
SAT is a standardized Scholastic Assessment Test (originally called Scholastic Aptitude Test) run by the College Board.
SAT was originally adapted from an Army IQ Test and was conducted for admissions to colleges and universities for the first time in 1926, but it became a cult only after 1933, when it was announced by the President of Harvard University that SAT will be used to assess candidates’ intellectual potential for winning scholarship. Eventually by 1940s, the examination became the standard test and today is taken by almost millions of students across the world every year.
Since its inception, the test assesses how prepared the candidate is for admission into esteem colleges and universities my gauging the candidate’s key skills such as Reading Comprehension, Computational Ability, and Clarity of Expression. In fact, the SAT score also gives an idea of how competitive the candidate can be and how well they can perform when challenged by competition amongst peers from across the globe.
However, you must have to appear for SAT, if you are seeking admission to any of the colleges and universities in the US (including some states such as Delaware, New Hampshire, and Michigan that accept SAT score as measure to High School Junior admissions). The world-class colleges and universities in the US require SAT scores as an eligibility criterion along with your application. As a matter of fact, your SAT score can account for almost 50% of the admission decision, so it is must that you achieve as higher the score as you can.
The standardized Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is a daunting exam that is important for many reasons such as:
Most of the high esteemed colleges and universities in the US have emphasized high SAT scores for the test evaluates your capabilities for admission into undergraduate programs. Therefore, taking the SAT test open up many opportunities for you to take an admission in such colleges and universities.
Though there are a small number of competitive colleges that have given up SAT score as a basic requirement, but they are very small number in comparison to colleges that yet require higher SAT scores as eligibility score.
Many colleges guarantee huge scholarship money based on your high SAT scores, which certainly turn into an immense help for students who cannot afford expensive qualification in the US based colleges otherwise. So, if you wish to stand a chance of netting up a huge chunk of your college fees, you must aim at scoring higher SAT scores.
As a matter of fact, there are many Companies that seek for candidates—from entry level consulting applicants to senior level applicants—who have gained good SAT scores as it is an assessment of your analytical, language, and mathematical capabilities.
So, taking SAT Test can help you in finding your way into a US based college of your choice, get a scholarship to pay for college and thereby net up significant monies, and even land a job down the road which could be a potential break in starting your career in the best possible manner.
SAT EXAM PATTERN 2017-18
Subject | Duration | Sub Sections | Questions | Score Range |
Reading | 65 minutes | Total 52 Multiple Choice Questions | No Sentence Completion is required. The section assesses your understanding of passages of around 500-750 words from the US and the world Literature, History/Social Studies, and Sciences. | 200-800 (combined with Writing section) |
Writing and Language | 35 minutes | Total 44 Multiple Choice Questions | This section gauges your abilities of Expression of Ideas and Standard English Conventions. You are given passages related to Careers, History/Social Studies, Humanities and Science and are asked related questions from extended prose (400-450 words). | 200-800 (combined with Reading section) |
Maths | 80 minutes Calculator Allowed section: 25 minutes. Calculator Not Allowed section: 55 minutes. | Calculator Allowed section: 30 MCQs and 8 Grid-In Questions. Calculator Not Allowed section: 15 Multiple Choice Questions and 5 In-Grid Questions. | You are required to attempt questions based on Problem-Solving and Data Analysis. There are Algebra questions and Advanced Maths questions. | 200-800 |
Essay (Optional) | 50 minutes | One 50 minutes optional essay | This section requires students to evaluate an argument through analysis of evidence while writing a short essay. | Not scored |
Total | 3 hours and 50 minutes (optional for Essay section) | 154 questions | 1600 |
SAT Syllabus
• US and the world Literature
• History/Social Studies
• Sciences
The section consists of 5 passages and each passage includes 10-11 questions. Though the length of vary, it may not exceed 750 words. The key purpose of this section is to gauge your understanding of the English language and see how you assimilate the written text. You are required to know the meanings of the difficult words used in the passage, the implied meaning of the given text, and the how each word impacts the whole passage.
You may perform well in this section if you are familiar with or possess higher levels of proficiency in the English language. Anyone who likes to read generally perform well in this section. You may consider that the questions in this section could be ambiguous and therefore you would have to be extra conscious in knowing why specific answer amongst the given choices of answers can be wrong.
For example, you could focus on punctuation errors as wrong choices can be eliminated solely based on wrong punctuation. Therefore, you must have good understanding of English language punctuation rules. Or, you can focus on knowing the meaning of all types of connecting words so that you can know how two sentences are related to each other. For example, the words like ‘Therefore’, ‘Afterwards’, ‘However’, or ‘Nevertheless’ have different meanings and usage and signal different transition between the related sentences.
Calculator Not Allowed section The first section that does not allow you to use calculator includes 15 Multiple Choice Questions and 5 In-Grid Questions. You are required to attempt all question within only 25 minutes.
Calculator Allowed section
It contains 30 MCQs and 8 Grid-In Questions and the duration of this section is 55 minutes.
Because mathematics questions require knowledge of areas such as arithmetic, geometry, algebra, statistics, and probability, you need to be analytical and have proficient understanding of mathematical formulae. We advise that you first identify which areas of interest are you the best at. The areas in which you possess proficiency, can be practiced/prepared at later stages. Because when you will focus more on the deficient areas of mathematics or follow a laser-focussed strategy then you would have enough time to turn your weaknesses into your strengths.
For this section, consistent practice is of paramount importance. You can start practicing early and maintaining a log of mistakes that you do while practicing mathematics problems to gauge which skill you lack. For example, you might be excellent at probability, but find the statistics more difficult then it will be best that you practice to read/analyse graphs before you try out algebra problems.
Also, it would be better if you also work on time-management skills, because giving more than required time to each question can turn the tables upside down. You may start the section with required enthusiasm, but eventually will stress up yourself by the time you reach the ending of the section. Following is the list of topics that you may have to practice for the Mathematics section:
• Solving linear equations and linear inequalities
• Interpreting linear functions
• Linear inequality and equation word problems
• Graphing linear equations
• Linear function word problems
• Systems of linear inequalities word problems
• Solving systems of linear equations
• Solving quadratic equations
• Interpreting nonlinear expressions
• Quadratic and exponential word problems
• Radicals and rational exponents
• Operations with rational expressions and polynomials
• Polynomial factors and graphs
• Nonlinear equation graphs
• Linear and quadratic systems
• Structure in expressions
• Isolating quantities
• Functions
• Ratios, rates, and proportions
• Percentage
• Units
• Table data
• Scatterplots
• Key features of graphs
• Linear and exponential growth
• Data inferences
• Center, spread, and shape of distributions
• Data collection and conclusions
• Volume word problems
• Right Triangle word problems
• Congruence and similarity
• Right triangle geometry
• Angles, arc lengths, and trig functions
• Circle: Equations and theorems
• Complex numbers
2017-18 International SAT Subject Test Dates & Deadlines
SAT Date | SAT Subject Tests Available | Early Registration via Representative | Registration Deadline | Deadline for Changes |
October 7, 2017 | August 23, 2017 | September 8, 2017 | September 27, 2017 | |
November 4, 2017 | September 20, 2017 | October 5, 2017 | October 25, 2017 | |
December 2, 2017 | October 18, 2017 | November 2, 2017 | November 21, 2017 | |
May 5, 2018 Register | March 21, 2018 | April 6, 2018 | April 25, 2018 | |
June 2, 2018 Register | April 18, 2018 | May 3, 2018 | May 23, 2018 |
Countries that accept SAT
SAT scores are accepted by more than 5K programs worldwide included those in:

India

Australia

Canada

New Zealand

Singapore

South Africa

Spain

Thailand

UK

USA
*Note GRE is not limited to the countries whose flags are shown above.
GRE exam is accepted for admissions at 200+ programs offered 100+ business schools in INDIA.
