How I Scored 760 English on my Digital SAT as an International Student | No BS & Cliche Tips

Summary

In this video, an international student shares practical tips on how they improved their English section score from 640 to 760 on the digital SAT. The video highlights key strategies like efficient time management, focusing on grammar, and optimizing test performance by skipping unnecessary details. The speaker emphasizes the importance of reviewing practice tests, learning through daily practice, and taking advantage of the SAT’s adaptive nature. They also recommend resources such as Khan Academy and CrackSAT, and advise against rote memorization of vocabulary, encouraging better comprehension through reading challenging material.

Takeaways

• 🕒 Time Management is crucial: Allocating time strategically is essential for success on the digital SAT. Prioritize easier questions like vocabulary, notes, and grammar, and save time for harder reading passages.
• 📖 Focus on grammar first: Grammar is like math, with rules and formulas to apply. Perfecting grammar can significantly boost your score, making it easier to achieve 700+ in the English section.
• 🚫 Skip unnecessary details: Skip reading difficult or irrelevant names and phrases, as they don’t contribute to understanding the passage or answering the questions.
• 📚 Use old SAT tests for practice: The speaker recommends using older SAT tests to practice grammar and reading, as the questions are similar to those on the digital SAT.
• ⏳ Speed matters: Solve vocabulary, notes, and Standard English conventions quickly (40-50 seconds per question) to allow more time for reading passages, which are often more challenging.
• 🔄 Skip and mark difficult questions: If a question takes more than 15-20 seconds to understand, mark it for review and return to it later. This helps maintain flow and manage time effectively.
• 📝 Review and reflect: After taking practice tests, spend as much time reviewing them as you did solving them. Understand why mistakes were made and how to avoid them in the future.
• 🔀 Adaptive nature of digital SAT: Use the adaptive test structure to your advantage. If you perform well on module one, you’ll get a harder module two. Retake tests to practice with different question sets.
• 🎯 Skip reading notes in notes questions: For notes questions, only read the first part of the question, as the second part is repetitive. Focus on finding the logical match in the answers.
• 📘 Improve comprehension over vocabulary: Instead of memorizing a large number of words, focus on improving comprehension skills by reading challenging books or articles.

Q & A

What was the speaker's initial score on the English section of the digital SAT?

The speaker's initial score was 640.

What is the speaker's final score on the English section of the digital SAT?

The speaker's final score was 760.

Why does the speaker believe this video will help international students?

The speaker believes the video will help international students because many are good at math but struggle with English, which may not be their first or second language.

What is the speaker’s number one tip for success on the digital SAT English section?

The number one tip is effective time management, particularly knowing how to allocate time for different types of questions.

How does the digital SAT differ from the paper SAT in terms of passages and questions?

In the digital SAT, each question has a short passage, whereas the paper SAT has longer passages with multiple questions tied to them.

What strategy does the speaker recommend for answering Standard English conventions questions?

The speaker recommends skipping to Standard English conventions (questions 14-16) and answering them first, then moving on to vocab and notes questions.

Why does the speaker suggest international students not worry too much about unknown vocabulary in passages?

The speaker suggests that unknown words are often not game-changers in understanding the deeper meaning of a passage, so students should focus on the overall context.

What is the recommended time to spend on easier questions like vocab and notes?

The speaker recommends spending around 40-50 seconds per question for vocab and notes questions, with notes questions taking as little as 15-20 seconds.

What is the speaker’s approach for dealing with names or long terms in passages?

The speaker advises reading only the first part of long names or terms, as reading the entire name won’t affect understanding or the answer.

What does the speaker say about the adaptive nature of the digital SAT?

The digital SAT is adaptive, meaning that performance in the first module determines the difficulty of the second module. A good performance in module one results in a harder module two.