SAT Examination

What is SAT Exam?

SAT (Pronounced as “S” “A” “T”) is an international level examination meant for admission to US universities and colleges at the undergraduate level. The main motto behind the exam is to test the readiness of a high school student for the college education. The test was introduced in the year 1926 as the Scholastic Aptitude Test. This gave birth to the myth that SAT is just an aptitude test. To tackle the misconception, the exam was renamed to SAT (simply SAT, with no full-form). With the number of test takers mounting to over a million, the exam has become one of the biggest entrance tests conducted on the planet. SAT is conducted and managed by College Board, USA. This article focuses on SAT exam for Indian students.

Also Read: Read in Detail about the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT).

Who should take SAT?

Consider two students. The first one wants to pursue engineering in India. Which entrance exams should he take? The obvious answer will be JEE Main or MUOET or VITEEE or SRMJEEE…….the list is long. Whereas the other one wants to study medicine. Your advice to him would be NEET, AIIMS or JIPMER. Now consider the same scenarios in the US. What will be your advice to these lads? Confused? Puzzled? Well, here the solution – SAT. With SAT scores, a student can apply for each and every undergraduate course available in the US whether it is engineering or medicine or fine arts or social sciences……just name it.

In the nutshell, a candidate willing to pursue higher studies in the US must appear for the SAT exam.

List of Contents

1. Important Dates.
2. Mode of Examination.
3. Medium of Examination.
4. Dates of Examination.
5. Application Fee.
6. How to Apply?
7. Test Centers in India.
8. Examination Pattern.
9. Admission Tickets.
10. Results.
11. Useful Links

SAT Exam Important Dates

Mode of Examination

The SAT Exam, surprisingly, is an OFFLINE exam i.e. candidates are supposed to report their responses through bubbling the OMR sheets.

Medium of Examination

The SAT exam speaks only one language – English. For obvious reasons, SAT’s medium is ENGLISH only.

SAT Exam Dates (India) 

The SAT exam is offered 6-times a year worldwide except for the US where it is offered 7-times a year. To be precise, SAT is conducted 6-times during an academic session. SAT exam cycle begins from Oct, ending in June of next year.

The above dates are the International Test Dates; the ones for the US are different. Follow the link https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/international for more details.

SAT Application Fees

The application fee for SAT exam (also called SAT-I) without an Essay test is US$95 (₹ 6100 approx.) whereas with an essay test, it is US$ 109 (₹ 6900 approx).

But in the case of certain courses and colleges, an additional SAT subject test (also called SAT-II) is mandatory. For example, pursuing Engineering at MIT, USA, requires Math-1 and Science test score along with the SAT-I score.

For each subject test, a base amount of $ 26 + $21 per subject is required.

Also another US$49 must be paid towards Non-U.S Regional Fees.

NOTE: Whether a candidate should give SAT-II or not depends on the particular course and college/university the candidate is applying to. Candidate is strictly advised to check the requirements of various colleges before applying for SAT subject tests. In the case of Engineering, most universities ask for SAT subject scores. 

SAT Application Form

Indian Students willing to appear for SAT exam can apply via either of the following methods:

1. Online via SAT website.
2. Through a representative.

Online Registrations

To begin registration online, visit https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat-subject-tests/register/online-registration and follow the instructions.

Steps to be followed for applying online.

1.  The page that opens up asks you to log in with your username and password. If you haven’t registered before then click on the Sign-Up button.

2. A page with numerous text fields will show up. Here the College Board is asking you about your personal Enter the corresponding details and click on the next button at the bottom of the page.

3. In the next page, candidates are asked to participate in the Student Search Service. The Student Search Service is a program that connects a candidate with 1200 colleges, providing him/her with details regarding scholarships and general info of these colleges. This also works vice versa. Therefore, the service is a beneficial feature.

4. Now the student is asked to choose the subject tests, he/she wants to take. Follow the link https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search?navid=gh-cs to see which subjects are required for the particular course and college.

5. Upload your photo and submit your application form. The photograph should be passport size & can be colored or black and white.

A candidate will not send anything to College Board, USA (SAT exam organizing authority) via post. Cash payments will not be accepted by College Board, USA.

Via Representative

Furthermore, registrations are also possible via a Representative who will mail the form. Unfortunately, in Asia, there are only two representatives and both are based in Singapore.

However, there are advising centers in India for detailed information on SAT. Follow the link https://educationusa.state.gov/find-advising-center?field_region_target_id=&field_country_target_id=306&field_center_level_value=All to find one.

SAT Test Centers In India

To find the test centers available across the country or in a particular city, follow the link https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/find-test-centers.

In India, the list of test centers is as follows:

1. Ahmadabad
2. Mumbai
3. Chennai
4. Kolkata
5. Bhopal
6. Bangalore
7. Jaipur
8. New Delhi
9. Bhubaneswar
10. Hyderabad
11. Lucknow
12. Goenka City, Haryana
13. Ooty(Ootacamund)
14. Vadodara
15. Vishakhapatnam
16. Cochin
17. Bhilwara
18. Guwahati
19. Amritsar
20. Indore
21. Pune
22. Dehradun
23. Rajkot

Some cities have multiple test centers.

SAT Examination Pattern

From January 2016 onwards, a new pattern has been designed for SAT-I, popularly known as The Redesigned SAT.

A total time of 3 hours is allotted for the SAT-I exam. SAT-I can be divided into two sections:

1. Mathematics
2. Evidence- Based Reading and Writing.

There is no negative marking from SAT 2016 onwards.

Mathematics

This section comprises of 57 questions ending up in 80 minutes of time. This section is evaluated in marks ranging from 200 to 800.

Evidence- Based Reading and Writing

The second section i.e. ‘Evidence-based Reading and Writing’ comprises of two subsections:

1. Reading and Writing & Language: The reading subsection comprises of 52 questions and a time limit of 65 minutes.

1. Writing & Language: Comprises of 44 questions with a time limit of 35 minutes.

A candidate can score in the range of 200-800 in this section.

Henceforth, a candidate can score a total of 400-1600 marks in the SAT-I exam.

NOTE: A candidate choosing for the Essay test will have an extra 50 minutes. From 2016 onwards, Essay test is optional in SAT exam.

Admission Tickets

The SAT exam admission card (Hall Ticket) is generated as soon as a candidate registers himself for the exam.

Results

Finally, every SAT exam applicant will receive an email informing him about his/her SAT exam score when they are ready. The tentative dates for 2016 exam results are:

Useful Links

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