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1. Short Description The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is administered by the not-for-profit College Board corporation in the United States, and is published, developed, and scored by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The current SAT Reasoning Test lasts about 3 hours and 45 minutes and costs $43 ($68 International), excluding late fees. After SAT's introduction, the name and scoring of the test has changed several times. In 2005, the test was renamed as "SAT Reasoning Test" with possible scores from 600 to 2400 combining test results from three 800-point sections (math, critical reading, and writing), along with other subsections scored separately (see details below). SAT consists of three major sections: Mathematics, Critical Reading, and Writing. Each section receives a score on the scale of 200–800. All scores are multiples of 10. Total scores are calculated by adding up scores of the three sections. Each major section is divided into three parts. There are 10 sub-sections, including an experimental section that may be in any of the three major sections. The experimental section is used to normalize questions for future administrations of the SAT and does not count toward the final score. The test contains 3 hours and 45 minutes of actual timed sections, although most administrations, including orientation, distribution of materials, and completion of the biographical sections, run about 5 hours (10–25 minutes per each section) long.
2. Governing Body Governing body for SAT examination is College Board. The College Board is a not-for-profit examination board in the United States that was formed in the nineteenth century as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB). It manages many different standardized tests which generally cater to individuals in the third or fourth year of high school planning on continuing their educations at a post-secondary level. Second well know exam of the College Board is PSAT/NMSQT, which stands for Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. It's a standardized test that provides firsthand practice for the SAT Reasoning Test. It also functions as a qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation scholarship programs. Contact Details: The College Board Headquarters E-mail: srp@collegeboard.com • Internet: www.collegeboard.com
3. Registration and Fees The recommended for of registration is online registration. Alternatively students may register by mail. Registration by regular mail is required if:
The SAT Reasoning Test costs $43 ($68 International). For the Subject tests, students pay a $20 Basic Registration Fee and $8 per test (except for language tests with listening, which cost $20 each). The College Board makes fee waivers available for low income students. Additional fees apply for late registration, standby testing, registration changes, scores by telephone, and extra score reports (beyond the four provided for free). Candidates whose religious beliefs prevent them from taking the test on a Saturday may request to take the test on the following Sunday, except for the October test date in which the Sunday test date is eight days after the main test offering. Such requests must be made at the time of registration and are subject to denial. Students with verifiable disabilities, including physical and learning disabilities, are eligible to take the SAT with accommodations. The standard time increase for students requiring additional time due to learning disabilities is 50%. 4. Deadlines The SAT is offered seven times a year in the United States, in October, November, December, January, March (or April, alternating), May, and June. The test is typically offered on the first Saturday of the month for the November, December, May, and June administrations. In other countries, the SAT is offered on the same dates as in the United States except for the first spring test date (i.e., March or April), which is not offered. In 2006, the test was taken 1,465,744 times. Full schedule is available on Collegeboard website. Candidates may either take the SAT Reasoning Test or up to three SAT Subject Tests on any given test date, except the first spring test date, when only the SAT Reasoning Test is offered. Candidates wishing to take the test may register online at the College Board's website, by mail, or by telephone, at least three weeks before the test date.
5. Exam Structure Structure Critical Reading Mathematics
Writing Questions The questions are weighted equally. For each correct answer, one raw point is added. For each incorrect answer one-fourth of a point is deducted. No points are deducted for incorrect math grid-in questions. This ensures that a student's mathematically expected gain from guessing is zero. 6. Preparation College Board provides SAT Preparation Center that should be a primary source of preparation resources. Official SAT Practice Questions, Official SAT practice tests are offered. The materials prepared by College Board (valid this year) may be purchased online:
Student should also use other materials, what would help them to achive best possible score on the exam. The highest ranked third party SAT materials:
Most of SAT candidates participate in SAT preparation courses. Review sessions are offered by a number of third party companies: 7. Forum If you have any question about the SAT you may ask it on our SAT Forum. 8. Links
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