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What does the phrase "SAT" mean to you?
To me, it means several things that might seem wrong to a lot of people.
1. Lectures from parents = most fucking annoying test ever because its 24/7 in-your-sleep bitch fest and when my parents see games of any sort; they freak out and yell something ike "omg omg go study SATs. you grounded, you no sleep, you no eat, you no pee til you finish SAT book"
2. Extra shit to do. Like i already have enough going on; studying for a test coming in 4 years is already a bitch; you dont have to make it a fat bitch by giving people a huge 1200 pg kaplan book.
3. Stress. Im growing fucking white hairs now because ive got soo much shit to worry about, juggle social life and academics, and please the parents so they dont hand me a second 1200 pg book.
4. If i fail this test, i might as well kill myself or my parents are going to do it for me. Not that much explanation needed here.
5. Loss of privacy. Its constant "open door fest" , "surveillance camera in the back of the room" , extra extra tall firewall (i doubt my parents are that tech savvy though), parents follow you around whenever possible, etc etc.
So im just wondering what is your meaning of the SATs. Post anything ya want.
  
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I feel your pain T.T
Next Saturday= judgement day
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NY10778 Posts
you don't need to "study" for the SAT
it's like 10th grade level math. if you're taking it as a junior or senior you should be able to score above 700 assuming you're in pre-calculus or calculus at that point in time.
as for the verbal section, that just comes from reading good books (my personal choice is adult fiction). sure you can try memorizing vocab lists, but really, are you going to retain 1000s of words? probably not. etymology would probably be a more efficient method of studying.
in my opinion the best method is to just wake up at 7am every saturday morning and take a full practice SAT assuming full test-taking conditions. be strict on yourself with the time limits and don't peek in the back of the book. you can probably improve about 200 points or so just from being REALLY used to the test format, their types of questions and wording.
anyway, to answer your main question, to me it meant pressure.
my sister scored 1600 on the old SAT as a junior in high school, and she is 5 years older than me. that means from 6th grade (probably around then is when you first hear about the term "SAT") all the way until senior year i had that pressure. in the end, i didn't really do that well (1400/1600 on the old scale), but i got into a pretty good school and i'm happy where i am now. i found out that everything works out eventually, as long as you are SELF-motivated. (read: the reason why you're going to classes is NOT because you're worried that your parents will kill you if get a B). if you aren't self-motivated, good luck at that top-tier school you're attending. you'll need lots and lots of it. and that still won't be enough.
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Cayman Islands16638 Posts
for me, it was something i had to do. back then i didn't treat the whole thing very seriously. my dad didn't really put any pressure on me to study, except the attitude and the general expectation. i did not take the whole routine of things seriously.
your problem is just a parental problem. they could rag on you on a number of other things, and your reaction would be the same. what is the sats to you, parents and all that social expectation ragging on you.
my advice would be, look beyond it. understand that your parents and probably a lot of other people are also doing this because of their circumstances. it is their way of life.
for motivation, you are on this site probably means, you are alienated from the education business. it si a personal growth kind of thing. back then, colleges were voluntary institutions, people went to lectures because they wanted to meet the professor, etc. this was the natural genesis of the university. the same resources still exist now, and more, so it is possible for you to hold the same enthusiasm. it is just that, with your idea of college being an impression from your social environment, it is radically different from what it could be. a task, something to accomplish, a hoop, etc. regardless of prospects for postgraduate activities, it doesn't hurt to see opportunity in college as something you want to do. admittedly not everyone wants to go to uni out of a desire for learning etc, but it is not a bad attitude to have.
i'll spare teh social critique.
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United States1636 Posts
Just a good SAT score won't get you into a good college. They take your extracurricular activities and other such things into consideration too.
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On September 27 2007 14:46 SigrUn wrote:
Just a good SAT score won't get you into a good college. They take your extracurricular activities and other such things into consideration too.
Get an amazing SAT score and you'll be guaranteed at least one great college.
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Washington, D.C9867 Posts
oneofthem's post is pretty much dead on. the sat may be a big fucking deal right now, but once it's all done and you're in college nobody will care unless they are a big douchebag.
the amount people stress over this just seems entirely disproportionate to the test's difficulty. don't get caught up fretting yourself to death - if you're worried, take mass practice exams until you're not anymore. the material is all stuff you should know, so don't think of it as an obstacle.
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On September 27 2007 14:50 davidgurt wrote:Show nested quote +On September 27 2007 14:46 SigrUn wrote:
Just a good SAT score won't get you into a good college. They take your extracurricular activities and other such things into consideration too. Get an amazing SAT score and you'll be guaranteed at least one great college.
depends on your definition of "great."
my friend got a 240 (perfect) on the PSAT, national merit finalist, and a 2380 (1600 not including writing) on the SAT, and he was rejected from stanford, yale, harvard, princeton, and wait-listed at rice. the ONLY school where he got a straight acceptance was UT, where he is at now. he also had some pretty good extracurriculars as well (2-year all-state orchestra, red cross, student council, ETC). i will say that i read his essays and they were pretty okay, definitely above what most people could write, but nothing brilliant or outstanding.
on the other hand, my 2250 (1500 not including writing) got me into johns hopkins, northwestern, and UT (although i will admit that my music contributed a lot to this as well).
as others have said, once you're in college, no one really cares about your SAT score. it's mostly college GPA from there.
the SAT is a pretty easy test anyway, so don't stress too much over it. you can't really study (except maybe vocabulary and basic grammar rules), so the most important thing is just practice, and you probably won't even need to do that too much if you're moderately intelligent. the ACT is also a good test to take, although i never took it.
you shouldn't just blow off the test though, as it IS an important part of your college application. you should probably go for at least a 2200 (2100 MIGHT cut it if you have lots of really good extracurriculars and/or amazing essays) if you want to get into any good school. don't worry that much about it though, because there are certainly other important things on your application that can help you.
i dunno, i'm chinese and my parents were surprisingly laid-back about this when i had to take it. i did some practice tests on my own and easily got 2200++ every time, and when test day came, i just walked in and walked out with a 2250.
good luck, don't worry about it too much, and if you want a good score, just practice a bit and improve your vocabulary!
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GrandInquisitor
New York City10897 Posts
SAT means to me the one time in my life I have ever laid claim to perfection. It's a shame that my proudest achievement is also one that doesn't matter anymore.
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Chill out. You're basically saying that they are a big deal to your parents. That's their issue; don't make it yours.
You're making it sound a bit like Armageddon. You don't need a 2400 on this test. In fact I took the test once, got a 1990 and got into all the colleges I applied to, and I wasn't one to do charity work, be on student government or write great essays.
The SAT measures your ability to reason. Beyond a certain basic educational level it is your abilities, not your studying.
Good luck on the test!
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Braavos36076 Posts
i took a practice test every day after school for the three weeks leading up to the exam. i usually got 800 verbal and 600-700 math, and on the actual test i fucked up 760 on verbal and lucked out 790 math (1550/1600)
no matter what people say about it determined strictly by smartness, it's mostly practice. the more you practice the better you'll get. i was averaging like 1400 when i started practicing and my average score steadily rose as i practiced more.
it's important because the college you get into with it is important. its important because you learn to work hard and perform under pressure. yes colleges take into consideration everything else but sacrificing a few hours a day for a month is a very small price to pay given the possible benefit you could have of getting into a great college which will impact the rest of your life.
so when people say "well SAT doesn't matter in the long run" as a justification to not study, does 3 or 4 hours of practicing SAT a day for a few weeks really matter that much in the long run? no. so just study, it can't hurt and the potential gain is quite large.
do what your parents say. there's no reason to NOT do your best on this test and be as prepared as possible. the cost is low, the reward is potentially high. just do it!
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He's pretty obviously Asian xD
Here's my strategy for the SAT: Don't fucking stress over it. Make sure you get the hang of doing what it is you need to do to do well - that may mean 1 practice test or 10 practice tests, depending on your needs. I studied for my SAT last year by just opening the prep book, reading the tips (REALLY reading them), and then doing a few sections from each test. Took me about 1 hour. I felt I got what I NEED out of it. My parents told me to study more, I basically told them that I studied enough for myself, and any extra pressure or time spent studying would only make me despise the test and "want to get it over with," thus getting a bad grade. I got a 2250 as a sophomore. You need to tell your parents, no matter how Asian they are, that they need to give you some space, for that reason and many others.
Your first reaction is probably "NO I CAN'T DO THAT MY PARENTS ARE AZN YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND." I know many Asians, met many Asian parents, and Russian parents are not much better than Asian. You just have to stand up for yourself once in a while, even if your parents bitch and try to make you feel bad about it. You're entitled to basic rights like that. You can't keep bending over for their shit, because from waht you said it seems like you are sick of it. You need to study only as much as you feel is necessary, not as much as your ignorant parents do. Of course you have to be honest with yourself and be responsible, but I think that's obvious.
The next year I used the same philosophy - opened the same book, merely looked at all the problems, and I felt ready. Got a 2280. Considering English is not my most fluent language, I felt I did good enough. You should be able to do the same.
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All the asians that deal with the insane parental pressure on this have my respect..I screwed the pooch on math, 800 verbal 700 writing, never looked back. Biggest piece of advice is to do your damndest to keep calm about the whole thing...I only took the test once, didn't study at all and didn't sleep much the night before, just kept my head screwed on straight and took deep breaths as necessary
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All these high SAT scores make me feel pretty sto_opid. I scored something equivalent to 1000 (1600 scale) first time I took the practice test and after 2 years of SAT school on saturday, got 1960 (2400 scale).
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On September 27 2007 14:23 imBLIND wrote:
What does the phrase "SAT" mean to you?
To me, it means several things that might seem wrong to a lot of people.
1. Lectures from parents = most fucking annoying test ever because its 24/7 in-your-sleep bitch fest and when my parents see games of any sort; they freak out and yell something ike "omg omg go study SATs. you grounded, you no sleep, you no eat, you no pee til you finish SAT book"
2. Extra shit to do. Like i already have enough going on; studying for a test coming in 4 years is already a bitch; you dont have to make it a fat bitch by giving people a huge 1200 pg kaplan book.
3. Stress. Im growing fucking white hairs now because ive got soo much shit to worry about, juggle social life and academics, and please the parents so they dont hand me a second 1200 pg book.
4. If i fail this test, i might as well kill myself or my parents are going to do it for me. Not that much explanation needed here.
5. Loss of privacy. Its constant "open door fest" , "surveillance camera in the back of the room" , extra extra tall firewall (i doubt my parents are that tech savvy though), parents follow you around whenever possible, etc etc.
So im just wondering what is your meaning of the SATs. Post anything ya want.
Hahaha 1 sounds like my parents ^_^_^
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I take practice tests during hagwon and I get the same English grade again, and again, and again. Probably because I'm tired; I learned most of the material (like vocab I can ace EZ) but Reading Comprehension really is a matter of staying alive through the entire passage 
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OMFG dude my mom is JUST like you except she got a LITTLE more loose over the years(but that came with many many fights, getting computer taken away for 2 years, other crazy shiet).
I got a 1400 on the test and she immediately bought me a BIG THICK SAT book she told me to do over my precious summer time while FOCRING me to volunteer at a hospital that summer..sigh..although it was good for me becuz i had barely any volunteer hours. Anyway I'm only about 1/3 of the way done through the sat book but even 1/3 is ALOT if u take a look at how enormous the book is..but im trying to get it done t.t but i jsut can't focus trying to do school hw and when weekend comes around its almost my only time to play sc and i cant resist the tempatation and even in wekeneds i go to church on fridays and sundays t.t
Btw, are u korean?
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You don't need to study for the SAT's. It measures your scholastic aptitude. If you're smart, you'll do well.
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Braavos36076 Posts
Again, studying for the SATs helps. If the SAT just measured "smartness," why are there all these courses like Princeton Review specializing in it? Those courses don't just make you "smarter" they teach you how to take the test better.
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WCS
