Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Do I request extra time from College Board (SAT)?

Thinking about this over while I swam my laps and I suspect that prep will significantly improve DS's on the math. Less so on the reading. Test prep is not likely to make my son a faster reader and pushing him to read faster is likely to make him mess up more on the earlier problems.

But on the math there were tricks to some of the problems that make them a lot faster. A few problems he got stuck on because he was making the problems too difficult. I can see your problem with the standardized test centers. Hmm.. maybe I need to rethink this.. maybe I hire a college student to "tutor" him. We both agree DS needs some external (not mom) babysitting through the practice sections.

Yup-- it really helped DD to see the very peculiar specific problems that appear on the SAT math sections. I really wish that she'd done more of that prior to the PSAT, frankly. {sigh}

Live and learn, I guess.

The ACT was a speed test, for sure-- but the math was WAY more straightforward-- less about gimmick questions and more about algebra and trig.

Paying someone else to "proctor" him in an unused office or library study room will give him a really good idea on how the real thing will go, too.

This is the 'new' SAT. It was a sample test in a real world situation put on by his school. From what I've seen of the math from this sample test and the online questions. The math seems relatively straight forward. A little less tricky than the old SAT but on the other hand there are a lot of very lengthy word problems, something I remember from the ACT especially in the "science" part. A huge graph, two+ paragraphs of text. And you finally get to the question the problem is easy and barely needs the text.

The other thing I noticed but that I don't think isn't new for this version. Is that many questions ask you to not only solve an equation but do one more step like answer x*y or X+7. Presumably so it's harder to guess the right answer. But some of these are actually a hint as to a quicker way to solve it.. if you solve the quadratic by completing the square using X+7 it's much FASTER to get the correct answer than other methods. So while other methods work just fine they take up time you could be solving other problems.

This is the 'new' SAT. It was a sample test in a real world situation put on by his school. From what I've seen of the math from this sample test and the online questions. The math seems relatively straight forward. A little less tricky than the old SAT but on the other hand there are a lot of very lengthy word problems, something I remember from the ACT especially in the "science" part. A huge graph, two+ paragraphs of text. And you finally get to the question the problem is easy and barely needs the text.

The other thing I noticed but that I don't think isn't new for this version. Is that many questions ask you to not only solve an equation but do one more step like answer x*y or X+7. Presumably so it's harder to guess the right answer. But some of these are actually a hint as to a quicker way to solve it.. if you solve the quadratic by completing the square using X+7 it's much FASTER to get the correct answer than other methods. So while other methods work just fine they take up time you could be solving other problems.