worth keeping. I'd be glad to discuss with you the extent of my list of "must-have" books. </p>
<p>While I am not advocating abusing the return policies, I believe that you are entitled to return a book for a full refund, if it is truly ineffective. I also believe that your "collection" does not lose all value after taking the exams. You can resell the books or donate them for a "good feel".</p>
<p>Price wise, in my own case, my parents wanted me to attend an organized class at a cost of $1,200. Mentioning the name of the organization should suffice to conclude that I came well ahead by using a small part of that budget to acquire my collection.</p>
<p>3Ks, thank you for your post. I hope you'll read my next few posts about how extensive my so-called "method" really is. There is no established length and, in many cases, the total time needed is comparable to a regular organized class, and the effort will be more focused. So far, I have described things that students COULD do, but that does not mean everyone needs to do it all. </p>
<p>Students facing the SAT come from very different backgrounds and aptitude -that much hated word. When I mentioned that students take a look at the initial test with open books and without time limit, it also meant to include an open mind. It is obvious that a student who excels in most subjects does not need to spend much time on the basics. For such students, the only element that is needed is to become familiar with the format and evaluate the contents of the test. For instance, I was totally stumped by an early question that included a little smiley as part of a problem. Since I never saw such question before, I did not even know where to start. It only took a minute to understand what that silly smiley meant on a SAT test! </p>
<p>By breaking the tests down in small increments, a student can focus on the areas where he MIGHT need improvement. If he student is strong in all areas , there is no need to dwell on repeating much of anything.</p>
<p>Xiggi, Godot, PeteSAT, and Grammatix spelled backwards . . .</p>
<p>This is really excellent by all. As you have all acknowledged, aptitude learning style, temperament, and budget will dictate the best approach. I just know that my concerns about how my S was going about his test taking were allayed by the student posters who posted gains with each sitting. I don't really know how to account for the gains, or lack thereof. I just think it is encouraging to know that there does seem to be some natural upwards progression to this test-taking business. I'm just trying to alleviate some tension; I would never suggest waiting for it to happen. Certainly it is better to prepare. Thanks again.</p>
<p>How exactly did Xiggi score when he took the SAT's himself?</p>