I tutor two levels of international level English and you see links to them on the top of my website. They are IELTS/SAT TEST PREPARATION and ACADEMIC TUTORING. This section is only about SAT/IELTS Test Preparation.
The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) is the second most widely used entrance test for U.S., Canadian & Thai universities after the competing ACT Test. Throughout Asia, the SAT is the most widely taught test and is easily accepted in the U.S. which has 4,300+ colleges and universities. My students target the top 3% of those 4,300 U.S. universities or roughly the top 150. Good English writing skills are essential for successful admission.
It is a timed test (!) with three required parts. Total time = 3 hours and 15 minutes. 50% of the test is the math grade (= 800 points) 50% is the English grade (= 800 points) with 1,600 being a perfect grade. Most of my ASEAN students require little training on the mathematics tests and achieve grades >750 (part one). However, those same students receive lower rates on numbers 2 & 3 thereby preventing their entrance to top universities.
- This tests how effectively a student analyzes sentences and paragraphs for good grammar and broad knowledge of English. A very simple example would the that a child could also be called a child, kid, boy, girl, son, daughter.
- The student needs to analyze essays in terms of their correct structure, tone and effectiveness.
This tests how effectively a student interprets, analyzes and draws inferences in liberal arts and the sciences. The student needs to distinguish between writing which is an argument, narrative, personal or expository.
The student needs to draw inferences from graphs, tables and diagrams in the reading passages on the SAT.
SAT Score Ranges
Having taught SAT skills for 8+ years, I try not to focus on SAT grades but I focus on SAT skills. A student with good SAT skills usually gets high scores. What are high scores for U.S. or Canadian admission? Here is a good assessment of it with 80% of my students scoring in the top 20%.
These scores will put you in the top 10% of all test takers.
EVIDENCE-BASED READING AND WRITING: 670 – 800
MATH: 690 – 800
These scores will put you in a highly competitive place in admissions (top 25% of all test takers).
EVIDENCE-BASED READING AND WRITING: 610 – 660
MATH: 600 – 680
These scores put you ahead of the pack (50%+), but won’t be as advantageous when applying to highly competitive programs.
EVIDENCE-BASED READING AND WRITING: 540 – 600
MATH: 530 – 590