Impressions from tutoring the new SAT

I tutored the new SAT for the first time for a student taking the PSAT. Generally, everyone wants to study for the old SAT because that is what they are taking now.

I thought it was easier to tutor for than the ACT, and especially the old SAT. I spent a lot of time on each problem, particularly the no calculator ones. There were problems on completing the square with the equation of a circle, rationalizing the denominator of a complex fraction, and solving an equation of several variable for a particular variable. In each case, I spent some time making sure the student could do similar problems.

This student was the type who did way better in grades than SATs. My impression was for that type of student the ACT is still better than the SAT for math. The SAT was less tricky. However, for example, the statistics problems required the student to understand what the error was in the surveying method, and extrapolate data from a sample to the population. For the buy the book type of student, the SAT problems were still tricky.