PWN the SAT

Good luck tomorrow, friends.

2012-06-01T19:45:00.000-04:00

I've been feeling pretty mushy lately about you guys. This blog started a little over a year ago because I was bored, and has grown into something that I'm really proud of and spend all day thinking about. I have you to thank for that. So thank you for continuing to come back to this site. Thank you for asking me questions, thank you for telling your friends about me, and thank you so much for supporting my work. I am beholden to you.

So if you're taking the June SAT, I wish you the best of luck. Get in there tomorrow morning and PWN the stuffing out of it.

If you're just gearing up for a summer of SAT prep, then stay tuned. I've got some neat stuff planned.

Weekend Challenge - Hula hoops

2012-06-01T18:00:00.000-04:00

Have you seen this movie? I liked it.

Nobody's answered the last challenge question yet, but whatever, here's another one. And I'll tell you what: First person who gets this one right gets a free Math Guide.

Norville has four different colored hula hoops around his waist, each with a diameter of 3 feet. He is standing on a flat surface. He drops a red hula hoop so that he is standing exactly in its center. He then walks 5 feet, stops, and drops a blue hula hoop (again, so that he is standing in its center). Norville then walks 10 feet in a different direction, and drops a green hula hoop in the same way. Finally, he turns and walks 8 feet in another direction before dropping his last hula hoop, a purple one, in the same manner he dropped the others. What is the greatest possible area of overlap the purple hoop can have with another hoop, and with which hoop can it have that overlap?

You can't answer anonymously to win, but don't like leave your address in the comments or anything—we will take care of the shipping arrangements once I declare a winner. If you live outside the US, you can still win, but you are going to have to help me cover shipping costs. Sucks, I know.

Also, I want answers in terms of π. Don't give me any decimal approximations.

Good luck!

Grow your vocabulary and become a better writer at the same time

2012-05-25T15:19:00.000-04:00

I found this image all over the web but couldn't find an original creator. :(

People are always asking me for the best way to increase vocabulary. Because I'm most often asked this question about a week before the test, what they usually mean by "best" is "most expeditious." Let's be clear: What I'm going to be talking about in this post isn't the fastest way to grow vocabulary. But it's a great way to build a robust vocabulary over time, and become a better writer at the same time. I can sum it up in three words: Use a thesaurus.

In more than three words, here's what I mean. When you're writing a paper for school (or a letter to your grandma, or an acceptance speech for a major award) make it your mission to repeat as few words as possible. If, for example, you would use the word "angry" three times, go back and replace two of them with "chafed" and "irate." If you have occasion to use "big" more than once, use "voluminous," or "hulking," or "colossal." See if you're able to create a document that doesn't repeat any words that aren't conjunctions, articles, prepositions, or pronouns.

It's a challenge to do this well. Not every word a thesaurus will provide is exactly interchangeable in every scenario; you'll need to make sure the word you're trying to use actually fits. For example, it's cool to say a house is "big," or "capacious," but you probably wouldn't call a house "burly." It's advisable, then, to use the thesaurus and dictionary concomitantly. Use the thesaurus for word ideas, and the dictionary to confirm that your choice actually works in context.

One last note: This practice will not only enhance to your vocabulary, but also elevate your writing. The most important writing you do isn't really the SAT essay, but let's have a quick look at how you're actually being evaluated on the SAT essay. What's this? An essay that receives a top score of 6 "exhibits skillful use of language, using a varied, accurate, and apt vocabulary"? Hmm...

May SAT scores are in

2012-05-24T13:49:00.000-04:00

May SAT scores are in today, and as is usual for a score day, site traffic is up. Sincerest congratulations to all who have achieved their goals—you have earned yourself a summer of doing something other than SAT prep. Try to stay mostly out of trouble.

If you're a bit disappointed today, keep your chin up. A low score is not a reflection on your character, nor is it an indelible mark on your academic career. It's a reflection of a moment in time—specifically May 5, 2012. A lot can change between then and October. And it's within your power to make that happen.

This site is all about helping you make the changes you need to make. I hope, whether you're planning to self study, take a course, or work with a tutor, that you find some useful information here that helps you along the way. Here are a few places you might like to start.

A place you can ask me specific questions about SAT prep.
Links to all my math advice.

Links to all my writing advice.
Links to all my reading advice (more to come soon, I hope).

Weekend Challenge - My masterpiece

2012-05-18T08:48:00.000-04:00

You guys. Crazy story. I was in a coffee shop messing around with Geometer's Sketchpad, just slapping together some perpendicular line segments because that's how I roll, and this guy who could see my screen thought I was an artist or something. It was kinda weird, but he wanted to buy my "art." Naturally, I went along with it. So now I have to frame this stupid thing and deliver it to him. Thing is, he was really particular about how it should be framed. He wants both points A and J to be on one of the rectangular frame's diagonals, and a distance of exactly 4 cm along those diagonals from A and J to the inner corners of the frame. He wants the frame to be 3 cm thick, too. Anyway, he's busy clearing space for this thing in his house and he's emailing me asking for dimensions and basically driving me crazy. Can you help me out? What will be the outer dimensions of the framed piece of art? I've included measurements of all the lengths of the segments, but don't count those as part of my image—I'm going to delete them before I print this out.

Post your answers—rounded to 2 decimal places—in the comments. The prize for the first correct answer: I will name my next pet goldfish after you. Scout's honor.

Midweek Challenge - The wheels on the bus

2012-05-16T13:37:00.000-04:00

I have never seen a school bus like this. Source.

I'm going to try to ease myself back into posting math questions fairly regularly on here. No prizes for now, just the satisfaction of knowing you were the first person in the world besides me to figure this particular question out. This probably wouldn't appear on the SAT, but it exercises the same muscles you'll need to flex to do well.

The wheel diameter on a certain school bus is 40 inches. A sensor on one wheel indicates that over a 20 minute period, the wheel made 9250 revolutions. Assuming the wheel did not slip at all, what was the average speed of the bus, in miles per hour, for those 20 minutes? Round your answer to the nearest whole number. (12 inches = 1 foot; 5280 feet = 1 mile)

Have at it!

UPDATE: John got it. Well done, sir.
Finish reading this post...

Free Math Guides for libraries

2012-05-13T14:20:00.001-04:00

Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland. It's pretty. Source.

The whole reason I started this site is that I believe good test prep should be available to everyone who wants it, regardless of geography or income. Yeah, I sell a book. And yeah, it's not the cheapest test prep book out there. Because I think it's really good, and because all the burritos I eat aren't free. But I remain committed to the idea that good test prep should be accessible.

To that end, here's what I propose: If you want to use my book to prepare for the SAT, but you can't afford it, or your parents won't let you use their credit card to buy it, or whatever, then have a librarian from your school or town send me an email (mike-at-pwnthesat.com) and I'll donate a copy to your library. He or she will need to provide me with the information I'll obviously need to make this happen, like school or town name, address, etc. I'll donate one library book for every one physical book (or eBook) that sells in the months of May, June, and July.

Happy prepping!

eGuide

2012-05-11T13:19:00.000-04:00

Quick note: the Math Guide is now available through Google Play as an eBook. You can read it on your computer, your iPad, any Android device, etc. It's cheaper than the physical book, of course, and you don't have to wait for it to ship to you once you buy it. So that's cool.

Still, if you go the eBook route, make sure you have a pencil and pad of paper by your side, and make sure you redraw diagrams, mark them up, and write out your calculations. Don't forget: The SAT still happens on paper.

PS: If you'd like to join the Make Your Own SAT project, there's no time like the present!

Make your own SAT, part 2.

2012-04-16T12:43:00.000-04:00

If you don't know li'l brudder you've got some viewing to do.

I don't know if this is going to work or if it's going to blow up fantastically in my face, but I've been toying with this idea for a while now (my original thoughts here) and I've decided I want to give it a whirl. I'm looking for a smallish group of students who would be interested in participating in an unorthodox and labor-intensive SAT experiment this summer.

Here's the deal

I want to see if, collaboratively, a bunch of students can create a mock SAT—a whole test, from soup to nuts. I've talked to a few other test prep folks who might be interested in helping me advise the project (I won't name names until they officially sign on) but my vision is that students do all the heavy lifting and research, and the other experts and I provide guidance along the way. If you participate, you'll comb through tests in the Blue Book looking for patterns to decide things like how many run-ons should be tested in the 14-question final writing section. You'll argue with each other about what the essay question should be, or how hard the final question on a math section should be. You'll debate whether you're really using a word properly in a sentence completion question. By the end of the summer, you'll hopefully have a deep understanding of the content and structure of the SAT. My hypothesis is that this knowledge will increase your score.

Of course, it's only a hypothesis. As far as I know this hasn't been tried before, anywhere, and I obviously make no guarantees that you'll see a huge score bump, or any bump at all. I really think you will, but if you decide to devote time to this you do so in full knowledge that it's not a sure thing. Along those lines, I can't guarantee that a finished product emerges from this. If you sign on, you take some of the responsibility for keeping this project going. If people lose interest halfway through, then it just fizzles and we all walk away.

logistics

I'm planning for most of the work to be done on a wiki, which will completely open to the public. Obviously, some work (like layout work) will need to be done offline, but that's only in the final stages and we'll cross those bridges when we come to them. Our finished product, and the wiki we used to create it, will remain available publicly, too. The idea is that if this works, other people might want to replicate and refine the process. Nothing is going to be bought or sold through this project. All content will be licensed with Creative Commons.

where do I sign up?

You don't even have to! If you'd like to participate, you can access the project here. Just start contributing!

Feel free to tell your friends about this if you think they'd be interested, too.

5-Paragraph Essay: Part III: Dodging Claim and Summary (What NOT to Do)

2012-03-30T19:10:00.000-04:00

This is part 3 of a multi-post series on writing the 25-minute SAT essay, a paragraph-by-paragraph, sentence-by-sentence breakdown. Basically, these posts will construct a full-fledged essay template.

If you haven’t checked out part 1 on the introduction paragraph, jump on over there first. And part 2 on topic sentences here.

I had this convo the other day:

Me: Ah, so nice to see you again, my dear good ol’ friend Mr. Analysis.
Mr. Analysis: I’m going to pwn you, straight up. You can’t even handle me right now. I’m so tricky.
Me: Hey, that’s not nice. Plus, if I remember correctly, I’m the one who pwned you last we met. Remember all those As I got on English papers in high school?
Mr. Analysis: Pfft. That doesn’t count. As I recall, you only got an 11 on the SAT essay one time.
Me: @#%@%!! Crap. You’re right. Good thing I got a 12 the next time. And since you’re being so mean to me, I’m going to expose just how to pwn you to the rest of the world now.
Mr. Analysis: Say what??!! I keel you now. I keel you till you dead.
Me: Sure, buddy. See you in hell.

All right folks, listen up. Mr. Analysis is no easy opponent. He doesn’t like to go down without a fight as you just saw in my conversation above. He’s a belligerent, mean little guy with a lot of brawn on his side. In some ways, it’s a David vs. Goliath match.

No matter though because I’m in your corner. Now the biggest things to watch out for are Mr. Analysis’ right and left hooks. He even has pet names for each fist. His right fist has the word “CLAIM” tattooed to it. And his left knuckles spell “SUMMARY.” Those are his two biggest weapons against you.

So basically, you gotta get past Claim and Summary to get to Analysis himself. But what exactly are Claim and Summary?

Finish reading this post...

Don't Justify, Identify! Reading Comp for Badasses

2012-03-30T19:06:00.000-04:00

Reading comprehension, compared to math and grammar, is much more resistant to strategy attacks. Reading comp questions are like the cockroaches of the SAT world—nearly immune to pesticide (our tactics and strategies). The only way to truly and effectively conquer these pesky questions is the old fashion way: stomping them dead. By that I mean actually understanding what you’re reading—the fundamentals!

There is one glimmer of hope though, one saving grace, one strategy that I find pretty effective. It’s called “reading in chunks” rather than reading the passage all at once. I’ll talk more about that in a later post. However, that strategy alone without strong reading fundamentals will not help you much. Sad.

Anyways, never justify your answer (AKA try to convince yourself a particular answer is right). Instead, identify the wrong answers and…here’s the important part…WHY they are wrong. There are generally only a few reasons why something is wrong. Get rid of the notion right now that the SAT reading test is subjective. I’ve heard too often that the test is unfair because there can be two or three right answers depending on how you interpret or analyze the passage.

Here’s the thing. This ain’t English AP. This ain’t Ms. Holden’s British Literature class. This is the goddamn SAT, which isn’t about analysis or interpretation. It’s about understanding exactly what was said (in other words, reading comprehension). You aren’t going to be doing interpretation or analysis. (Okay, there might be ONE or TWO questions where you sorta, but not really, have to interpret, but that’s it.) Treat the reading test as one giant open book test where the answers are right in front of you, hidden in plain sight.

Don’t overthink things (AKA confuse yourself with impressive analysis). Don’t try to overreach with your analytical connections and impose your own thoughts, even if they are logical thoughts.

There can only be ONE right answer, otherwise the SAT would be sued up the wazoo, and the trick to getting the right answer is recognizing the wrong answers. Counterintuitive, no? Follow me here.

You must be able to explain WHY the four other choices are wrong. Explaining why the remaining choice is right is cool and oftentimes helpful but never as helpful as explaining why the other guys are wrong. The reason trying to find the right answer is the wrong method for the reading part of the SAT is that if you're down to, say, two choices, they're both still in the running because something looks right about each of them. Otherwise they wouldn't still be up for debate. You could easily convince yourself one way or the other why one is right. But once you find something that is wrong, it's game over for that choice.

The most common reasons things are wrong:
Finish reading this post...

The forest and the trees

2012-03-22T15:46:00.000-04:00

As far as I'm concerned, the single most important difference between a good SAT taker and a truly adroit one is the ability to see the common threads that tie questions together. Pretty much everything you'll find on this site was written to help you do that.

That's why, if you try my math drills (1, 2, 3), the answer keys link you back to posts containing similar questions. That's why the Blue Book Breakdowns I've posted (Test 1, Test 2, Test 3, Test 11) do the same. That's why, in my book, each chapter ends with a list of questions in the Blue Book to which the chapter applies. That list is meant to show you all the different ways the same concept can be tested, so that you can start to see the similarities, not the differences, between questions.

The lists also serve another purpose: they're rough indicators of how frequently concepts are tested and how often techniques can be applied. Across sections, it's important to internalize a sense of what you're likely to see and what you're not. The chances of you seeing an hard exponent question to which plug in might apply are pretty good. The chances of you seeing the word jejune (or any single vocab word) on the SAT are pretty small. The odds of you seeing a comparison error somewhere in the writing section? Incredibly high. And so on and so forth.

I'm spelling all this out now because it's high season for self studiers, and I want to encourage you, if that shoe fits, to seek the forest behind every tree. As you take practice tests, focus not only on the mistakes you made, but the patterns that begin to emerge in the questions you're getting right. Ask questions about your mistakes, sure, but remember that you'll never see that exact question again, so the value of any explanation you get is in what you can take from it and apply to similar (or not-so-similar) questions going forward.

It's easy to get hung up the details—and the details are important—but SAT prep is all about the big picture.

Blue Book Breakdown - Test 11 Math

2012-03-21T16:28:00.000-04:00

Special nerd note: #20 in Section 4 is pretty much
my favorite Guesstimate question of all time.

The College Board's latest The Official SAT Study Guide with DVD is exactly the same as the 2nd edition, except that it comes with a DVD containing a bit of extra content. I can see the utility in the SAT timer it includes, but otherwise the only content of value on the DVD is one additional test—the January 2008 QAS. I went through that test yesterday so I could update the Blue Book Breakdown in my Math Guide (I'm calling it Test 11). A PDF of that page (with page number references, etc.) is available here for book owners. For everyone else, below is an HTML version of that table with links to some salient strategies.

§	p	#	Techniques and concepts	Diff.
3	8	1	Factoring	1
3	8	2	You could plug in here, ya know.	1
3	9	3	In a parallelogram, as in a rectangle, opposite sides are equal. Fill in all given lengths.	2
3	9	4	Read the graphs carefully	2
3	10	5	Plug in	3
3	10	6	Patterns	3
3	10	7	Lines	3
3	10	8	Exponents	4
3	11	9	Uh...subtraction?	1
3	11	10	Lines	2
3	12	11	Triangles	2
3	12	12	Inequalities	3
3	12	13	Draw it. (5, 0) is on the circle, so the distance to (13, 0) is 8.	3
3	12	14	At 5 feet you have 2 posts. At 10 feet you have 3 posts. The number of posts is 500/5 + 1.	4
3	13	15	Parabolas	3
3	13	16	Angles	3
3	13	17	Median	4
3	13	18	The key here is to figure out the total journey's time, which is 30 min + 15 min.	5
4	14	1	Solve for the expression	1
4	14	2	Plug in to clarify the relationship if you want.	1
4	15	3	Draw it, and then maybe backsolve if the answer doesn't jump out at you.	2
4	15	4	Backsolve, Exponents	1
4	15	5	You'll probably just use your head, but your calculator's fraction function is a safety net.	2
4	15	6	Read the graph carefully. Note that the bars add up to more than 100%.	3
4	15	7	Backsolve, or just do the algebra: x + 1 = 2x - 1	2
4	16	8	For Pete's sake, just list them!	2
4	16	9	Patterns	2
4	16	10	Symbol functions	3
4	16	11	Logic. You don't know anything about I or II, but if Greta never goes to mysteries, III is true.	3
4	17	12	Absolute value	3
4	17	13	The ones on the ends add 4 to the perimeter. The others add 3.	3
4	17	14	You probably should just do the algebra here. Combine like terms and you get 2x < 0.	3
4	18	15	Triangles, Average	4
4	18	16	Read carefully! Wednesday doesn't work because Anna didn't hit the 5 total servings goal.	4
4	18	17	Plug in	3
4	18	18	The surface area of the big cube is 6. The surface area of a small cube is 6/4.	4
4	19	19	Plug in, Average	5
4	19	20	Guesstimate, or connect big circle centers to make isosceles right triangles.	5
8	32	1	Backsolve	2
8	32	2	Angles and triangles	1
8	33	3	Ratios	3
8	33	4	Solve for the expression	2
8	33	5	Draw the square and the other diagonal, then draw the points.	2
8	33	6	Plug in, saying the original quantity was 100. You eat questions like this for breakfast.	2
8	34	7	Backsolve	2
8	34	8	Shortcut: write out all of set T, then look for multiples of 6 in it.	2
8	34	9	Shaded regions, Circles	3
8	34	10	This is a rare instance of “It cannot be determined.” Could have 14 to 26 oatmeal cookies.	1
8	35	11	Functions	4
8	35	12	Backsolve	4
8	35	13	Special right triangles	4
8	36	14	2 is the additional height you get each time a pail is added.	4
8	36	15	Know the properties of even and odd numbers, or plug in a bunch of possibilities.	5
8	36	16	Quick and dirty: Graph (or look at the table of values) on your calculator.	5

Make your own SAT

2012-03-12T10:27:00.000-04:00

Source.

I came across a great LinkedIn group discussion recently about an in-school SAT class (not a big prep company running a course at a school, an actual class during school run by school faculty) and it really got me thinking about ways I would try to engage students in the SAT in a classroom setting given the luxury of time and the resources of a school system. I contributed a half-baked response before heading out for the day, but I've continued to ruminate on the idea ever since, so I figured I'd try to flesh it out a bit more here on my own blog. More so than most, this post will be a living document, in that I plan to add to it as more ideas come my way, and if I get any feedback from you all.

If I worked in a school, and was given the opportunity to run a semester-long, 5-days-per-week SAT prep course, I would spend the first few weeks teaching the requisite strategies and making students do practice drills and full tests. And then I would reinforce those first few weeks by making the class try to create an SAT of its own, from the ground up. The idea here is to really get students engaged in thinking about what the test is, and what it is not. I've toyed with the idea of question writing as pedagogy in the past, and although I've received pushback from students when I've proposed it, I remain convinced that under watchful, expert eyes, the construction of mock questions (and even a mock test) could be an incredible teaching tool.

I would model this part of class loosely around something that already exists in many schools: yearbook class. There would be, for example, people on a design team trying to emulate fonts, layout, and other design elements of the test. There would be teams dedicated to each subject, and possibly subteams to work on different question types. Depending on time constraints, I might or might not provide reading passages of my own choosing.
Finish reading this post...

5-Essay Paragraph: Part II: Body Paragraph — How to Write a Topic Sentence

2012-03-06T17:00:00.000-05:00

Source.

This is part 2 of a multi-post series on writing the 25-minute SAT essay, a paragraph-by-paragraph, sentence-by-sentence breakdown. Basically, these posts will construct a full-fledged essay template.

If you haven’t checked out part 1 on the introduction paragraph, jump on over there first.

Paragraph 2 — Example 1/Analysis (approx. 7-10 sentences):

Paragraph 2 is your first body paragraph. This is where you analyze your first example, but for now, let’s just focus on the first sentence of the paragraph, your topic sentence.

Sentence 1: topic sentence that states you’re going to use specific example #1 to support the point you claim in your thesis; make this a rehashing of your thesis…a mini thesis essentially.

Naturally, in order to write this topic sentence, you need to know what your example is. If you’ve cared to follow my introduction advice (which you should), then you’ve already listed your examples in the last sentence of the intro. It is imperative that you have these examples ready to go before you even begin writing the intro. Outlining your essay before you begin is absolutely necessary. That is not a suggestion; it’s a command. Trust me…I hated outlines too, but it’s really necessary here because if you mess up your organization, you won’t have time to erase and rewrite.

Writing a topic sentence involves uniting two things in holy matrimony:

Thesis (first sentence of intro)
List of examples (last sentence of intro)

*Note: I use the term “sentence” loosely because maybe you spent more than one sentence to accomplish the task. Don’t constrain yourself to strict sentence counting…this ain’t blackjack.

You’re going to marry those two parts together to form your topic sentence for this first body paragraph. It’s pretty easy. Follow me here.

Finish reading this post...

Never say "die" (A last-minute SAT cram plan)

2012-03-04T16:34:00.001-05:00

If you're taking the March SAT next weekend and you haven't really started studying yet, you should know right now that you've not set yourself up for overwhelming success (or even regular-whelming success). Still, you're not alone in your predicament, and Goonies never say "die." I'm not going to say anything profound here, but I figured I'd write up a last-minute study (cram) plan to try to maximize your score in as short a time as possible. If it works, great. If it doesn't, then use this as a starting off point for your more assiduous preparation schedule with the May or June in mind.

MONDAY: When you get home from school, take a full SAT, strictly timed. If you have the Blue Book, use one in there (preferably one of the first 3). If you don't, you can get a free test from the College Board, but you're going to have to print it (I don't recommend taking it online—the real test won't be on a computer screen). Assuming you don't have extra time accommodations, this should take you just under 4 hours. Correct it and score it. Scoring instructions are included at the end of the test—make sure you're scoring it correctly. Go to sleep.
TUESDAY: Set aside 2 hours (or more) to review all your errors in the READING section (Reading comes first because I don't want you to forget what the passages were about). Review means understanding why every single wrong answer was wrong, and why each right answer was right. Disabuse yourself of the notion that questions on the SAT are subjective. Each right answer is right, and each wrong answer is wrong. Note line references that reveal or discredit answers. You should be able to explain any question to a complete stranger. You should also take note of any vocabulary words you don't know, although honestly you're unlikely to increase your vocabulary much in a week.
WEDNESDAY: Again, set aside 2 hours (or more) to review the MATH sections of that test. If you took one of the first 3 Blue Book tests, use my technique guides (Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3) to help you understand your mistakes and refine your approach to those question types. See if I (or one of my friends) has posted longer solutions to any questions that stump you. If we haven't, ask me! Again, you should be able to explain each question on the test to a stranger before you call it a night.

It's also of paramount importance that, if you don't already know how the math section is set up and how that should inform your test taking strategy. Read the following:

THURSDAY: You guessed it: today is WRITING day. You know the drill by now. Set aside a couple hours, and review your mistakes. Pay special attention to the SAT's favorite errors to test—the ones that sound simple but can be very tricky to spot: Verb errors, Pronoun Errors, Run-on Sentences. Watch out for Dangling Modifiers, too. Don't worry too much about the essay—it won't affect your score as much as the multiple choice grammar questions—but read this Dos and Don'ts post to avoid some of the most common errors.
FRIDAY: Set your stuff out for Saturday: Calculator (with new batteries if possible), pencils, admission ticket. And then chill. Seriously. Just chill. The best thing you can do now is get some rest, so you can wake up on Saturday ready to go. Eat a good meal, watch a movie, and go to bed early. In the morning, you'll have work to do.
SATURDAY: Don't break your usual routine. Eat breakfast if you usually do. Have coffee if you usually do. Try to get to the test center early so you aren't stressing on the ride over about being late. Breathe.

As I said, there's nothing sagacious in this advice. It's a brute force solution, not an elegant one. But if you can carve out time to do this, you'll be in a much better position on test day than you otherwise would have been. Make the best of this week, take the test with as much swagger as you can muster, and if Saturday doesn't go as you'd hoped, use your work this week as the baseline for your prep moving forward.

An Oldie But Goodie: 5-Paragraph Essay Part I: Introduction Paragraph

2012-02-28T01:24:00.000-05:00

You know the 5-paragraph essay format you learned way back when? Use it. Or at least use a 4-paragraph essay where you cut out one of the body paragraphs.

Of course there are other formats that can get you a nice score on this essay, but if you don’t already know them, now is not the time to learn or practice unfamiliar writing models…not with this much riding on the line. If you’re already familiar with other formats, then I’m guessing you don’t really need my help. You are probably already an excellent writer, and scoring a 10-12 should be a cakewalk for you.

For the rest of you, stick to the 5-paragraph essay structure, which let me remind you goes like this:

Paragraph 1: Thesis + Introduction
Paragraph 2: Example 1/Analysis
Paragraph 3: Example 2/Analysis
Paragraph 4 (optional): Example 3/Analysis, or alternatively, shoot down objections to your viewpoint
Paragraph 5 (optional): Conclusion

Many 4 or 5 paragraph essays following this template have received perfect 12s, including my own where I followed this exact format. Even if you are an excellent writer who knows other formats, the 5-paragraph format is a tried and true format that can get you a perfect score. Why risk other writing models that may or may not work for you?

I say paragraphs 4 and 5 (conclusion) are optional because I’ve seen so many, and I really mean MANY, essays get perfect 12s with only two examples. I’ve also seen many perfect scores with no conclusion whatsoever. You could be mid-sentence with your last sentence when time is called and still earn a 12 if your holistic impression is that good.

However, I wouldn’t make both paragraphs 4 and 5 optional. Try to write at least one of them. A third example (paragraph 4) is only optional if you can’t come up with another example or are running out of time.

Today, I want to focus on the introduction, a short but crucial little guy that not only sets the tone of your essay but also helps you organize your thoughts. A strong intro forces you to think specifically, which is a good thing.

Paragraph 1: Thesis + Introduction (2-3 sentences)

Sentence 1: make your first sentence your thesis where you pick a clear side. Your thesis must be specific.

Cut out the fluffy intros. Just cut…them…out. And don’t just say, “I believe questioning authority can be a good thing sometimes.” Notice how many weak qualifying words are in that sentence. I believe? Well duh, Sherlock. We know you believe it because you wrote it. Sometimes? Give me a break. Almost nothing in life is 100% absolutely the case all the time.

“Questioning authority can be a good thing.” ß stronger, but we can
do better still.

“Although questioning authority may come off as irreverent and rebellious, such an action can actually be beneficial when it allows people to understand the motives and reasons behind the wishes of an authority.” ß much better.

Notice the level of specificity that single sentence contains. THAT’S what a thesis is all about, baby. That’s what a powerhouse statement does – provides an instant and powerful impact straightaway. We don’t need some lousy, generalizing introductory remarks. Just tell us what you think.

This thesis is potent because it accomplishes many things:

Finish reading this post...

Spread the pwnge

2012-02-27T09:10:00.000-05:00

Things have been absolutely bonkers for me lately, a fact which has been deleterious to the frequency of posts on this site. Although I've been keeping up with the Q&A alright, long-form posts on this blog have taken a bit of a back seat. That probably bothers me more than it bothers you, but I've decided to run guest posts every so often to stave off any staleness around here, and to give a voice to some colleagues of mine who I deem to be legit.

Peter Peng is a fellow Brunonian and a tutor based in Los Angeles, although I understand he does the online tutoring thing, so he's a citizen of the world. He's been working on an SAT book of his own, of which I've seen only excerpts. I hunger for more. He'll be posting around here every so often, and I'm sure he'll be so kind as to provide you his contact information should you want to get to know him better.

You'll be hearing from Peter relatively soon. You'll know which posts are his because they'll be clearly marked, and you'll be able to read all his posts, should you desire, by clicking your way to the brand new Peter Peng label.

Ever true,
Mike

Why Vince Vaughn wouldn't be a great SAT tutor

2012-02-20T10:55:00.000-05:00

I get asked about guessing on the SAT all the time. All the time. And I've written about guessing on this blog often enough that there's a special label for those posts, so that you can always find them. But I wanted to give a quick tip to aspiring tutors who come to my site looking for advice (judging by the number of hits I get from Ivy League schools, there are many of you). Regardless of what the laws of probability say, you should not be dogmatic about forcing your students to guess.

Explain to your students the way the scoring system works (+1 for a correct response, -¼ for an incorrect one). Explain how random guessing, statistically, is a break even. Explain how, if a student can eliminate an answer, the odds say she should guess. But leave it at that. Because if you don't, and she guesses, and it costs her, you'll be Trent from Swingers. You'll be maligned for giving good advice, because you insisted on it too strongly instead of letting your student make the final call.

There are some things you, as a tutor, should insist on. Writing out algebra instead of doing head math, for example, costs the student nothing although he may resist. This is a good fight, because when you win you'll probably make an improvement in his score. You're changing his habits, and causing him to do something that will at worst, make no difference, and at best, drastically reduce his careless errors.

When you have the guessing fight, you'll often find that even if you win, you're not making a huge score difference. That's because guessing has a lot to do with luck. SAT guessing strategy is just a way to make it slightly more likely that a student will get lucky. Once in a while, your student might actually get unlucky and lose points. And then it won't matter that you're right. When you find yourself having to defend your guessing strategy to a student who is looking at a 690 instead of a 700 because of guessing, you're in a bad fight.

I like to run this experiment with students on practice tests. And then, after we've done a few tests that way, I shut up about guessing and let them make their own decisions.

I always double down on 11. But I don't make my friends do the same when the stakes are high.

It's January SAT Score Day...

2012-02-16T03:00:00.000-05:00

Here's to hoping Score Day is your day. But if it's not...here's to dusting yourself off, and getting right back on the horse to make sure your next Score Day is much better.

Hopefully, I can help! Take a look around. Here are a few places you might like to start:

Blue Book Breakdown - Test 3 Math

2012-02-09T17:00:00.000-05:00

This breakdown is meant to help you analyze and categorize your mistakes after you've taken Practice Test 3 in the Blue Book. The whole idea is that the best thing you can do to improve your score is to understand your weaknesses, and then drill the hell out of them to make them strengths. Click to see similar breakdowns for Blue Book Tests 1 and 2.

§	p	#	Techniques and concepts	Diff.
2	514	1	I suppose you could backsolve if you wanted to.	1
2	514	2	Probability	1
2	515	3	Spatial reasoning is fun!	1
2	515	4	25% is a quarter. A quarter of a circle is a right angle. Which angles are acute?	2
2	515	5	Angles and triangles	2
2	516	6	Solve for the expression	2
2	516	7	Guesstimate	2
2	516	8	If you're not immediately sure what (–0.5)² is, just put it in your calculator..	2
2	516	9	Plug in	3
2	517	10	Functions	3
2	517	11	Average	3
2	517	12	Read the Venn diagram carefully. It might help you to darken the boundaries of A and B.	3
2	517	13	Percents, Backsolve	3
2	518	14	Backsolve	3
2	518	15	Percents	3
2	518	16	Functions	4
2	518	17	Guesstimate, Circles, Shaded regions	4
2	519	18	Draw them and count.	4
2	519	19	Functions	4
2	519	20	Plug in	5
5	525	1	Average	1
5	525	2	Guesstimate	1
5	526	3	Plug in	1
5	526	4	Read the question carefully.	1
5	526	5	Special right triangles	4
5	527	6	Proportionality	3
5	527	7	Draw it carefully.	4
5	527	8	FOIL it. Corresponding coefficients will be equal, so (–8 – k) = –5k and m = 8k.	5
5	528	9	Ratios	1
5	528	10	Circles	2
5	529	11	Exponents	2
5	529	12	Lines	3
5	529	13	This is a tricky graph. Read it carefully.	2
5	529	14	Write the equation: 5n = n + 5. Solve for n.	3
5	530	15	Angles	4
5	530	16	Patterns	4
5	530	17	For every 4 inches of strip, there are 5 inches of edge. Use ratios.	4
5	530	18	Square's side = 8, so R is (4, 8). Plug into the equation to solve for a. Parabolas.	4
8	543	1	Do the algebra: (3/4)n = 18.	1
8	543	2	Symbol functions	2
8	544	3	Read the graph carefully.	1
8	544	4	Read the question carefully.	2
8	544	5	Solve for the expression	2
8	545	6	Angles and triangles	2
8	545	7	Backsolve, Absolute value	2
8	545	8	Special right triangles	2
8	545	9	Ratios	3
8	546	10	Lines	3
8	546	11	Do the algebra.	3
8	547	12	Reasoning: Can they all be negative? No. All but one? Yes, if the one is big enough.	3
8	547	13	List the combinations methodically.	4
8	547	14	Graph amplification	3
8	548	15	Follow the pattern remembering that all negative values are less than 100.	4
8	548	16	Working in 3 dimensions	5

Relativism (On the skinning of cats*)

2012-02-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

* I don't advocate violence towards cats (or other animals). "There's more than one way to skin a cat" is a phrase that I used to hear all the time growing up, but that I now realize (having received some mortified stares at its utterance) that it's not as common as I thought it was. It just means that a problem might have more than one solution. I still say it even though I have to clarify it now because I'm stubborn.

I chimed in on a thread at College Confidential recently about a probability problem that apparently came from Dr. Chung's book. The first few respondents provided completely legit (but rather technical) explanations of the problem using nCr, and then someone asked whether there was another way. So I jumped in with the way I prefer to solve most counting and probability questions on the SAT: short lists. For the most part, all the solutions offered in the thread were valid.

Why am I posting about that conversation here? Because it underscores an important fact: there are often multiple ways to solve SAT math problems. That's one of the beautiful things about math in general, actually: it's built on itself. That's why you learned addition before multiplication, multiplication before exponents, geometry before trigonometry, etc. My recollection of learning nCr techniques was that they were slowly introduced to us as general solutions to simple combination problems we could solve with simpler counting principles—the kinds of problems you'll see on the SAT.

I get a rush out of breaking a problem down until it's so easy a caveman could do it. That's one reason I'm a pretty good SAT teacher. But you're probably not aspiring to a career in test prep; you're probably just trying to score high enough on the SAT to move on with your life.
Finish reading this post...

Blue Book Breakdown: Test 2 Math

2012-02-03T09:41:00.000-05:00

This is straight out of the PWN the SAT Math Guide, except I've deleted the page number references and inserted links to certain techniques. View the breakdown of Blue Book Test 1 here.

§	p	#	Techniques and concepts	Diff.
2	452	1	Patterns	1
2	452	2	Ratios	1
2	453	3	Read the graph and the question carefully.	1
2	453	4	Circles	3
2	453	5	Actually turn the book on your desk and see what the shape looks like when rotated.	2
2	454	6	Do the algebra: 2x + 3 = 10, what is 4x?	2
2	454	7	Plug in	2
2	454	8	Break it into two rectangles.	2
2	454	9	Do the algebra carefully.	2
2	455	10	Angles and triangles	3
2	455	11	First, read the graph carefully: the scales on the axes are different! Lines.	2
2	455	12	Median, Mode	3
2	455	13	Read the Venn diagram carefully. It might help to darken the boundaries of Y and Z.	3
2	456	14	Plug in	3
2	456	15	Symbol functions	4
2	456	16	Backsolve	3
2	456	17	Absolute value	3
2	457	18	Working in 3 dimensions	4
2	457	19	This one is a pain, but backsolving works if you don't want to do algebra.	4
2	457	20	Lines	5
5	463	1	Well, x must be 0, right?	1
5	463	2	Ratios, Circles	1
5	464	3	Plug in, Sets	2
5	464	4	Plug in	2
5	464	5	Plug in	2
5	464	6	Ratios, Lines	3
5	465	7	Graph amplification, or just plug in and graph if your calculator can.	3
5	465	8	Counting and listing	4
5	466	9	Do the algebra: 2x + 5 = 14, solve for x.	2
5	466	10	Angles	3
5	467	11	How many times does 0.25 fit into 8?	2
5	467	12	Solve for the expression	4
5	467	13	Average	3
5	467	14	Absolute value, Plug in	3
5	468	15	Just walk through each choice keeping the goal in mind (and write everything down).	3
5	468	16	Counting and listing	4
5	468	17	Do the algebra: 1 + 0.07(t – 20) = 0.06t, solve for t.	4
5	468	18	Tricky (but fun!): p = 16k (count carefully) and a = 10k². Set them equal and solve for k.	5
8	481	1	Simplifying fractions?	1
8	481	2	Guesstimate	1
8	482	3	Functions	1
8	482	4	Plug in	2
8	482	5	Angles	2
8	483	6	Plug in	2
8	483	7	It might help to plug in, but make sure your numbers make sense on the diagram.	3
8	483	8	Probability	3
8	484	9	Graph reflection	2
8	484	10	Backsolve carefully, or solve for the expression.	3
8	484	11	Inequalities	3
8	485	12	Picture that circle as a wheel rolling along. Those rectangles could be at any orientation.	4
8	485	13	Plug in	4
8	485	14	Triangles	5
8	486	15	Figure out what Tom paid for the room using percents, then multiply that by 4.	5
8	486	16	Patterns	5

Blue Book Breakdown: Test 1 Math

2012-02-02T16:40:00.001-05:00

I broke down every Blue Book test when I wrote the Math Guide. In the book there are page numbers instead of links, obviously.

The idea here is that you can take a test, and use the results from that test to really identify some weaknesses. Then you drill those weaknesses before taking another test. Awesome, right?

I'm running a promotion throughout February that will give away some free copies of the book. Want in? The details are here.

§	p	#	Techniques and concepts	Diff.
3	396	1	Try every answer choice.	1
3	396	2	Read the question carefully.	1
3	397	3	Average, Backsolve	1
3	397	4	Read the graphs and question carefully.	2
3	397	5	Read the graph and question carefully.	1
3	397	6	Read the graph and question carefully.	2
3	398	7	Solve for the expression	2
3	398	8	Circles	2
3	398	9	Backsolve	3
3	398	10	Angles	2
3	399	11	Plug in	3
3	399	12	Read the graphs and question carefully.	3
3	399	13	Just list out the pattern terms.	3
3	399	14	Solve for the expression	3
3	400	15	Guesstimate	3
3	400	16	Solve for the expression	3
3	400	17	Right triangles	4
3	400	18	Functions	4
3	401	19	Working in 3 dimensions	5
3	401	20	Percents	5
7	413	1	Read the graph carefully.	1
7	413	2	Angles and triangles	1
7	414	3	Backsolve	2
7	414	4	Plug in for m if you're stuck.	2
7	414	5	Circles	3
7	415	6	Lines	3
7	415	7	Triangles	3
7	415	8	Backsolve	5
7	416	9	Do the algebra.	1
7	416	10	Um...rounding?	2
7	417	11	Ratios	2
7	417	12	Draw it carefully, then guess and check.	3
7	417	13	There are 30 days in April and you're told what happens every 5 days. Use ratios.	3
7	417	14	Figure out the difference between each term (it's 20). Take no prisoners.	4
7	418	15	Absolute value	3
7	418	16	Be super careful and use trial and error. Starting point: X is the biggest.	4
7	418	17	Angles and triangles	4
7	418	18	Don't be fooled, this question is easy as long as you can read function notation.	5
8	419	1	Read the graph carefully. Boy, there sure are a lot of these in this test!	1
8	419	2	Circles, Angles and triangles	1
8	420	3	Symbol functions	1
8	420	4	Draw it. The sides of the square are 4.	2
8	420	5	Make four blanks, and fill them in based on what the question says.	1
8	421	6	Angles	3
8	421	7	Average	3
8	422	8	Exponents	3
8	422	9	Functions	3
8	422	10	Plug in	3
8	423	11	Working in 3 dimensions	3
8	423	12	Plug in	4
8	423	13	Median	3
8	424	14	Counting and listing	4
8	424	15	Plug in	5
8	424	16	Functions, Backsolve	4

If you're taking the January SAT tomorrow...

2012-01-27T11:11:00.000-05:00

Keep your composure.

Get a good night's sleep tonight, eat a good breakfast tomorrow, and walk in there with your head held high. You've worked hard, now reap the rewards.