As math students move through high school and toward the SAT, it’s only natural that they begin to worry about the most important tests of their lives so far. With years of math classes behind them, students will be hoping to score high enough to follow their chosen path after high school.
The Math SAT can be a daunting task, but that’s no reason to shy away from the challenge. Nowadays, with the right help, students can be better prepared than ever before for the most important tests of their school lives – and tests don’t get much bigger than the Math SAT.
Let’s take a closer look at the MATH SAT – identifying some of the topics, and sharing our tips for answering some of the more tricky, more common questions – as well as certain steps that students can take now to ensure they are ready for the test when that day finally arrives.
What’s in the SAT test?
As you probably know, the SAT is the set of standardized tests that students in the US take to apply to colleges. Combined with a student’s GPA, it is believed that SAT scores demonstrate a student’s overall ability to succeed in college academics.
The math portion of the SAT changes every year, but the topics tend to remain unchanged. The topics students can expect to see on the day of the test include: algebra; data interpretation from graphs; problem-solving & data analysis; geometry; trigonometry; and problems with complex numbers.
In terms of the test itself, there are actually quite a few questions that seem to pop up over and over. Take a quick look at our blog post on some of these tricky questions that you can practice, protecting yourself from any unwanted surprises on the day of the test.
Boosting Your SAT Score
For students, the most important thing about the SAT is getting through it and coming out the other side with a high enough score to continue their academic journey at the college or institution they want. How do you go about maximizing your SAT score? Well, you can start by going to this OMC blog post for some quick tips.
Apart from these tips, the most important action to take to make sure you get a good score on the SAT is to prepare. For many students, their regular math class is all the preparation they will do for the SAT, but for those who want to excel, have their choice of colleges, or simply challenge themselves to score as high as possible on the SAT, individual tutoring and intensive SAT preparation courses come highly recommended.
Individual Tutoring
At school, students will find themselves in classes with 15, 20, or maybe even 30 classmates at any time. This can be a challenging environment in which to learn. Some children have issues behaving or paying attention in class when grouped together, and this will not just slow their progress, but will often slow classes down for everyone, hampering other students’ opportunities of performing well on tests.
Students turn to individual tutoring to fill gaps in their knowledge. This may be gaps that have appeared recently – perhaps a recent topic has been particularly challenging – or the gaps may run deeper, present for years now but never successfully identified due to large class sizes and a lack of one-on-one time with teachers. Individual tutoring also offers students the chance to try out a new learning environment, which is often a change that benefits students greatly.
Intensive SAT Prep Courses
Separately from individual tutoring, students can take SAT prep courses. These are intensive, test-focused courses that reinforce students’ learning and, importantly, introduce them to some of the intangibles associated with the SAT.
For example, during SAT prep courses, students get the opportunity to take practice tests not only timed to reflect the actual time they will have to complete the test when the day comes but also in recreated exam environments, not just in a school classroom full of students.
Overall, SAT prep courses and individual tutoring classes help students prepare for the Math SAT, going beyond simply learning the material, and taking a lot of the “fear” out of a student’s mind as they face up to the all-important SAT.
Let Online Math Center help with your SAT
At Online Math Center, we pride ourselves on being the best online math tutoring school. Thanks to our expert team of international math teachers, and our unique approach to SAT preparation, students that study at Online Math Center average Math SAT scores of over 700. Whether your child needs individual tutoring to plug some gaps in their knowledge, or an SAT preparation course to make sure they aren’t taken by surprise on the day of the test, OMC is the place for them.
Contact OMC today and enroll your child in our SAT prep courses and individual tutoring classes.
