What is Digital SAT ?
The Digital SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) is a standardized test administered by the College Board, a private, not-for-profit organization in the United States. Digital SAT is accepted in the United States of America and many other countries across the world for admissions decisions.
Why to take Digital SAT exam?
Digital SAT is a widely recognized college admission test that can help a student demonstrate their academic potential and readiness for college-level work. It can also increase a student's chances of earning scholarships and can be used as a measure of critical thinking and problem-solving skills that can be valuable in college and beyond. Taking the Digital SAT can be a key step towards achieving educational and career goals.
Overview of the Digital SAT: What to expect during the exam?
The Digital SAT consists of two sections:
Reading and Writing and Math. Students have 64 minutes for the Reading and Writing section and 70 minutes for the Math section, totaling 2 hours and 14 minutes. Each section is divided into two equal-length modules, and there is a 10-minute break between the sections. The first module has a mix of easy, medium, and hard questions, while the second module's difficulty adjusts based on the student's performance in the first.
Most questions are multiple choice, but some math questions require you to input the answer instead of choosing it. There's no penalty for guessing on any question, so if you're unsure, it's better to make a guess than leave it blank.
Why did EduRev Prepare this guide?
- We wanted to answer the question "How to Prepare for Digital SAT once and for all in the best/perfect way possible.
- Since students waste a large amount of time, effort, and money while preparing for Digital SAT just because of a lack of the right direction. We believe it will be valuable for every aspirant.
- This guide was made to teach & help students in a guided way so that they can score a perfect 1600 in Digital SAT exam with the least amount of time, effort, and money spent, by just making sure that they Study What Actually Matters for the preparation of the exam.
How this guide was made?
This guide has been made by EduRev experts by referring to the strategies & interviews of the toppers of the Digital SAT exam. The study pattern, schedule and strategy of the toppers have been studied deeply while making this document so that students get the right way towards the preparation.
Step-by-Step Preparation guide for Digital SAT
Step 0: What are the steps to take prior to starting your Digital SAT preparation?
To achieve your dream of getting into a top university, read this guide carefully and follow the steps. Start preparing for the Digital SAT in high school while balancing your studies.
- Choosing an appropriate Test Date: Choose a Digital SAT test date that gives you ample time to prepare, ideally giving yourself 2 to 3 months to study. Starting early gives you the advantage of having enough time to master the concepts and practice, helping you build confidence and a solid strategy for the test.
- Make a timetable: To get into your desired College, it is important to have a schedule and a strategy. Setting proper deadlines will ensure that you would be working better and completing the Digital SAT syllabus faster and with better retention.
- Focus on Micro-planning: Planning is as important as studying. Plan how to study that is make daily plans, set weekly targets, and make a broad vision of your entire preparation
- Stay motivated: Lastly, ask yourself why you want to go to your dream university. This will help you stay motivated.
Step 1: Take a Diagnostic test for Digital SAT
- A diagnostic Digital SAT test evaluates skills in math, reading, and writing.
- It mimics the format and difficulty of the actual Digital SAT.
- Helps assess strengths and weaknesses with a baseline score.
- Identifies areas for improvement to guide focused study efforts.
- Enables creation of personalized study plans.
- Allows tracking of progress and strategy adjustments.
- Increases chances of success on the actual Digital SAT.
- Complete honesty ensures accurate assessment and targeted improvement.
Step 2: Understanding the Syllabus and the Exam Pattern
Before starting your preparation, it is essential to understand the exam pattern and syllabus of the Digital SAT exam.
- Understanding exam patterns, and being acquainted with the syllabus of the exam will give you a better understanding of the exam. This is critical for you to plan your timelines and strategy for going to your dream university.
The table below illustrates the Digital SAT test pattern:
Syllabus for The Digital SAT exam is mentioned below:
Syllabus for Reading and Writing Section: The questions in the Reading and Writing section will fall into one of the following four categories:
Syllabus for Math Section: The questions in the Math section fall into one of the four content areas:
EduRev has compiled the gist and made a detailed guide for you to understand the Digital SAT 2024 Exam Pattern and Syllabus for Digital SAT 2024 easily.
Step 3: Section-wise preparation strategy for Digital SAT Exam
Once, you've understood your strengths & weaknesses and are done with the above Steps, it's time to start focusing on section-wise preparation. The Digital SAT exam is divided into 2 major sections as per the pattern of the exam mentioned above.
Step 3.1: How to prepare for Reading Section?
- The Digital SAT Reading Test contributes 50% to the Reading and Writing score.
- It evaluates skills in reading comprehension, critical thinking, and data interpretation.
- Answers are based only on the information in the passage and materials like graphs.
Preparation Tips
- Read editorials and current affairs regularly.
- Educate yourself on geopolitical, environmental, humanities, and science topics.
- Cultivate opinions instead of passively receiving facts.
- Use a strategic approach to reading, rather than memorizing rules.
Instead of memorizing grammar rules or formulas, success on this test requires a strategic approach to each reading passage.
Test Strategy
- Know what to expect: You will read passages from literature, history, social studies, and natural sciences, followed by multiple-choice questions. These questions will test your ability to determine word meanings, identify author intentions, find the main idea, compare passages, and even interpret data from graphs.
- Choose your own order: The questions are not arranged in terms of difficulty level but rather in chronological order. It is okay to move on to the next question if you find one challenging, and there's no need to stress about not being able to answer every single question.
- Read what you need: You don't need to read every word of the passage or fully understand the topic. You can refer back to the text as needed. To save time, alternate between the passage and questions, focusing only on the information needed to answer, without getting distracted by unnecessary details.
- Leave your opinions at the door: Unlike in English classes, the Digital SAT doesn’t require your opinions. For questions with words like infer, imply, or suggest, be careful. The answer won’t be directly stated, but there will be enough evidence in the passage to support the correct choice.
- Save main idea questions for last: Many Reading passages start with general questions about the topic or point of view. It's best not to begin with these since you haven't read the whole passage yet. Answer other questions first to better understand the passage's themes, then tackle the general ones.
Step 3.2: How to prepare for the Writing Section?
The Digital SAT Writing Test makes up 50% of the Reading and Writing score. It assesses your ability to spot and correct writing errors, skills essential for college and career success. All questions are multiple-choice, based on passages and supplementary material like tables and graphs.
To excel in this section, the two crucial factors are Grammar and Vocabulary. Digital SAT vocab is mostly limited to easier words put into harder contexts.
- Learn a little bit about the Basics of Grammar. You should be able to identify things like nouns, verbs, and adjectives pretty easily.
- Get clarity about different Homophones
- Write something daily to improve your grammar and vocabulary
- Focus on the punctuation rules
The Digital SAT Writing Test asks you— to fix mistakes in sentences and passages and revise them to make them better. Follow these three strategies to get the right answers.
- Check what’s changing in the answer choices: The word “document” remains the same in each, but what comes after it changes each time. This question, then, seems to be asking, Which words will best link the two ideas in the sentence?
- Learn from the answer choices: The way we speak is often very different from the way we write. Use the answer choices to reveal mistakes that you might not otherwise have spotted in the sentence.
- Process of Elimination: The Process of Elimination technique can be helpful in narrowing down to the correct answer once you have a clear understanding of what the question is testing. By eliminating one or two incorrect answers, the right choice becomes more noticeable.
Step 3.3: How to prepare for Math Section?
The Math Test assesses your ability to perform mathematical procedures in a flexible, accurate, efficient, and strategic manner.
To excel in this section follow these strategies:
- Start with Basics: The main math concepts tested on the Digital SAT are Algebra, Advanced math, Problem-Solving & Data Analysis and Geometry & Trigonometry– you probably have studied them since high school. You must have a clear understanding of Ratios and proportions, Percentages, Exponents, Inequalities, Coordinate Geometry and Statistics.
- Regular Practice: Regular practice is the key to success in the math section, as it will increase your speed and improve your accuracy. You should devote at least one to two hours daily to solve questions.
- Learn Shortcuts Techniques: When it comes to mathematics, learning shortcuts to solve questions and calculations becomes extremely important as you will be able to solve the questions much more quickly than before, thereby saving ample time to attempt other section.
- Practise Mock Papers: Once you are done practising enough questions from each topic, then you should attempt Digital SAT sample papers so as to know the pattern of the exam and the type of questions being asked in the examination.
- Focus on Accuracy: You must ensure that the calculations that you do in the Math section are accurate because silly mistakes can affect your scores very badly.
Step 4: Practice Practice Practice!
- Practice is the only key to ace this Exam.
- Attempt topic-wise and section-wise tests: Don’t plan to first complete all the syllabus and only then give tests. Instead, Practice more tests to know where you stand and what areas you need to work on.
- Time Management and Speed: Some questions are peculiar and would take a lot of time. It is important that you set a timer and spend only a particular amount of time on one question.
- Detailed Analysis After Tests:
- It is important to analyze your topic-wise tests for mistakes and improve accordingly.
- Understand the nature of your mistakes, spot the patterns and work on them
- Work out to eliminate silly errors.
- Edurev helps you to prepare rigorously as we provide you with topic-wise tests to help you retain better.
Step 5: Solve Full-length Practice Tests
- Simulate Test Conditions: To get a true test of your abilities, you should try to simulate the conditions of the actual test as much as possible, including timing and environment.
- Time Management: Practice managing your time effectively by taking full-length practice tests within the given time limits.
- Familiarize yourself with the Format: Full-length practice tests give you a chance to become familiar with the format and types of questions you will encounter on test day.
- Identify Weaknesses: By taking full-length practice tests, you can identify your strengths and weaknesses, and then focus on improving in the areas where you need the most work.
- Build Endurance: Taking a full-length practice test can be tiring, but it will also help you build the endurance you need for test day.
- Review Your Results: After each practice test, take the time to review your results and understand why you missed specific questions. This will help you improve for the next practice test.
- Repeat: Repeat this process several times with different practice tests to comprehensively understand the Digital SAT and improve your score.
Step 6: Be Consistent with the preparation
- You should stay away from all distractions for the time period you are preparing for the exam because if your preparation is on and off, it drains out your energy.
- Prepare all sections of the exam daily as it increases the speed and helps you maintain focus on each and every topic.
- You should keep giving at least one mock every week to keep a check on your performance.
- Practice more questions on areas where you feel you lag.
Step 7: Stay Motivated & Believe in Yourself
- Without self-belief, you will not be able to perform well in the exam even if you study a lot.
- Stay positive throughout the journey and march towards your dream.
- It can be beneficial to be psychologically ready for the exam centre setting. Some folks even go as far as to check out the testing facility ahead of time.
- In order to get accustomed to the test experience, study images of testing facilities and imagine taking the test. This can be similar to the exposure therapy that people with severe phobias use to lessen their phobias.
- You prepare yourself for the test experience before you actually take it, which lessens the stress you feel during the test.