As per the recent update, the College Board has canceled both the May 2 and June 6, 2020, SAT and SAT Subject Tests and the new weekend administrations will now begin from August. This includes a new administration in September and the previously scheduled tests on August 29, October 3, November 7, and December 5.

Students will be able to register for these new administrations starting in May. Those students who had already registered for May/June can get early access to register for August, September, and October.

On the backdrop of cancellation of the test and suspension of classes due to lockdown, it is imperative that students do not lose their grip on studies and continue their preparation at home. Considering this, we have come up with this quick home prep guide that will enable students to continue studying methodically and make the most of this lockdown time:

Reading Section

• Read a lot! The reading section of SAT has five long passages, most of which are non-fiction and can fully make you anxious if you haven’t practiced reading. Make it a point that you dedicate at least one hour every day to reading.
• Skim through non-fiction articles and literature articles and try to get acquainted with their style and content. If you are Dilip Oak’s Academy student, you can practice reading passages from McGraw Hill. Others can practice from any of the following books: McGraw-Hill, Barrens, Black Book or Kallis.
• Apart from the books, here are a few sources you can refer to, to practice reading:

1. The New York Times: www.nytimes.com
2. The Economist: www.economist.com
3. The Scientific American: www.scientificamerican.com
4. Smithsonian Magazine: www.Smithsonian.mag
5. National Geographic: www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine
6. Arts & Letters Daily: www.aldaily.com
7. Time: www.time.com
8. Newsweek: www.newsweek.com
9. Historical Documents: www.uhistory.org/documents/

Writing section

• Sharpen your grammar skills. Make sure that you keep practicing basic grammar and vocabulary. Create your own flashcards and practice vocabulary, at least ten new words every day.
• Focus more on punctuation, tenses and subject verb agreement as these are the topics that need maximum practice.
• Again, refer to any of the books mentioned in the above point and keep solving.
• For essays, try to write one essay topic every week so you get used to the expected writing format. Once you are through with the writing style, practice timed writing.
• Read editorial pieces and try to grasp ways in which the writer constructs arguments and try to write likewise.

 Maths section

• Consistent practice is the best way to ace the SAT Maths section. Practice as much as you can from multiple books. Dedicate at least two hours every day to solving Maths.
• Focus equally on both with and without calculator sections.
• Stress more on equations and quadratics as these topics are tougher.
• Make it a point that you solve graphically than with a pen and paper so that you waste less time and finish solving all the questions in the given time.

For all the sections, make sure you take as many free College Board tests as possible to master them thoroughly. Take at least two full-length tests to know where you stand and improvise accordingly.