SAT Preparation

There are lots of ways you can approach your SAT preparation. You can work from a prep book, take a class, or study with a friend (though that rarely works out well). If you want to do well, what matters most is being consistent.

In all SAT preparation, though, there are a few things you should be sure to do. Here's a checklist:

Take some sample tests

Practice exams are key; they'll get you used to the timing and challenges of the actual test. In our SAT prep course, we recommend taking at least five sample exams.

A solid collection of SAT practice questions will be your best friend as you study; they're a great way to get used to the tricks and tendencies of the test. Each section on the exam is unique, so you should use your SAT preparation to familiarize yourself with the format.

Target problem areas

Once you've plowed through your tests and sample questions, go back and look at any problems you had trouble with. The questions you miss can help you even more than the questions you get right. That's why we offer detailed explanations in our course: so every wrong answer becomes a chance to improve.

Knock out the concepts

Every SAT is different, but here's the trick: The underlying concepts stay the same. The main goal of your SAT preparation should be getting a good handle on what each section tests.

Different parts of the SAT might grill you on grammar or math in general, but the key to answering a question is always something very specific—like knowing that "neither" is always followed by "nor," or remembering that the sum of the angles in a triangle is always 180°.

We designed our SAT preparation program to be concept-focused: As you work through the Knewton course, you can see your strengths and weaknesses down to the micro level. Gauging your progress is easy: Your concept mastery updates automatically.

To power these updates, we've broken down the SAT into its component concepts. Here's a sample of what you get in the Knewton course.

Critical reading - Choose closest meaning for a word or phrase in context
Writing - Modifying phrase at the beginning of a sentence must describe the noun after the comma
Math - 45-45-90 triangles

Choose closest meaning for a word or phrase in context

On the SAT Critical Reading section, you are often asked to determine the "closest meaning" of a single word or a phrase as it is used in the passage. The prompts you'll see might look like this:

As used in line 23, "dramatic" most nearly means
In line 71, "impressive" is best understood to mean

When you see one of these questions, you should feel great! Why? Because these are some of the most formulaic questions on the entire test, and there's a fast, effective way to approach them.

First of all, throw out what you already know about the word. There will be at least one trap answer which gives you a common definition of the word, which is almost never how the word is actually used in context.
Then, take each of the words in the answer choices, and literally plug them in to the spot in which the original word was used in the passage. The one that doesn't change the meaning of the original sentence is correct.

Let's try one:

Line 59: When he saw his sister fall face first into her own birthday cake, Arthur had to check his impulse to laugh uncontrollably, because he knew he would hurt her feelings.

As used in line 59, "check" most nearly means

stop
deposit
verify
control
pattern

First of all, you should be very suspicious of choice C. "Check" does mean "verify," (as in "he checked to see that he had his wallet") but not in this sentence.

Choice D is correct, because this sentence means exactly the same thing as the original: When he saw his sister fall face first into her own birthday cake, Arthur had to control his impulse to laugh uncontrollably, because he knew he would hurt her feelings.

Does it matter that the word "check" doesn't usually mean "control"? Not at all! That is exactly the point of these questions; you must use context to determine a somewhat unusual meaning of a common word.

What makes this concept hard?

The SAT can throw vocabulary words into questions like this. Often, these are just to confuse you. Test the words you know first, and only then plug in the vocabulary words that you're not particularly confident about.
The SAT may provide several answer choices with similar meanings. You may have to read more than the cited line (the sentence before, for example) to determine which one is the best fit.

Modifying phrase at the beginning of a sentence must describe the noun after the comma

Modifiers are "describers." Just like ordinary adjectives, they give you more information about other words in the sentence. On the SAT, modifiers come in all shapes and sizes -- they can be single words or entire phrases—but more often than not, they describe nouns. Take the following sentence:

The astronomer discovered a previously unknown star billions of miles from Earth.

Here, billions of miles from Earth is a modifying phrase because it tells you more about a previously unknown star. Notice that the modifying phrase is right next to the word star. As a result, there's no possible confusion over what noun the phrase is modifying.

The SAT loves to move these modifying phrases around. The farther a phrase gets from the noun it describes, the more unclear the meaning becomes. Notice what happens when you yank billions of miles from Earth out of its spot and place it at the beginning of the sentence:

Billions of miles from Earth, the astronomer discovered a previously unknown star.

Now it sounds like the astronomer is the one who's billions of miles from Earth. You may understand what this new sentence is trying to say, but grammar-wise, it's incorrect.

A misplaced modifier at the beginning of a sentence is one of the most common errors on the Writing section. Whenever you see a modifying phrase at the beginning of a sentence, always make sure that the phrase is properly describing the noun right after the comma. If it's not, you've found an error.

Look at another example:

An aspiring pizza chef, tomato sauce occupied half of her fridge.

This sentence begins with a modifying phrase: An aspiring pizza chef. However, the noun after the comma is tomato sauce. Now it sounds like the tomato sauce is the aspiring pizza chef. A better version of this sentence would read:

An aspiring pizza chef, she had lots of tomato sauce in her fridge.

This revised version is correct because she is the aspiring chef.

What about this next example? Is it correct or incorrect?

Having always desired to be President, Obama saw his lifelong dream fulfilled.

Since Obama is the one who always desired to be President, the modifying phrase at the beginning of this sentence is fine where it is. This sentence is correct.

Modifying phrases are relatively easy to spot on the test. Sentences that begin with "-ing" words ("Having always desired," "Leaving the room," "Working all summer") often have modifier issues. The main trick that the SAT will throw your way involves possessives:

Having always desired to be President, Obama's dream was finally fulfilled.

Remember, possessives are not nouns, so in this case, the noun right after the comma isn't Obama's—it's dream. Since a dream can't desire to be President, this version of the sentence is wrong.