This course expands on certain test concepts and ideas that I mention throughout my SAT test walk-through videos. There are lectures that highlight my thoughts on certain topics, themes, and strategies for the SAT. Due to its tremendous popularity, this course course has become the best-known one-stop-shop for all things SAT strategy related on the web.
This course is nearly six hours long, so don't plan to watch it all in one sitting! It's fine to break it up across multiple viewing sessions.
Note: This resource is only available as part of our membership plans and free trial:
Resource Contents
SAT - General Thoughts
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- The secret of the SAT (6:03)
- Prep Schedule - Quality vs. Quantity (4:00)
- How to use the test walk-through videos on this site (4:12)
- DSAT - Don't burn through the practice tests (3:10)
- DSAT - Why are the questions I got different than the ones my friend got? (1:17)
- DSAT - Why was the test harder than I expected? Why was the test easier? (3:13)
- The one-and-done test taker myth (5:42)
- How many times should I take the test? (4:42)
- How am I going to improve on this test? (3:28)
- What should I work on and practice? (2:14)
- Mental horsepower - marathon or sprint? (5:18)
- Should I take a prep break? (4:39)
- Bring a watch! Timer tips and advice from personal experience (4:13)
- Is the ACT easier than the SAT? (3:45)
- Why switching tests is almost always a bad idea (3:22)
- When do you know you're ready to take the test? (2:01)
- What's better - a hard test or an easy test? (7:33)
- My initial, rather uninformed and unscripted thoughts on the June 2018 results (7/12/2018) (13:34)
- Thoughts on the May 2019 Curve (8:01)
- What should I do the morning of the test? (6:41)
- How to avoid making "dumb" mistakes? (6:59)
- How often should I take practice tests, and how? (4:59)
- Is it fair that someone I know got a 1600 without studying? (4:56)
- Why do I always make things up when I take this test? (8:22)
- How should I feel when I get a question wrong? (3:13)
- Be flexible (3:18)
- What should I do if my score plateaus? (4:03)
- Don't burn through practice tests (2:18)
- Why do difficult problems paralyze us? (5:20)
- Do not change your strategy and process the day of the real test (4:02)
- Is there a bubbling strategy that will increase my score? (10:06)
- What NOT to do the week before the test (4:14)
- Should I take a practice test the day before the real thing? (2:47)
- The night before the test - what to do to prevent a mini-disaster (0:22)
Reading - An Overview
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- DSAT - Basic Reading Question Strategy (7:49)
- DSAT - Chart Question Strategy (6:31)
- DSAT - Main Idea Question Strategy (8:18)
- DSAT - Main Purpose Question Strategy (8:08)
- DSAT - Vocabulary Question Strategy (5:17)
- DSAT - "Which finding, if true, would most directly support" Question Strategy (9:31)
- DSAT - Overall Structure Question Strategy (6:24)
- DSAT - Text 1 Text 2 Question Strategy (10:57)
- DSAT - "Which finding, if true, would most directly undermine" Question Strategy (10:51)
- DSAT - Which Quotation Question Strategy (6:39)
- Resources
- Reading - The Basics (3:07)
- Types of Reading Questions (11:08)
- General Reading Strategy (7:19)
- Literature Strategy (5:59)
- History Strategy (8:18)
- Science & Social Science Strategy (4:26)
- Double Passage Strategy (5:48)
- How do I do paired quote questions? (17:55)
Reading Strategy - My Tips and Strategies
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- Main Idea Questions - Big Picture Questions (3:28)
- Comprehension - Translate the Passage (4:31)
- How long should it take to read the passage? (1:23)
- Time management strategy on the reading (8:03)
- If ONE word is wrong, the entire answer choice is wrong (7:23)
- Words that make me uncomfortable (they usually signal an incorrect answer) (8:37)
- How to eliminate answer choices (6:18)
- Two reactions to an answer choice - Wrong and Maybe (2:58)
- Don't get rid of A right off the bat (4:31)
- Don't settle for a terrible answer (3:22)
- Why changing your answer is usually a bad idea (2:39)
- Is the test maker's job to make wrong answers look right and right answers look wrong? (4:02)
- Don't pick the "smart" answer, and don't ignore the answer you don't understand (4:09)
- Logical reversals - But, Yet, However - What to do when one comes up (2:45)
- For smart people - Just because you can make an answer work does not mean it is the correct answer (2:57)
- Be ok not understanding something (3:47)
- Be aware of stand-alone quote questions (1:58)
- Read around quotes for context (3:31)
- Science reading passages usually have another scientist's perspective at the end (2:02)
- How do I answer paragraph purpose/primarily serves to questions? (10:24)
- How do I answer sentence purpose/primarily serves to questions? (10:34)
Writing and Language - An Overview
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Math - An Overview
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- DSAT - Desmos is great, but it won't save you if you don't know math (3:59)
- Have a game plan to tackle math problems (3:14)
- How should I avoid "dumb" mistakes in math? (4:27)
- Calculators are the tools of the devil! (3:13)
- How should I start a math problem when I don't know where to begin? (1:36)
- If a problem looks hard, chances are it won't be (4:59)
- Pay attention when a problem asks you to solve for something "weird" (3:58)
- Convert square roots into fractional exponents (1:14)
- If I get an answer in math that is close to but not exactly the same as an answer choice, is that ok? (2:34)
Bloopers!
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