The SAT Reasoning Test (formerly the Scholastic Aptitude Test or Scholastic Assessment Test) is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a not-for-profit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still administers the exam. The test is intended to assess a student’s readiness for college.

The current SAT Reasoning Test, introduced in 2005, takes three hours and forty-five minutes to finish, and costs $49 ($75 International), excluding late fees. Possible scores range from 600 to 2400, combining test results from three 800-point sections (Mathematics, Critical Reading, and Writing).

SAT consists of three major sections: Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing. Each section receives a score on the scale of 200–800. All scores are multiples of 10. Total scores are calculated by adding up scores of the three sections. Each major section is divided into three parts. There are 10 sub-sections, including an additional 25-minute experimental or “equating” section that may be in any of the three major sections. The experimental section is used to normalize questions for future administrations of the SAT and does not count toward the final score. The test contains 3 hours and 45 minutes of actual timed sections, although most administrations, including orientation, distribution of materials, completion of biographical sections, and eleven minutes of timed breaks, run about four and a half hours long. The questions range from easy, medium, and hard depending on the scoring from the experimental sections. Easier questions typically appear closer to the beginning of the section while harder questions are towards the end in certain sections.

You can register for the SAT examinations through: http://sat.collegeboard.org/register

Reference Materials

411 SAT Essay Prompts and Writing Questions

An Admission essay, College essay, Application essay or Personal statement is written by a prospective student as part of some college and university admissions processes. The admissions essay is a vehicle by which colleges and universities learn more about applicants.

The importance admission counselors place on admissions essays varies greatly. Some schools place little or no importance on the essay and others place the greatest amount of importance on the essay. Generally, liberal arts colleges place a greater importance on the essay than major universities but this is not always the case.

Some higher education professionals believe the admissions essay is the most important part of an admission application.

Most schools choose one or more topics for applicants to write on, but there are some schools that have an “open topic” policy in place, meaning that the applicant can write on any subject they choose. Common topics include career aspirations, academic strengths and weaknesses, past experiences, and reasons for applying to a particular school.

The Common Application requires a general admissions essay, in addition to any supplemental admissions essays required by member institutions. The Common Application offers students six admissions essay prompts from which to choose.

Reference Materials

50 Best College Application Essays (Harvard University)