# SAT – The Undergraduate College Admissions Test by the College Board

The SAT is nearly a century old standardized test. The score on the test is one of the important admission criteria for colleges in the United States. A private, not-for-profit corporation, the College Board owns the SAT. Another organization, the ETS does the test’s development and administration.

Initially the test was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test. It is now called the SAT and has no acronym. Since, its start in 1926, the SAT has gone through a series of changes – its scoring, name and structure. The College Board claims, SAT to be a right assessment of a student’s readiness for college. It also states that the latest version of SAT (2016) tests students on Mathematics, Reading & Writing, one would have learnt in the high school.

The New/Redesigned SAT (as is often referred to nowadays) is a 3 hour test if taken without an essay (optional) and a 3 hour 50 minutes test if taken with the essay. The test taking fee as of the year 2017 is US $45 (without the essay) and US$57 (with the essay). This does not include the late fees, additional processing fees if taken outside the United States.

The total scores on the test range from 400 to 1600. The scores on the Mathematics sections range from 200 to 800 and those in the English (Reading & Writing together) range from 200 to 800. Most of the colleges in the United States have either the SAT or the ACT (competitor) score as one of their several admission criteria.

The test structure is best summarized in the below table −

 SECTION No. of Questions No. of Minutes Test Score Section Score Reading 52 65 10 – 40 200 – 800 Writing 44 35 10 – 40 Mathematics- Calculator 38 55 10 – 40 200 – 800 Mathematics- Non Calculator 20 25 (Optional) Essay 1 50 2 – 8

The cost of taking the SAT – Test Fee?

The high school juniors and seniors in the United States form the majority of the SAT test takers. There is no restriction on who can take the test. People from various test-prep companies take the test on a regular basis to understand the test.

Several studies in the past have shown that the correlation between high school grades and college freshmen grades is significant with SAT test scores factored in. Most of the colleges in the United States accept the SAT score as admission criteria.

There are number of colleges that do not need any test score at all too. There are many expenditures involved in going for these examinations, which you can find mentioned here, however the basic fee for taking the SAT is best summarized in the table below −

 Item In U.S Fee Structure SAT (without essay) $45 SAT (with essay)$57 Registration by phone $15 (additional fee) Change fee (test center or test date change)$28 (additional fee) Waitlist fee $46 (charged if admitted to the test center on test day) Additional Score reports (> free 4)$12 (per report)

Performance of test-takers:

The test-takers’ scores generally follow the normal distribution (though not perfectly). The below table summarizes the scores and their “SAT User percentile – National” equivalents.

 Total Score SAT User Percentile- National 1600 99+ 1590 99+ 1580 99+ 1570 99+ 1560 99+ 1550 99+ 1540 99+ 1530 99+ 1520 99+ 1510 99 1500 99 1490 99 1480 99 1470 99 1460 99 1450 99 1440 98 1430 98 1420 98 1410 97 1400 97 1390 97 1380 96 1370 96 1360 95 1350 94 1340 94 1330 93 1320 93 1310 92 1300 91 1290 90 1280 89 1270 88 1260 87 1250 86 1240 85 1230 84 1220 83 1210 82 1200 81 1190 80 1180 78 1170 77 1160 76 1150 74 1140 73 1130 71 1120 70 1110 69 1100 67 1090 65 1080 63 1070 61 1060 60 1050 58 1040 56 1030 54 1020 52 1010 50 1000 48 990 46 980 44 970 42 960 40 950 38 940 36 930 35 920 33 910 31 900 29

A score of 1010 is a 50 percentile (in the table). This means that 50% of the people who take the SAT score no less than 1010. Also notice that the SAT gets scored in multiples of 10 only. More information about the sectional scores and their percentile equivalents can be got by visiting here.

The average score expected by the top 10 colleges generally stand above 1400 out of 1600. Students prepare for about 2-3 months on an average to improve their scores. Many students take the test multiple times to improve their scores. Students planning well in advance to get into top colleges start their preparation in their 9th/10th grade itself when they take the PSAT (by the CollegBoard).

You may know more about PSAT reading the article on PSAT. While a lot of test-prep companies charge fees in a wide range to coach students, there are a few FREE learning resources that one can benefit from, such as the ones that are available here.

While a lot of test-prep companies charge fees in a wide range to coach students, there are a few free learning resources that one can benefit from, such as the ones that are available at https://www.fabmarks.com/sat

Published on 23-Jan-2020 10:06:15