Syllabus for SAT Exam

What Should You Study For The Different Sections Of SAT?

The SAT assesses your readiness to be enrolled for undergraduate programs and tests your skills in
subjects learnt in high school. The SAT, basically tests your concepts in mathematics and tests your
abilities in reading and writing. The contents required to be studied or the SAT syllabus is aligned to the
syllabus taught in high school. This is done so as to encourage more students to take the SAT and
prepare successfully for college education.
The Syllabus for Critical Reading
The critical reading section comprises of 48 reading comprehension questions on long and short
passages, and 19 sentence completion questions where you have to either complete the sentence or
correct it. The syllabus for reading section contains:
Reading and understanding passages: As the section concentrates on your comprehension skills, it is
important that you learn to read the short and long passages strategically focusing on the facts.
Improving on SAT vocabulary: A good vocabulary becomes an asset when taking the SAT. However,
there can be no limit to the words that you can learn. That said, there are certain words that appear on
the test. Most vocabulary lists include the SAT words in their list. It is important that you learn the SAT
words but do not limit yourself to just them. Learn new words by reading newspapers, journals etc and
improve your vocabulary.
The Syllabus for Mathematics
The SAT tests concepts of basic mathematics, geometry and a few concepts from advanced algebra. The
syllabus for mathematics includes but is not limited to:
Basic Mathematics
o Number Properties
o Roots and Exponents
o Ratio and proportions
o Fractions
o Sets
o Percents
Algebra
o Inequalities
o Simultaneous Equations
o Radical and Exponentials
o Functions
Geometry
o Coordinate geometry
o Functions and graphs
For the mathematics section, you will need to review the concepts thoroughly and complete it with lots of
practice. Make a note of the time when solving mathematics problems and try to improve on it. The faster
you can solve problems, the better are your chances at a high score. There are many books available
that can help you to practice the mathematics portion of SAT exam.
The Syllabus for Writing
The Writing section consists of multiple choice questions on grammar, word usage, etc and an essay.
Essay Writing: The essay required to be written cannot be defined by the SAT curriculum. It is also not
graded by a computer or a machine but by two examiners who each give a score between 0-6. However,
there is limited time, of only 25 minutes, to put across your point of view. Thus, it is advisable that you do
not pen down whatever comes to your mind. Instead, you should try to put across your arguments in a
clear and concise manner.
Grammar Practice: The writing section also tests your knowledge and understanding of words and their
usage. The main questions that you may encounter in the writing section are:
o Finding errors in sentences
o Improving or correcting sentences
o Improving or correcting paragraphs
Test Strategies are Important!
With SAT, it is important that you understand the concepts and know how to apply them. It is difficult to fix
the portion for SAT to a few particular topics. However, the questions asked in the test have a fixed
format. While knowledge of the test content is imperative for success, you must also learn certain test
strategies. Test strategies allow you to arrive at the answer correctly and quickly. Therefore, knowledge
and learning of the content along with the test strategies can help you ace the SAT and attain the score
you want.


SAT syllabus: SAT Exam Structure


Sections 10
3 Verbal
3 Math
3 Writing section
1 Experiment Section
Time
3 Hours 45 Minutes
Score Overall 600-2400
Verbal 200-800
Math 200-800
Writing 200-800



Critical Reasoning 3 Section
Sentence Completion
Reading Comprehension (Long & Short)
Question Type Multiple Choice
Time
70 Minutes
(One 20 Min and two 25 Minutes)
Score 200-800



Math 3 Section

Basic Arithmetic
Geometry
Algebra
Algebra II
Question Type Multiple Choice
Time

70 Minutes
(One 20 Min and two 25 Minutes)
Score 200-800




Writing 3 Section

Grammar
Usage
Word Choice
Question Type
Multiple Choice
Essay
Time

70 Minutes
(One 20 Min and two 25 Minutes)
Score 200-800



More Detailed Structure of SAT: Format of New SAT

Section Time Topic's Name

No of Question

1 25 minutes
Writing- Essay 1 Essay

2 25 minutes
Critical Reading
Sentence Completion
Short Reading Passages
Long Reading Passages

24-28
3 25 minutes
Mathematics

20
4 25 minutes
Writing- Multiple
Choice

33-37
5 25 minutes
Critical Reading
Sentence Completion
Short Reading Passages
Long Reading Passages

24-27
6 25 minutes
Mathematics
Multiple choice
20
10 Questions
Grid-ins
10 Questions

7 20 minutes
Critical Reading
Reading Passages
(possible Sentence
Completions)

15-20
8 20 minutes
Mathematics

14-15
9 25 minutes
Critical Reading,
Math,
Writing

20-35
10 10 minutes
Writing- Multiple
Choice
Improving Sentences

14-15

3 Hours 45
Minutes


202-212
Questions



The SAT test is used to evaluate a candidates critical thinking and problem solving skills
which would help to measure their overall ability and potential to undertake the bachelor
level study program.
SAT is a compulsory test to secure admission in any undergraduate program of any college
of USA. This test is developed, managed and administered by College Entrance Examination
Board, based in USA. SAT is prepared and scored by the Educational Testing Service. It is
an approximately 4 hour long test. There are two types of SAT tests namely, SAT Reasoning
Test and SAT Subject Tests.
Name of the
Test Components of the Test Duration
SAT Reasoning
Test
Verbal, Mathematical and Reasoning
skills
3 hours, 20
minutes
SAT Subject Tests
Assesses knowledge of a specific
subject 1 hour
SAT Test Format
SAT Reasoning Test Format:
Section Type of Questions Score Time
Critical
Reading
Sentence completions, reading
comprehension, and paragraph-
length critical reading
200-
800
70 minutes (25
+25+20
minutes)
Writing
Grammar, usage, and word choice
( multiple choice and student
written essay)
200-
800
60 minutes
(25+25+10
minutes)
Mathematics
Algebra and functions; statistics,
probability, and data analysis;
number and operations; geometry
200-
800
70 minutes (25
+25+20
minutes)
SAT Subject Test Format:
SAT subject test can be divided into 5 general areas English, History and Social Studies,
Mathematics, Science, and Languages.
A college may require one or more of the subject tests for the purpose of admission and
placement. SAT subject test consists of multiple choice questions.
It should be noted that there are some subjects for which questions are asked in a unique
pattern.
SAT Eligibility Criteria
There are no eligibility criteria for SAT. You can take it during your Class XI or even after
the XII boards. Just keep your college application deadlines in mind as admission decisions
are largely dependent on SAT scores (along with GPA, transcript, recommendations, etc.).
Tips and Strategies for SAT 2011
Preparing for SAT
The mere thought of cracking the SAT test can be never wrecking for most of the students.
However, the test itself is no rocket science. Mentioned below are a few simple guidelines
that can help you attain a good SAT score.
It is essential to start studying well in time for the SAT test. You should consider
studying at least 4 months before the SAT exam
SAT has various questions to test diction and reading comprehension skills in the verbal
section. Reading newspapers, novels, watching English movies will prove to be quite
beneficial. Make sure to check the dictionary for unfamiliar words
You should try to incorporate the new learned words in your every day usage
It is advisable to make a note of every word that you learn along with its meaning in a
small diary. Make sentences with those words so as to comprehend their usage better.
Keep this diary handy and scan through the pages whenever you get time
Its a good idea to learn groups of words in multiples. Learn prefixes, suffixes and root
meanings. Take for example the prefix ex. It means out or away. Now think of similar
words such as exterior, exit, extrinsic or extrapolate. You can easily guess that extrinsic
means external to as it is another ex word
It is important to hone your writing skills for the writing section in the SAT test. The
easiest and most reliable way is to maintain a journal
It is important to work on logic puzzles. SAT is known to test logical reasoning skills of a
candidate. You can easily purchase logic puzzle books from bookstores and practice on
an everyday basis
During the course of your SAT preparation if you use calculator frequently, feel free to
take the calculator to the exam. However, students who are not well versed with the use
of calculator will gain little from its use during the exam
Study the previous SAT test papers well now! The time to learn the test directions is before
the paper and not during the paper. Every minute spend reading the instructions is a minute
less for solving the answers