The Score, Issue #1: This Frequently Overlooked "Tactic" Is The Easiest Way to Increase Your SAT or ACT Scores
Slogging through over-priced test prep materials isn't just a potential waste of time and money. It can actually hurt your scores. Instead, avoid the noise and go straight to the source.
The first thing I always tell every new SAT or ACT prep student is that I work exclusively with official exams. I make no exceptions to this rule. In my many years as an SAT test prep tutor, I have never worked with the unofficial tests published by some of the big test prep companies. Instead, I have always used the official guides, published by the College Board or ACT Organization. That's because the official guides are the only books that contains real exams.
This policy has one major drawback: it reduces the amount of available practice material. However, it's worth it, as the potential negative consequences of using unofficial practice tests greatly outweigh the benefit of additional material.
What’s the Big Deal?
Some people wonder why I make such a big deal out of sticking strictly to official practice tests. After all, the big test prep companies have been profitably publishing their "SAT" test books for many decades. If there were a serious problem with their materials, surely they would have gone out of business by now, right?
Don't count on it. Some of these companies have large marketing and advertising budgets. And these days, parents and students are busier than ever. Most people simply don't have the time or energy to do a "deep dive" into SAT prep materials. Choosing test prep materials from a well-established, well-funded company seems like a safe choice, so they buy the materials without looking into the quality beforehand.
Potential Drawbacks of Unofficial SAT Practice Materials
Using unofficial practice exams for SAT Reading and SAT Writing and Language, as opposed to the official SAT practice tests created by the College Board, can have several drawbacks:
Inaccurate representation of content and difficulty:
Unofficial practice exams may not accurately reflect the types of questions, content, and difficulty level found on the actual SAT. Official SAT practice tests, on the other hand, are created by the same organization that designs the real exam, ensuring that they closely mirror the actual test experience.
Ineffective test-taking strategies:
Unofficial practice exams might lead students to adopt test-taking strategies that are not as effective on the actual SAT. Official practice tests, in contrast, help students develop strategies that are specifically tailored to the real exam.
Misleading scoring:
Unofficial tests may use scoring systems that do not accurately reflect the scoring system used by the College Board. This can lead to confusion and incorrect interpretation of a student's performance, making it difficult to gauge progress and identify areas for improvement.
But Wait … It Gets Even Worse!
Another notable potential drawback of unofficial SAT practice tests is the presence of flawed questions. This is where the danger escalates from “merely” wasting time and money to potentially hurting your performance. Issues like flawed questions can be detrimental to a student's test preparation and confidence. Here's how:
Ambiguous wording:
Unofficial practice tests may contain questions with unclear or ambiguous wording that can lead to confusion and misinterpretation. Students might spend unnecessary time trying to decipher the intended meaning, which not only wastes valuable time but also disrupts their focus and rhythm during test preparation.
Multiple correct answers:
Some unofficial tests may present questions with multiple plausible correct answers, which can be misleading and counterproductive. Students may begin to doubt their understanding and reasoning abilities if they encounter questions where they cannot confidently identify the correct answer among multiple reasonable options.
No correct answers:
In some cases, unofficial practice tests might contain questions where none of the answer choices are correct. This can be incredibly frustrating for students who are working diligently to understand the material and improve their skills.
Erosion of confidence:
Encountering flawed questions can negatively impact a student's confidence and overall test preparation experience. Students may start to question their abilities or the effectiveness of their preparation if they consistently encounter problematic questions in their practice materials.
“Sounds scary! But can there truly be such a big difference between official and unofficial tests? Could it really be that hard to write an SAT?”
Yes. Absolutely.
I’m not exactly known as the world’s biggest College Board fan. (Most good SAT tutors aren’t.) But even I have to give the College Board credit for the great lengths (and expense) they go to ensure the quality of their exams. The contrast between the College Board and some test prep companies in terms of professionalism in the process of creating tests can be quite significant:
Expertise and qualifications:
The College Board employs highly trained and experienced psychometricians, university professors, and subject matter experts to create, review, and vet their exams. These professionals have a deep understanding of the subject matter, test-taking strategies, and the overall testing experience. On the other hand, some test prep companies may not have the same level of expertise or qualifications for their writers and reviewers, which can result in lower-quality practice tests.
Standardized test development process:
The College Board follows an extremely costly and rigorous test development process that involves multiple stages of review, analysis, and validation to ensure that each question is clear, fair, and accurately assesses the intended skills. This process helps maintain the consistency and quality of their exams. In contrast, some test prep companies may not be able to afford the expense of following the same stringent process, leading to flawed questions and inconsistencies in their practice tests.
Access to real test data:
The College Board has access to a wealth of data from past test administrations, which allows them to analyze trends, difficulties, and overall performance. This data helps them refine and improve their test questions continually. Test prep companies typically do not have access to this proprietary information, which means their practice tests may not accurately reflect the real SAT experience.
Quality control and feedback mechanisms:
The College Board has established quality control and feedback mechanisms to continuously improve their exams. They actively seek feedback from test-takers, educators, and others to identify areas for improvement. Test prep companies may not have the same level of quality control or feedback mechanisms in place, which can limit their ability to refine and enhance their practice tests.
Conclusion: Use Official Practice Tests ONLY!
When it comes to other types of SAT prep resources, such as strategy guides, much of the best material comes from sources other than the College Board. For example, Quiz Hacker's SAT Prep guides on Substack!
However, for practice tests, there really is only one choice: official SAT exams, published by the College Board. These can be downloaded from the College Board website for free, and they're also available in a book: The Official SAT Study Guide.
For most families, buying the book is the better choice. Downloading them as PDF files means that you also have to print them, as attempting to do them on the computer presents major disadvantages. Getting the book also sidesteps the headache of keeping all those test pages organized, which ends up being a lot more challenging than many people expect.
Overall, preparing for the SAT with official exams is without question the easiest thing you can do to smooth the path to higher SAT scores!