How important is vocabulary for the DSAT?
There are 3-4 Words in Context questions in each module of the DSAT. That means the total number of questions that directly pertains to vocabulary can range anywhere between 7-9 in both the modules combined. Considering that we have a total of 54 questions in both the modules, we are talking about 16-19% of the entire reading and writing section. This would easily translate into a score range of 100-150. Answer: Vocabulary is super important for the DSAT. Now when we know such a huge part of the reading and writing section is dependent on the vocabulary, how do we actually prepare for it? Do we start reading loads of books? or we start cramming words? or do we just keep on practising in the hope that it would workout on the test day? Where we understand that vocabulary is very important for the DSAT, we also need to understand that that there is no fixed way to get around it. Let’s look at all the different ways: Reading Books: No doubt this is one of the best ways to improve your vocabulary, but when we are preparing for the DSAT, we normally don’t have the time to read the amount of books that can actually improve our vocabulary. So very effective but we can’t rely only on this. Cramming from the word list: This method will obviously very painful in the fact that we will have no clue and context of the words that we are reading, and it would drain us completely. However, considering the lack of time and the need for an extensive vocab base, this can be a great supplement to reading on a daily basis. Learning 20-30 words daily can be great drill to get the exposure we need for the test and revising them on a daily basis and using flash cards can actually solidify those words in our heads so that we can confidently use them on the test. Practising from the test: This is something we have to do. If we already are working on our vocabulary we can actually benefit from this. So this is always on the cards. No matter what we do, there will always be some confusion so as to what can be done for vocabulary. We may learn 2000 words and not have a single word from it on the exam and we may learn 100 words and have 10 20 words from it on the test. Anything is possible but optimism is also needed. So my best advise is to keep working on the words through all the channels and pray that we have what we know on the test, so that we can leverage the most out of it.
How to START studying for the SAT?
1. The first step should always be to realize WHY are we actually giving the SAT. Obviously, getting admission into a good college. In order to score high on the SAT, you should know specifically what you are targeting at. 1550, 1600, 1450, whatever. Just keep it in your head always. 2. Second is to know where you currently stand. For that, solve a SAT Practice Test from Bluebook. Supposing that you scored 1250 and want 1550, this is where we can start because we know what we need. A 300 points improvement. Now how can I get this improvement? 3. Start off with the concepts. SAT is very specific when it comes to the concepts it tests. Be it English or Math, we have very straightforward guidelines on what will be tested. Make sure you go through all the concepts. Solve examples of every topic you do but don’t time yourself yet. Just focus on getting them right and work out reasons for wrongs as well. 4. Once you feel like you are going somewhere (and this normally takes a month or so depending on how much time you are giving), start timing the questions but stay topical. Your score may drop because of the time pressure. Keep practicing and start with the easy ones and steadily take on the hard ones. 5. Once you have done this, you will feel confident enough to take on the actual tests. Now this is the real game. This will be timed and won’t be topical. By this time, you should have the skill to identify question type and approach it the right way. Suppose that you score 1400 this time. 150 more to go. How to do that? 6. Your score breakup will help you reach there. Carefully scrutinize the recurring errors, and figure out why you are doing it. Then make a conscious effort of going through their correct concepts again and reconcile them with the wrong explanations you applied. 7. If you repeat this with at least 3-4 tests, you scores will increase and hopefully you will be ‘test ready.’
