Is it difficult to prepare for SAT's while in the IB Program, or does IB prepare you for it?

[PeriPeri]

So for the longest while I thought that because I was in IB I wouldn't have to write the SAT to apply to American universities, but as it turns out I do... :-(

I know people in the US who study like crazy for the SAT and I am worried that if I put too much emphasis on the SAT my IB marks will take a dive downwards. For those of you have written the SAT and completed the IB program - was it difficult to study for SATs or does IB somewhat prepare you for it?

Also, how can I achieve my best possible score?

xxxx

[dniviE]

Depends on what universities you are applying to. If you are applying to anything like Ivy League, I can imagine you have to study quite a lot. But, as you are Canadian I assume your English is top notch already and thus you might not have to study that much.

Why are you wanting to go to the US when there are so many great universities in Canada (that you'll surely get cheaper than US)?

[ns0195]

Well, from my experience, be very organised and keep a lot of time aside for SAT because although most of the knowledge is common to IB and SAT, the questions themselves are harder in SAT due to their formatting. I had to take the SAT 3 times before I was happy with the scores and each time it was due to lack of preparation that I didn't get the score taht I wanted. Also, it depends on the subjects you have taken and the amount of time you spend doing work related to those subjects.

[flinquinnster]

Yeah, I'm considering trying to take SATs as well and I'm sort of hoping for the best in terms of study. I'm thinking of taking Maths II and either Physics or Latin. Maths should be a breeze after IB Maths HL, but not so sure about Physics and Latin. There is mostly overlap in the content covered, but there are points of difference I have to study. I'm just hoping that IB and SAT revision will mutually reinforce themselves, though I should probably do some SAT practice questions as well. Ah, so much to do, so little time!

[Arrowhead]

SATs are easy as pie. Don't worry about it too much at all! I personally found the Maths section a little hard the first time round, but when I did the SATs the second time, I was very happy with my result. The subject tests in History and English were a bit of a joke as well.

[onur basman]

I do not believe that IB would do too much help for your SATs

math is good you can get a significantly high score ( keep in mind that the question types are different from IB )

the writing part is also easy your English lessons will help with the essay which is 30% of ypur score.

the hardest part is the vocabulary in the critical reading section ( these are words we never use while speaking )

I advise you to get some flashcards and learn as much as you can, also you can subscribe to the Question of the day at http://collegeboard.org

good luck

Edited February 23, 2013 by onur basman

[Forester]

You should set aside at least 1 month to prepare for SATs if you study by yourself.

[UAEface]

You should study for it so that you can get a feel for the questions...from what I've heard, the maths doesn't get harder than 9th grade maths, but I've never been in the American system so I don't know.

If you take SL or HL maths though, it should be fine.

The writing and reading questions depend on your grammar and reading comprehension skills.

The essay...they're not looking for much to be honest. Just a basic structure arguing a point. Doesn't even have to be written too well.

[cgreico]

Just keep working through practice tests. I've had some skills I learned in Math SL help me out, but that was really it. I had to brush up on some grammar tricks though. I would invest in one of the , "SAT tips and tricks" books. Just from working through one, my score improved 200 points!

If you can get into the 1850-2100 range though, you will be solid for most universities. (in the US)

[Matsu]

I think my IB cramming skills really helped out because I think the SAT isn't really that hard in terms of topics. Rather, it's a test to see how efficient and perceptive you can be under the pressure of time. Other than that, IB did diddly squat minus some overlapping topics. For the SAT IIs, you'll need to do some advanced reading (if you're doing Physics and Math 2) as well as some SAT-specific studying. Just do practice tests, don't waste any time and try not to bleed points due to trickily worded questions/choices. You should be fine. The best thing about the SATs vs IB is that typically, for the SAT (except the essay), the answers are always right in front of your face.

[cricketcrazynerd]

One of my year 12 friends just got her practise SAT score back of 2080/2400...she did a mini-course to prepare for it first and had a read through the vocab list a couple of times and gave the test. IB Maths prepares you to excel in the maths section, but the english and grammar parts can apparently be a bit difficult.

[susanne]

from the test paper I've seen in dymocks for SAT, I was literally laughing at some of the question; no, do not be stressed about it, IB will give you loads of background knowledge and skills you needed for SAT;

but it's advisable to look at some strategies for SAT, and yes, you will have time to revise unless you are doing one of the following

1) have a bedtime curfew at 10:00pm

2) runs way too many clubs

[flinquinnster]

Having just done the SAT today, I can say that although it seems a joke compared to IB, it can be surprisingly difficult. It was mainly the timing and format! At 8.00, I cannot write a cogent 25-minute essay on a random and slightly stupid prompt. Likewise, I haven't done multiple-choice reading and grammar/writing questions since... ages! So whilst IB will prepare you in terms of content, there are still certain skills and tricks that make getting high accuracy in SAT a bit more difficult - or at least a very different thing to IB.