Taking the SAT^® is mandatory if you want to get into a good university. And with thousands of students vying for highly coveted spots at their top-choice universities, getting a good score on the SAT^® is vital. That's why thousands of ambitious students turn to Kranse Institute for help in prepping for this all-important exam.

SAT^® Prep Tip #1: Use College Board SAT^® Questions

Try to use official College Board material whenever possible. Since the College Board actually created the SAT^®, you should go straight to them, the source, rather than any prep company like Princeton or Khan. Why would you go to a secondary source rather than the actually creators of the test?

SAT^® Prep Tip #2: Don't Use College Board Strategies

Though this may seem like it contradicts SAT^® Prep Tip #1, it really doesn't. You want to prep using the QUESTIONS from the College Board, you want to avoid using the strategies that the College Board has created with Kahn Academy. All that collaboration does is teach you what you already learned in high school -- it doesn't teach you strategies and shortcuts the way Kranse Institute does. Get the questions from the College Board, but get your prep from Kranse Institute.

SAT^® Prep Tip #3: Substitute Abstracts with Tangibles (S.A.T.)

This SAT^® Math strategy (and appropriate acronym) that we teach at Kranse Institute basically states this: substitute abstracts with tangibles to avoid doing unnecessary algebra on many algebra problems. How does this work? Just plug in a tangible number (such as 4) for an abstract variable (such as x). Then, figure out which answer matches our tangible answer. When you take the Kranse Institute SAT^® prep, you'll think in terms of tangible numbers rather than abstract algebra, and greatly improve your SAT^® math scores!

SAT^® Prep Tip #4: Substitute Answers in the Problem (S.A.P.)

This is another SAT^® Math strategy that you learn when you take Kranse Institute's SAT^® prep. Its acronym is “S.A.P.”and is the sister strategy to S.A.T. The multiple choice nature of the SAT^® is an advantage to test-takers. Plug in the answer choices into the original problem, so you substitute answers in the problem. So when do you use S.A.T. and when to use S.A.P? Use Substitute Abstracts with Tangibles (S.A.T.) when there are variables in the question and variables in the answers, and use Substitute Answers in the Problem (S.A.P.) when there are variables in the question and numbers in the answers.

If the answers are variables, create your own number to plug in (Substitute Abstracts with Tangibles). If the answers are numbers, use those numbers given to you to plug in (Substitute Answers in the Problem). This is a vital strategy that we teach to our students who take the Kranse Institute SAT^® prep course. We also teach the variety of different problems these SAT^® Math strategies are applicable to (more than just algebra).

SAT^® Prep Tip #5: Look Out For Extreme Language

An important SAT^® Reading strategy that will skyrocket your score is to look out for extreme language. Meaning, you shouldn't choose answers that have extreme words, or use words that are too rigid or absolute.

On the SAT^® Reading section, take everything at face value. If an answer choice states that “all the rose are red,” then that literally means that every single rose on the planet is that exact color. So on the SAT^®, extreme statements like this must be taken literally. Is every single rose on the planet this exact color? No.

If you see any of the above words or phrases in an SAT^® Reading answer choice, then you can be certain that the answer choice is incorrect.

SAT^® Prep Tip #6: Watch Out For 99% Wrong Words

There are certain words and phrases that are always wrong on the SAT^® Writing section, just like there are certain words and phrases that are always wrong on the SAT^® Reading section (see SAT^® Prep Tip #5 above), but there are a few instances in which these words and phrases are acceptable. So you can be 90-99% certain that these words or phrases are wrong on the SAT^®, but not 100%. Check out these words or phrases in the table below.

"Being" is the most obvious 99% wrong word on the SAT^® Writing section, since it often create passive voice. You need to get rid of the passive voice and create sentences written with the active voice, meaning you have to eliminate “being.” Also, phrases such as “is the reason why” create redundancy. The SAT^® Writing section abhors this type of excessive language, and prefers to write sentences in the most concise way possible.

SAT^® Prep Tip #7: Sign Up and Study for the SAT^® Essay

You may think that the essay is optional on the New SAT^®, but that is not exactly true. Most competitive colleges require the “SAT^® with Essay” score, so we at Kranse Institute highly encourage all students who take our prep course to take the “SAT^® with Essay.”

The SAT^® Essay requires students to analyze an argumentative passage, and SAT^® Essay graders will give you three scores out of 8 for Writing, Reading, and Analysis. These scores don't affect your SAT^® score out of 1600 points, but will still show up on your score report under your SAT^® Essay grade.

Here's how the SAT^® Essay is scored: The College Board hires high school English teachers to grade SAT^® Essays, giving only 2-3 minutes to each essay. With so little time to grade your SAT^® Essay, they need easy ways to know why your essay deserves a high score. There are ways you can make your essay stand out: write a lengthy essay and use big vocabulary words. On the SAT^® Essay, both length and vocabulary are extremely important.

You'll have four blank pages to write your SAT^® Essay on. With 50 minutes to fill up as much of these pages as possible, you should aim to fill up all four pages, but if you can fill at least three and half, then that's usually enough for a perfect SAT^® Essay score. 

Then, try to use big vocabulary words. Within 7 seconds, the SAT^® Essay grader will make a first impression about what grade they are going give your SAT^® Essay, so use those big words early on in your essay. Using big vocabulary words in your essay will improve all of your SAT^® Essay subscores. Here’s how it helps each:

• (1) SAT^® Essay Writing Subscore – vocab will showcase a command of language
• (2) SAT^® Essay Reading Subscore – vocab will allow for better expression of ideas
• (C) (3) SAT^® Essay Analysis Subscore – vocab will create more advanced insights

Of course, you need to use big vocabulary words correctly in your SAT^® Essay. Using them incorrectly will hurt your SAT^® Essay score, which is why we have students in our Kranse Institute SAT^® prep focus on hundreds of vocabulary words during prep. Not only do these vocabulary words help on the SAT^® Reading, but it will also help them with the SAT^® Essay when they need to use big vocabulary words to raise their score.

Don’t have a strong vocabulary? That's not a problem with Kranse Institute. We give you big vocabulary words to learn and use.

SAT^® Prep Tip #8: Use an SAT^® Essay Template

Not many programs give students a writing template the way Kranse Institute does. This is enormously helpful for students not confident in their own writing skills, or who might think that it would be really difficult to write a 4-page essay with big vocabulary words.  In our Kranse Institute SAT^® prep course, we give students an SAT^® Essay template that is basically a fill-in-the-blank outline for each paragraph that you need to write the SAT^® Essay.

Once you memorize the Kranse Institute SAT^® Essay template, you have a high chance of getting a perfect score on the SAT^® Essay! But how does this one-size-fits-all template work for every SAT^® Essay if the passage you have to analyze is different on every administration of the SAT^® exam? The passage that you have to analyze will always be an argumentative one. That's the key. And there are only so many argumentative techniques that an writer can use in order to debate their argument. The most common ones are in this template.

Here's the introduction template for the SAT^® Essay:

In [Article Title], [Author Name] synthesizes a compelling dissertation that [Passage’s Key Point]. Although some detractors may believe [What Detractors Believe], the arguments set forth in the article dismiss such romantic critics as excessively dogmatic in their provincial ideology. One of the broader notions presented in the essay is that [Major Idea in Article]. [Author’s Last Name] deftly delivers a cogent argument to sway his/her readers by [3 CREW SAID Tools].

Let’s quickly summarize what the above introduction is saying. The first sentence is your thesis — the author makes a strong argument. The second sentence is shooting down the opposition — the naysayers are too narrow-minded. The third sentence is a generality — bring up some major point from the passage. Finally, you end with the plan of procedure — tell the reader what you will be discussing in the next three body paragraphs. The “CREW SAID Tools” are common argumentative techniques that every SAT^® Essay passage writer uses to strengthen their argument that we teach students in our Kranse Institute SAT^® prep.

We hope you've enjoyed reading about these 10 Free SAT^® Prep Tips that will help you improve your SAT^® score by at least 100 points! We have many more techniques that we present when you sign up for the Kranse Institute SAT^® online prep course. We walk you through all of the techniques to make sure you have all the tools you need to ace the SAT^® and possibly become one of the many Kranse students who gets a perfect score on the SAT^®!