The 2016 revised SAT deviates from the old version of the test in some major ways. If you are a high school student planning your schedule for the coming years, there are things you have to start thinking about now to be ready for the new test. The SAT is among the most well-known hurdles you may have to face on your way to the college and career of your dreams. Whether you need top SAT tutors in New York, SAT tutors in Chicago, or SAT tutors in Los Angeles, working with a pro may take your studies to the next level.

Almost all standardized tests seek to gauge your ability to think critically, and the SAT is no different. To accomplish this goal, the 2016 version of the SAT is broken down into two major sections: the Evidence-Based Reading & Writing section and the Math section. There is also an optional essay section, scored separately.  

The Evidence-Based Reading & Writing section is really two tests. The reading portion of this test is probably more like the SAT that you have grown up hearing about. You are going to have to use your powers of deduction, inference, and reasoning to face questions based on provided material. 

Specifically, you will be given four individual passages, and then one paired passage to interpret. But remember, the SAT is testing your critical reasoning skills. It wants to make sure that you have the skills to excel in college where rote memorization is not enough. As a result, you aren’t going to be asked simple questions about the passages. Instead, you can expect questions demanding that you interpret complex material.  Specifically, you can expect questions asking you to identify the conceptual ideas in an indicated portion of the passage and questions asking you to making sense of the vocabulary and rhetorical strategies used.

You may see a question that gives you data in a graph, or a part of a historical document. Can you draw inferences from graphical depictions of scientific experiments? Can you ascertain the definition of a word based on its context? Maybe you are not entirely sure what the word “ascertain” means; are you able to figure it out from the context of the previous sentence?

If you question your ability to succeed on a test that features these kinds of questions, you are not alone. Doing well on such tests can be especially difficult under time pressure, and your exam includes fifty-two questions to be answered in sixty-five minutes. You not only have to develop great reading skills, but great test-taking skills as well. Varsity Tutors also offers resources like a free SAT prep book to help with your self-paced study, or you may want to consider an SAT Critical Reading tutor.

You can develop these skills best by practice! Doing practice questions, and working with tutors or teachers can help you highlight where you need to focus your efforts while studying. You can also use Varsity Tutors’ free SAT Critical Reading resources in working to bolster your reading comprehension and analysis skills. Our free SAT Critical Reading flashcards in particular can suit your study habits if you find you have a busy schedule but still want to incorporate SAT prep into your spare moments. Each of our SAT Critical Reading flashcards contains a question and the passage to which it relates; selecting an answer choice reveals the correct response as well as a full explanation of how to arrive at it. Registering for a free Learning Tools account can help you track your progress as you review. As you get more comfortable with the types of questions you will see, answering almost a question a minute on test day will seem much less frightening. In addition to the SAT Critical Reading Flashcards and SAT Critical Reading tutoring, you may also want to consider taking some of our SAT Critical Reading practice tests.

It is important to recognize that the skill sets tested on the SAT are critical to your long-term success. Developing your reading comprehension and test-taking skills now can help make your SAT Evidence-Based Reading exam easier to face, but it can also position you for academic success in the years to come.