What is the SAT?

I want to live a fulfilling student life in the U.S., the country of my dreams!

In order to achieve this, you must first take an exam called the SAT.

What is the SAT?

The SAT is a standardized test created by the College Board, an educational institution in the U.S. The SAT is an acronym for Scholastic Assessment Test, and is one of the major tests used to evaluate academic ability in American university applications. This test can be taken multiple times around the world, and if you take the SAT more than once, the highest score will be used to determine whether you are accepted or rejected by the university of your choice. However, the SAT score alone is not the deciding factor in U.S. college admissions, rather it is normal for the application to be viewed as a whole based on high school grades, extracurricular activities, and essays required by the university. It is important to put effort into both your schoolwork and extracurricular activities. 

For more information on the SAT, please visit the College Board’s official website here!

SAT Exam Content

The SAT consists of two sections with a total score of 1600. The test begins with easy questions and gradually increases in difficulty around the midpoint of the test. However, by preparing well for even difficult problems, you can efficiently achieve a high score. In all parts of the Reading, Writing and Language, and Math section, the test’s format is multiple choice where you choose one answer from four possible answers. In the latter half of the Math section, there will be both multiple-choice questions and questions where you input numbers [that you have to calculate]. The SAT also includes advanced English vocabulary, so familiarizing yourself with the English words used on the SAT exam will help you read faster and comprehend the material better.

How to Prepare for the SAT Exam

Unlike English Language Proficiency Tests and the TOEFL, the SAT is not designed to measure English proficiency. It is a test to measure academic ability, so if you take the time to properly prepare for it, a high score is completely possible! Studying for the SAT exam varies from person to person, but we recommend that you spend at least 1-2 years preparing for and taking the SAT exam! In fact, American high school students prepare for the actual SAT exam for about the same length of time. DIG International offers a full range of SAT courses to prepare you for studying in the U.S. You can check out our SAT courses here!

Here is a simple 3-step guide to preparing for the SAT exam!

Step 1:Check the average SAT score of accepted students at the university of your choice.

First, let’s find out which university you want to go to. Of course you can narrow it down to one, but it is also okay to have a few choices. Once you have selected a few, check the average SAT scores of students who have been accepted to those universities. You can check the average score on the website of the college you are interested in attending. That will give you a target SAT score to aim for. However, SAT scores alone do not determine whether you will be accepted or rejected by American universities. Even if you score lower than the average, you may still be accepted, so don’t be too concerned about your score! Of course, a high SAT score will increase your chances of being accepted, so aim for a high SAT score!

Step 2 Familiarize yourself with the SAT test format!

In order to get the target score, you must first become familiar with the test format. Take SAT practice problems and mock exams to familiarize yourself with the actual exam. Once you know the SAT exam’s format and question trends, you can spend less time on each question and increase your percentage of correct answers. By studying with various SAT preparation books, you can learn the pattern of all the questions and be fully prepared. If you are just beginning to prepare for the SAT exam, building on quantity over quality will help you to steadily improve your score. The secret is to take the time to prepare for the SAT.

Step 3: Overcome your weak points!

After you have solved a lot of questions and have a good understanding of the format and types of questions of the SAT, you can overcome your weak points by earnestly taking practice tests! Japanese students tend to get high scores on the Math section of the SAT because it is the same content they learn up to the third year of junior high school in Japan, but they often fail on the Reading, Writing, and Language sections. In order to get a high score, it is necessary to know what kind of questions you are making mistakes on every time you take the test. In order to excel at a problem you are not good at, you need to understand why you are getting it wrong, and it is important to solve problems that are similar to the problem repetitively.

By doing the above 3 steps properly, you can prepare for the SAT. Of course, there are many detailed points to prepare for the SAT, but we will introduce them in a different article. DIG International also provides support by working together with those who want to go to college in the U.S. but do not know which college is best for them, and help them choose a college seriously! The SAT is not an easy test for Japanese, but anyone can get a high score by preparing properly! Let’s work together to help you get into the school of your dreams!

At DIG International, we will steadily prepare each student for the SAT exam according to their level. DIG International can also provide instruction to meet the needs of students who wish to prepare not only for the SAT but also for the TOEFL (or other exams*) at the same time. We will propose a course that meets the level and goals of each student. We also offer free trial lessons, so please feel free to contact us for more information! For more information, click here!

*please see our website here for all of the preparatory services we provide!