Silverturtle's Guide to SAT and Admissions Success

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>Sorry for being impatient, but I think that you missed my post by accident. :D</p>

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<p>^ I apologize; I did miss it. </p>

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<p>Aside from the indenting problems, this one should work: [Silverturtle’s</a> Guide to SAT and Admissions Success.pdf](<a href=“File sharing and storage made simple”>Silverturtle's Guide to SAT and Admissions Success).</p>

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<p>The only special advice I would offer is to ensure that you properly block your time so that you have distinct preparation sessions for the SAT and ACT. Although preparation for one can certainly help on the other, there are nuances of mentality that can actually become quite significant but are difficult to verabalize. </p>

<p>Unless you have any past QAS’s, the only additional source of official tests of which I am aware are the practice test PDF’s that I linked to in the Blue Book section; there are three of them. If you have completely exhausted everything and still feel that you will benefit from additional tests (i.e., you have not plateaued), purchasing old PSAT forms from the College Board may be an inventive and effective solution.</p>

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<p>Thanks for both silverturtle; I can assume that the PSAT is at the same level of difficulty as the SAT, right? (It’s been a while since I’ve taken it lol.)</p>

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Going off of this question, would it beneficial to still take the ACT if one plans on applying to Midwestern schools where ACTs are “favored”?</p>

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<p>Although some disagree with me, I consider them to be of the same difficulty. Any differences are minor.</p>

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<p>No. Just as there is no evidence that northeastern schools favor the SAT, there is no reason to believe that midwestern colleges prefer the ACT.</p>

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<p>Quick question, one of my parents graduated from a trade school and the other dropped out of community college. Does this qualify me as a first-generation college student? I didn’t think so, but somebody told me it does.</p>

<p>Also, good job silverturtle. :)</p>

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<p>I’ve heard mixed things on this. Contact the colleges to be sure.</p>

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<p>In regards to the question of the difficulty of the PSAT compared to the SAT: other than the obvious differences in length, essay, etc., they seem to be essentially the same according to current references. However, older documentation (for example, the first edition of the blue book) suggests that the more advanced algebra questions were left out of the PSAT when the SAT format changed in 2005.</p>

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<p>Can someone clarify when to use a semicolon, a colon, and a comma?</p>

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That could take days, but I’ll describe the main purpose of each:
The semicolon is used much like you’d use a full stop in most cases, except the ideas (clauses) it separates are more intertwined or one is a continuation/explanation of the other. Use it rather than a comma to avoid run-ons - run-ons are mostly used mistakenly because the 2 sentences are very similar and are joined by a comma by the writer, which is wrong. Commas can never separate 2 sentences. Semi-colons can.
A colon is used for enumeration, explanation, listing, and some other purposes that are mostly similar anyway.
Commas are used in many many cases, such as compound sentences, listing, complex sentences, compound subjects, appositives, etc. If you get the other 2 rules you should have no problem making mistakes with commas.</p>

<p>Hope that was clear enough :)</p>

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<p>On the SAT, is there a set rule like semicolon must be used to connect two independent clauses, colon to separate an independent clause with a dependent clause, and comma to separate two dependent clauses?</p>

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<p>Recognizing comma splices (which I discuss in the guide if I recall correctly) will often allow you to eliminate answer choices on the Improving Sentences questions.</p>

<p>The rules that you described do not exist in such a broad sense.</p>

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<p>See here for more on the semicolon and colon:</p>

<p>[The</a> Semicolon](<a href=“http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/semicolon.htm]The”>http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/semicolon.htm)</p>

<p>[The</a> Colon](<a href=“http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/colon.htm]The”>http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/colon.htm)</p>

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<p>^ would it be acceptable on the SAT to use “because” instead of the semicolon:</p>

<p>My grandmother seldom goes to bed this early; she’s afraid she’ll miss out on something.</p>

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<p>Yes, you can say:</p>

<p>My grandmother seldom goes to bed this early, because she’s afraid she’ll miss out on something.</p>

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<p>Thank-you very much :D</p>

<p>For future quotes, if anyone wants to put the username of the person you are quoting, you can put

[Quote=USERNAME OF THE PERSON]
into the first bracket. If you want to be able to click the arrow and view the post, you can put

[Quote=USERNAME OF THE PERSON;#]
The # can be found by clicking the post #(top right hand corner of the post)</p>

<p>The # can be found in the link. For example, the # for this post is <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/[/url][B]1065291624[/B]-post499.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/**1065291624**-post499.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>^ But I’m not the one who said that. :)</p>

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<p>^Lol, I think he got confused.</p>

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<p>Man, you know you are losing it when you quote someone else…</p>

<p>…And you were the one who said it :'(</p>

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<p>This might be a stupid question, but what would the child of a Hispanic dad and Asian mom, let’s say, be considered? ORM, URM or “regular”?</p>