The SAT, a compilation of different areas of study learned throughout the education experience is a test most colleges look at when making acceptances and rejections from there education programs. But, is the SAT really a test to show what you know?
You attempt to prepare for the SAT with a thousand page book composed of every possible topic that could end up on the test. But lets be honest, students can barely remember units they learned last week, none the less a thousand pages of information tracking back to freshman year. Take the math section for example, questions are randomly pulled from classes like algebra, geometry or calculus to name a few, its a random bounce around of question types, that allow no time to look back at that algebra class freshman and think of the correct way to solve the problem. Then theres the english section you could attempt to prepare for it by looking at the hundreds of pages of "what word works best here" but, the only real way to study for this section would be to memorize every single word in the dictionary since any abundance of words could appear in the section.
While taking the SAT their is also the struggle of the time limits. We all can remember back to a time in school when you look back at a test and think "how could I get that wrong I knew that!" Well I can tell you the reason for a majority of tests I did that on, they were timed tests. Timed tests cause students to focus more on how much time they have left or have already used and distract students from focusing on the actual task at hand. If you look at the SAT during one of the ten sections of the test a passage will be assigned to you somewhat long, a page in length, with 24 questions to answer. But what student can read and process information fast enough to read a passage, focus on specific details like word choice and sentence structure, and then answer questions with less then a minutes time for each? Students make errors they wouldn't typically make because their mind is going a mile a minute. Throughout tests in school the constant phrase "take your time" is said but taking ones' time is not an option while taking the SAT
The SAT is a test that is supposed to "show what you know", but what it actually shows is how well you can manage your time and the pool of anxiety you are swimming in.
While taking the SAT their is also the struggle of the time limits. We all can remember back to a time in school when you look back at a test and think "how could I get that wrong I knew that!" Well I can tell you the reason for a majority of tests I did that on, they were timed tests. Timed tests cause students to focus more on how much time they have left or have already used and distract students from focusing on the actual task at hand. If you look at the SAT during one of the ten sections of the test a passage will be assigned to you somewhat long, a page in length, with 24 questions to answer. But what student can read and process information fast enough to read a passage, focus on specific details like word choice and sentence structure, and then answer questions with less then a minutes time for each? Students make errors they wouldn't typically make because their mind is going a mile a minute. Throughout tests in school the constant phrase "take your time" is said but taking ones' time is not an option while taking the SAT
The SAT is a test that is supposed to "show what you know", but what it actually shows is how well you can manage your time and the pool of anxiety you are swimming in.
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