스탠포드대 1학년 소피아 리양 경험담

소피아 리양은 지난해 쿠퍼티노의 몬테비스타 고등학교를 졸업하고 현재 스탠포드 대학에서 1학년에 재학 중이다. 이양은 개정되기 전 SAT I 시험에서 1,600점 만점, SAT II 작문 시험에서 800점 만점 등 높은 성적을 거둬 하버드, 스탠포드 등 명문대학에 합격됐다. 이양은 SAT 시험을 준비하는 후배 학생들을 위해 자신의 시험 준비 경험을 살려 고득점 비결을 다음과 같이 소개했다. 실제로 대입을 준비하는 2세 학생들이 읽을 수 있도록 이양이 쓴 영문을 그대로 게재한다.

소피아 리양이 쓴 영어 원문

Tips: Scoring High on the SAT I Sophia Lee

△Read before as much as possible.

Many often forget that studying for the SAT I begins long before you ever take a look at a diagnostic exam. The preparation for the verbal section starts with the first serious articles and pages of literature that you read. It is crucial in your success as a test-taker of this material to be reading newspapers, editorials, and classics (among other literature) as early as possible to create a foundation of literacy.

△Take a diagnostic.

Before you crack a book and begin learning the techniques of taking this exam, take a diagnostic cold turkey to see where you stand. This is an easy, even if slightly brutal, way of pinpointing both your strengths and weaknesses.

△Take an SAT prep class.

The materials and arrangement of the techniques taught in an SAT prep course often serve as an accurate and effective guiding light as you begin your preparation for this exam.

△Learn your vocabulary.

This is often both the most difficult and easiest part of studying for the SAT. It involves only memorization, but also demands your tenacity and discipline. You should learn and review your vocabulary words every day - any less than that, and it becomes very difficult to fall behind and learning your vocabulary becomes a struggle as you increase the number of words to your collection.

△Learn to read actively and effectively.

Reading actively means picking up your pencil and making the page your own, marking the important parts of the passage and training yourself to skim over the rest. The main idea is to understand the passage enough to answer the questions correctly, not memorize the details.

△Read editorials and create your own questions.

One exercise that has proved helpful is to take an article from a newspaper or magazine, and treat it as if it were a critical reading passage. Make up questions for the passage, and proceed to determine how they would be answered. It helps to see the exam from both the test-taker’s and the test-maker’s point of view.

△Review the basic rules of grammar.

Many school curricula do not include extensive lessons on grammar. It is useful to find a grammar book on your own and review the basic rules of grammar, especially if your first language is not English.

△Research and plan for the essay beforehand.

Find out details about the essay portion of the exam, and varying techniques for how to most effectively make use of the limited time that you are given. Prepare in depth beforehand so that you go into the essay with a vague idea of what and how you will write, even before you receive the prompt.

△Review the basic mathematical rules, going back to previous years of math.

Much of the material covered on the math sections of the SAT are concepts that many students learn long before they actually take the exam. It is important that you go back and refresh your memory of these concepts vaguely remembered - this way, you will not make a careless error on an easy problem due to a lack of review.

△Separate into categories of easy to difficult.

This way, you can focus and pinpoint the time that you spend on different levels of problems - if you were to simply tackle the test without a methodical plan, there is simply too much material to cover effectively and efficiently.

△Continue taking diagnostics.

As you learn more vocabulary and have more techniques under your belt, you must keep honing your tools and keep them from rusting by testing yourself on a regular basis. This is also a great way to keep the entire test in mind, instead of being bogged down by any one section.

△Find additional practice problem sets and books.

There is a vast quantity of practice sets that are available - make use of these and consistently challenge yourself with new material.

△Practice, practice, practice!

After all is said and done, in the end there is no way around the tedious and time-proven method of practice, practice, and even more practice.