As a high school junior, how should you prepare for the SAT?

For high school juniors, you need to find the most efficient way to prepare for the SAT as you are very busy for your school courses.

We would suggest the College Board book "the official SAT study guide" plus the StarCatcher SAT self training kit that help you to pinpoint your weaknesses and focus your effort on your weak-spots. Therefore it helps you to study smarter, not harder.

The above SAT self training kit acts like a private tutor but at a very low price ($399).

The following four items are included in the SAT Self Training Kit:

• Online word practice for over 5000 SAT words
• SAT I Video courses - 28 unit video courses that review all the subjects/concepts/skills on the SAT I
• Answer explanations for practices tests - Answer explanations for the practice tests in the book "Official SAT Study Guide"
• SAT I: Identify weakness
• Hundreds of SAT practice questions
• Essay grading by SAT essay experts
• Unlimited email assistance

The above website also provides score guarantee and need-based financial aid to the qualified students.

When to start and how to prepare and improve your PSAT?

The only one important PSAT test for you is the one you will take in your 11th grade (junior year) and your score of this test will be used to see if you are qualify for the national scholarship. So you may start to prepare PSAT in your 10th grade.

As PSAT is similar to SAT, you may start to prepare the SAT and eventually your PSAT will also beneficial from the SAT preparation.

What you may want to do is to find a tutor (who could identify your current position, make a plan for you, recommend preparation materials, and be available and willing to help you anytime you need) to help you start. The website StarCatcher SAT provides all the info you may need to prepare the SAT 1 from vocabulary lists and practices, online video courses, and one-on-one tutoring. I used it and liked it. :)

Good luck and have fun.

Vocabulary building techniques

Research shows that mastering of 20 common word roots and 30 common prefixes unlocks the meaning of 10,000 words.

People usually learn vocabulary by flash card or by word list. But the method using flashcard is so time consuming and studying vocabulary from a word list or dictionary is so boring. StarCatcher vocabulary learning method overcomes these shortcomings and makes the learning process fun and effective.To learn the three word lists, common prefixes, common roots, and common suffixes, for FREE, sign up a student account at vocabulary building techniques and start. You should be able to master these common prefix, root, and suffix and boost your vocabulary to over 10,000.

How to prepare for the SAT efficiently

There are usually three components for the SAT preparation:
1. Master the SAT words
2. Learn the content that is tested on the SAT
3. Do the SAT practice tests

The completion of the above three components normally needs a lot of effort. The students could complete them much faster if they use the right approach and the available learning tools.

Here are only four examples that are developed by NorthStar Learning Express to help its students to get the most from their time.

1. Online word practice for over 5000 SAT words
==> This SAT word practice is integrated with a learning method, helping the students to identify and isolate their problematic SAT words. It also provide tools for them to learn and practice these problematic words exclusively.

2. SAT I Video courses 28 unit video courses that review all the subjects/concepts/skills on the SAT I
==> Watching the movie to review the SAT is more fun and effective than reading books.

3. Full explanation for practices tests - Full explanation for the practice tests in the book "Official SAT Study Guide" helps the students to understand the concept/skills/strategies better.

4. SAT I: Identify weakness - Full access to its online tool "SAT I: identify weakness"
==> This tool works as the students' personal SAT trainer and tutor that guides the students to prepare the SAT thoroughly and effectively at their own pace, schedule, and location.

Luckily, the today's SAT takers could get all the above from StarCatcher SAT Self Training Kit for only $299 if they use the promotion code "PUBSUM10".

StarCatcher SAT Prep 50% OFF

Last 5 days to enjoy the 50% OFF for StarCatcher SAT 1-on-1 Prep programs. Sign up now and enjoy at NorthStar Learning Express.

Topic areas breakdown for SAT I Math

There are four topics included in SAT I Math section and they are number and operations, algebra and functions, geometry, data analysis and probability.

The questions in SAT I math section break down as: 
(20% - 25%) Numbers and Operations 
(35% - 40%) Algebra and Functions
(25% - 30%) Geometry
(10% - 15%) Data, Stats, and Probability

How to prepare for the SAT I Math? Is it difficult to get 700+ for SAT I Math section?

First it is not difficult to get 700+ for the SAT I math section.

The preparation for the SAT I math section is relatively easy as the key concept/knowledge areas that are frequently tested on the SAT I are limited to several subjects such as algebra and functions, geometry, numbers and operations, data analysis and probability. As long as the students understand the basic requirement and strategies to handle the math questions, they should be able to get a good score such as 700+.

The online video course "SAT Math" at StarCatcher SAT Video Courses has done a very good job to explores the requirement of SAT math section, review the key concepts/knowledge areas that are frequently tested on the SAT I math section, decodes the SAT math section questions, and shows the strategies to score above 750 in math section in short time.

There are several SAT prep books available to cover the SAT I math content, but none of them could comparable with the above online"SAT Math" video course.