The SAT is the nation's most widely used admissions test among colleges and universities. It tests students' knowledge of subjects that are necessary for college success: reading, writing, and mathematics. The SAT assesses the critical thinking skills students need for academic success in college—skills that students learned in high school.

The SAT is typically taken by high school juniors and seniors. It tells students how well they use the skills and knowledge they have attained in and outside of the classroom—including how they think, solve problems, and communicate. The SAT is an important resource for colleges. It's also one of the best predictors of how well students will do in college.

Each section of the SAT is scored on a scale of 200-800, with two writing subscores for multiple-choice questions and the essay. It is administered seven times a year in the U.S. and U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, and six times a year overseas.

For more online sample questions and preparation materials, visit the SAT Preparation Center.

The SAT includes several different question types, including: a student-produced essay, multiple-choice questions, and student-produced responses (grid-ins). Select any section below to learn more about specific question types.

 

 

The Critical Reading Section

 

Time	Content	Item Types	Score
70 min. (two 25-min. sections and one 20-min. section)	Critical reading and sentence-level reading	Reading comprehension, sentence completions, and paragraph-length critical reading	200-800

 

 The critical reading section, formerly known as the verbal section, includes short as well as long reading passages. Questions can be based on one, or sometimes two, reading passages. Some questions are not based on reading passages, but ask you to complete sentences.

 

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The Mathematics Section

 

 

Time	Content	Item Types	Score
70 min. (two 25-min. sections and one 20-min. section)	Number and operations; algebra and functions; geometry; statistics, probability, and data analysis	Five-choice multiple-choice questions and student-produced responses	200-800

 

 

The SAT includes mathematics topics from up through a third-year college preparatory course, such as exponential growth, absolute value, and functional notation. It also places emphasis on such topics as linear functions, manipulations with exponents, and properties of tangent lines. Important skills such as estimation and number sense are measured through the multiple-choice and student response (grid-in) questions.

 

 

May I use a calculator?

 

 

Yes. Students may use a four-function, scientific, or graphing calculator. The College Board recommends that students use a graphing (or at least a scientific) calculator for the SAT, although it's still possible to solve every question without a calculator.

 

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The Writing Section

 

Time	Content	Item Types	Score
60 min.	Grammar, usage, and word choice	Multiple choice questions (35 min.) and student-written essay (25 min.)	200-800

 

 

The writing section includes both multiple-choice questions and a direct writing measure in the form of an essay.

 

 

Short Essay

 

• The short essay measures your ability to:
  • Organize and express ideas clearly
  • Develop and support the main idea
  • Use appropriate word choice and sentence structure
• You'll be asked to develop a point of a view on an issue, using reasoning and evidence — based on your own experiences, readings, or observations — to support your ideas.
• The essay will be scored by trained high school and college teachers. Each reader will give the essay a score from 1 to 6 (6 is the highest score) based on the overall quality of the essay and your demonstration of writing competence.
  
  Please note that the essay images seen by readers for scoring purposes are clearer than the images we can display for students and institutions on our website.

 

Multiple-Choice

 

• The multiple-choice writing questions measure your ability to:
  • Improve sentences and paragraphs
  • Identify errors (such as diction, grammar, sentence construction, subject-verb agreement, proper word usage, and wordiness)

 

For more information please contact:

 Ms. Dana Khatib (Boys campus)

 Tel. 00971 2 6669108 Ex. 13

 Email:

danakhatib@rawafedschool.com

 

Useful Links:

 Register Online for the SAT

 SAT Official Website