SAT course

Overview

As of Spring 2024, CollegeBoard, an institution that administers the SAT exams, has announced that all students from all over the world will take the full SAT Suite of Assessments digitally.

What does this mean, and how does this affect the average high school student preparing for the SAT exams in Nepal? Read on to find out!

SAT stands for Scholastic Assessment Test. It is a multiple choice that the students will have to appear for on their computers or a computer loaned from CollegeBoard.

About the SAT Exam

To students looking to get into an undergraduate program in the US or Canada, most colleges ask for SAT or ACT scores. Among the two tests, the SAT is the most popular one. SAT is a standardized test that colleges and universities consider before handing out admissions and scholarships.

SAT is not the only criterion a college looks at before offering a seat in their program. They also consider your past academic records, recommendations, extracurricular achievements, admissions interviews, and personal essays. Still, SAT scores make up an important part of the admissions process in most cases. You should also know that there are colleges out there in the USA and Canada that do not ask for your SAT scores.

As for the utility of the SAT, it helps colleges use a standardized test to quantify a student’s readiness for the college courses they’re about to join. After all, the test is designed to evaluate reasoning & evidence-based problem solving. With the SAT scores and the aforementioned papers, a college can make an educated projection about how well the student will perform in college.

The SAT has two broad sections, each with two subsections of their own. The examinees have 64 minutes to complete the Reading and Writing segment of the SAT test. This segment is further broken down into two 32-minute modules. The two modules are similar in nature and test a student’s aptitude in four key aspects: Craft & Structure, Information & Ideas, Standard English Conventions, and Expression of Ideas. Similar questions are usually grouped together in an ascending order of difficulty. In simpler words, this part of the SAT measures your ability to comprehend ideas, vocabulary, analytical skills, and grammar skills.

The second section, Math, is 70 minutes long and is divided into two 35-minute modules, much like the Reading & Writing segment. This part of the test tries to quantify the examinee’s understanding of Algebra, Advanced Math, Problem Solving & Data Analysis, and Geometry & Trigonometry. About one-third of the questions that the examinee will encounter are word problems set in context. The student will have to extract the mathematical representation of the problem before solving it. Here is a more accurate breakdown of the questions:

The primary contrast that the Digital SAT has against the conventional Pen-Paper version is that the test has now become dynamic. Meaning, the second module of each segment is not a static one. You will get different questions in the second module of each segment depending on your performance in the first one. Most of the questions on the test are multiple-choice. The few outliers come from the Math segment, where the prompt will ask you to enter specific answers. There is no negative marking in the SAT, so students are largely encouraged to guess an answer instead of leaving the space blank.

There are a total of 98 questions you will have to attempt in 134 minutes (just over 2 hours).

SAT vs. Digital SAT: What Changed?

The overall design and purpose of the test have largely been the same with the transition into the Digital SAT test. The most fundamental change for a potential examinee is simply in the medium used to conduct the exam.

Previously, students were given a pencil and a booklet with questions to answer. The questions were fixed. Now, students can take their own computer or take a loan from CollegeBoard and take the exam using proprietary software. The questions become easier or more difficult depending on how well they do. However, students will still have to go to an exam center, which they would have previously booked, to take the exam.

The digital exam is shorter—2 hours, not 3 hours. CollegeBoard has also assured that the students being routed to an easier version of the test will not be disadvantaged in any way.

Another advantage is that the students will have to wait for mere days for their results instead of waiting for a couple of weeks like before.

Studying a SAT course in Nepal

With an educational consultancy in operation at every other crossroad in Kathmandu and a bunch of others scattered across Nepal, students can easily find a place that offers an SAT course in Nepal. However, it is important that you find the best instructor for your needs as a student. If you want to sign up for an SAT course in Nepal, you should visit a number of these institutions that are accessible to you and pick the one that you think is the best fit for you.

A SAT course in Nepal is usually 1.5 months or longer with two separate lectures for Reading & Writing and Maths. You will likely have to go in and study every weekday.

However, Khan Academy, an official partner of CollegeBoard, provides a bunch of lectures and practice materials to aspiring SAT examinees for free. There, you can find detailed lectures, strategy videos, solved questions, and mock tests to help you ace the SAT. Regardless of whether you are studying in an institution or studying on your own, the resources available there would be invaluable.

Besides that, there are a bunch of YouTube videos that you can use to prepare yourself—all free of cost.