Award-Winning SAT Test Prep in Portland, OR

If you're a student at an institution such as Catlin Gabel School or Lake Oswego Senior High School, Varsity Tutors would be happy to connect you to the best Portland SAT preparation opportunities. The SAT is a standardized exam accepted by all United States colleges and universities. Many students take this exam for the first time during junior year of high school. This comprehensive exam measures a student's readiness for college and is often the first obstacle faced when preparing to begin the college entrance process. As a critical step in your academic journey, you'll want to do everything you can to prepare to put your best foot forward to impress an admissions office. The right Portland SAT prep class or instructor can be an invaluable tool as you work towards your academic goals.

What can Portland SAT prep cover?

The SAT consists of three required sections and an optional Essay section. If you choose to take all four sections, your exam will last for three hours and 50 minutes. Scores on the SAT are based on your number of correct answers and there is no penalty for guessing. The three required sections assess your knowledge in Reading, Writing and Language, and Math. Each section receives a separate sub-score which can provide insight into your particular strengths. During the exam, you will get one 10-minute break and one 5-minute break. Let's take a closer look at each individual section, starting with the optional essay.

When you elect to take the Essay portion of the SAT, you will have 50 minutes to showcase your ability to understand an argument, present it, and support it with sound evidence. You will need to read a passage and consider the author's use of examples to support his or her claims, the reasoning used to develop the ideas, and how the author used the word choice to add power to the ideas in the passage. Your essay should not give your own viewpoint on the argument. This portion of the test evaluates your ability to determine effective usage of text evidence, support and develop claims with examples from the passage, and produce a focused, organized essay response using standard English conventions. A prep course can help you practice developing your ideas clearly.

The next section we'll talk about is the Math assessment, which is actually split into two separate parts. The two sections combined contain 58 questions which you must finish within 80 minutes. You may only use your calculator for one portion of the math assessment. The content of the math assessment can include skills learned from algebra, problem-solving, or data analysis. A prep course can help you practice carrying out mathematical procedures accurately and efficiently so you can move through this portion of the exam with confidence. You'll need to be able to make connections between properties of linear equations, their graphs, and the information that they are representing. You will also need to be able to analyze real-world problems and represent these problems mathematically in order to come to a solution.

The Reading section assesses your reading comprehension and reasoning skills. This portion of the SAT consists of 52 questions which you must finish within 65 minutes. Passages in the section can come from contemporary world literature, United States founding documents, a social science selection related to sociology or psychology, or even a science passage examining concepts found in physics or biology. Using these passages, you must find evidence to support an answer or provide the basis for a logical conclusion. You will need to be able to utilize context clues to understand a word or phrase meaning and you must be able to draw conclusions from the passages. If any of these skills are one of your weaknesses, a prep course can help you improve.

The final section is the SAT Writing and Language section. This section is 35 minutes long and contains 44 questions. You will not need to have any prior knowledge of the information in the passages in this part of the test to do well as the answers come directly from the passages. This portion of the SAT measures your grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and ability to understand words through context. You will want to demonstrate your ability to improve a passage with style, syntax, or tone. You'll be asked to answer questions about the passage's impact using organization and be able to make structural and word choice changes to improve clarity. A prep course can help you review standard English conventions such as parallel construction, subject-verb agreement, verb tense, punctuation usage, and proper sentence structure.

Any and all of these skills can be improved when you work with an expert SAT instructor.

What are the advantages of the different types of Portland SAT prep?

Varsity Tutors is happy to be able to connect you to two exceptional prep options: an interactive online prep course or private SAT instruction.

If you enjoy the structure and social setting of a traditional classroom, we can sign you up for an online Portland SAT prep course. These courses give you the opportunity to join an expert instructor and your peers in a collaborative online platform. You'll be able to engage in group discussions, participate in collaborative activities, and speak to your teacher as if he or she is sitting in the room with you. These types of collaborative lessons have been shown to help a student understand content more fully.

If you prefer a more one-on-one approach to learning, we can connect you to an excellent Portland SAT tutor to suit your particular academic and scheduling needs. This gives you the opportunity for customized lesson plans based on your exact areas of strength and weakness. You'll be able to move through lessons at your own pace and adjust study sessions to reflect your personal progress.

Some students may wish to take advantage of both options, which can give you the best of both worlds.

How do I get started with Portland SAT prep?

All you need to do to get started with a Portland SAT prep class or private SAT instructor is call and speak with one of our directors. Once you choose between a two-week course, a four-week course, or private instruction, we can get you started with exceptional SAT prep immediately. If you're ready to get started, call Varsity Tutors today and get connected with the best Portland SAT prep options available.