I have some questions regarding the SAT?

Question

Hi, i'm from seattle, washington and i have some SAT questions...

1.) What is SAT?

2.) Do you need to pass every section of the SAT?

3.) What if you don't pass one section?

4.) When will i be taking the SAT test?

5.) is the SAT more important than the WASL?

Answer 1

...What high school do you go to? Apparently they don't teach you anything important in the outside world.

Here's my experience for southern california schools:

1. Standardized Aptitude Test - A test that measures your ability in Mathematics, English and other various topics depending on the test level you are taking. SAT 1 is required if you are planning to attending a state college. SAT 2 is required if you are planning to attend a University of California college. SAT 1 is measured up to 2400 points.

2. There is no "passing" score in the SAT 1. It is just a score universities use as one of the deciding factors to be admitted. Usually a 1800 / 2400 in all topics would get you a fighting chance to be admitted into a University of California school.

3. Again, no such thing as passing or failing. You can retake the test as many times as you want, but it is only offered once a month in most regions. The only limit is up to December of your senior year. But that includes your SAT 1 and SAT 2.

4. You should start taking the SAT 1 on November / December of your Junior year. You can start earlier than this, but this is the norm. This is so you will get your results back in Feburary / March of your junior year and so you can retake the test on April / May / June if you're not happy with your score. If you're happy, take the SAT 2 in April / May / June (or over the summer if you wern't happy with SAT 1). Then you will recieve your score over the summer if you took it in spring, so retake it here if you're not happy. If you took SAT 2 over summer, you will get the score right about July / September. If you didn't feel happy about the test you took in summer, apply for september test right away because this is your chance. Most universities want your BEST SAT 1 and 2 scores by Feburary / March of your senior year.

Kind of confusing, but it all depends on how well you do and where you want to go. It is definately not an exam you can cram unless you've been getting A's all year long for most of your life. So go to the library and get exam books from last year and study. Worth it to study your *** off during high school and relax in college rather than relax now and study your *** off in college.

5. WASL seems to be our equivilent of our CAHSEE exam in California. Your WASL is simply a test to see if you're good enough to graduate from high school. The college you are applying to will NEVER see this score.

Read http://www.collegeboard.com/ under the SAT section to understand the legal rules.

Answer 2

Let me see if I can help you with some of these:

1) The SAT is a standardized test that is used by college administrators to compare your academic level to another applicant. Keep in mind that the SAT is not the ONLY thing that the college administrators are looking for. They look for your G.P.A, extracurriuclars, class ranks (if they have it in your school) and your SAT score.

2) No, there is actually no "pass or fail". What college do you plan to apply to? If you are planning to apply to an ivy league such as Yale university they look for a 700-790 on Math, 700 - 790 in reading and 720 - 780 on the writing portion. If you let me know what college you are applying to, I can help you look up the score.

3) Don't worry about that...study hard and try your best. You should be successful and never loose faith in yourself.

4) There are various test dates which you can sign up to take it from. The website to sign up from is : collegeboard.com. Some of the test dates offered are: October 4th, 2008  November 1, 2008 December 6, 2008 January 24, 2008 March 14, 2008 (you can get the rest from the website. Sign up for a date that works for you and a day that you feel comfortable and prepared with.

5) I'm not sure I can help you with this one. I'm not sure what a WASL is...sorry!

I hope this helped you. I would suggest going on collegeboard.com and taking the diagnostic test to see where you score. Good luck!!! :)