📑 Three weeks until the March SAT! 📑
Hi Students and Families!
Welcome to this week's Mr. John's Test Prep Newsletter, your dose of motivation, tips, and important updates to help you ace the SAT!
🎉 Student Spotlight: Celebrating Wins! 🎉
This week, we're shouting out these amazing students for their hard work and dedication:
Camper: She showed incredible improvement in both Math and English last week, with a 1500 total score on an official Bluebook practice test! Focusing on the PROVE-IT elimination method is making a real difference. AND, she competed in a big sailing regatta this weekend! Awesome job!
I'm proud of all our students' progress, big and small. Remember, every bit of effort gets you closer to your goal! While these are great wins, the real SAT is always tougher. Emotions run high on test day, and the test difficulty and the curve are unpredictable.
To that end, we must stay focused on the process and never become complacent.
"We don't practice until we get it right; we practice until we can't get it wrong!"
❓ Question of the Week ❓
This week's question comes from the College Board Educator's Question Bank and is a "hard" level vocabulary question for the SAT. Moms and dads, how well can you do?
[Mr. Brooke] had travelled in his younger years, and was held in this part of the country to have contracted a too rambling habit of mind. Mr. Brooke’s conclusions were as difficult to predict as the weather.
As used in the text, what does the word “contracted” most nearly mean?
A. Restricted
B. Described
C. Developed
D. Settled
Answer and Explanation
Explanation: Choice C is the best answer because as used in the text, “contracted” most nearly means developed. The text explains that Mr. Brooke has a “too rambling habit of mind,” which the text likens to a disease, saying he is thought to have contracted it. To contract a disease means to acquire or develop a disease. In other words, the text indicates that Mr. Brooke is believed to have acquired, or developed, the habit of mind described in the text.📅 Upcoming SAT Dates & Deadlines 📅
| Test Date | Registration Deadline | Late Registration Deadline* |
|---|---|---|
| March 8, 2025 | February 21, 2025 | February 25, 2025 |
| May 3, 2025 | April 18, 2025 | April 22, 2025 |
| June 7, 2025 | May 22, 2025 | May 27, 2025 |
College Board SAT Registration Page
The March SAT is only 3 weeks away and the deadline for registration is this Friday the 21st. Don't delay if you haven't registered yet.
📰 SAT News & Updates 📰
We've had BIG news in the SAT tutoring world recently. The College Board has officially retired the digital SAT BlueBook practice tests one, two, and three. They have been replaced with four new official practice tests: seven, eight, nine, and ten.
These new practice tests contain bits and pieces from the retired practice tests but mostly contain all new content and questions. We're excited to see these new tests published by the College Board, and we hope they will better represent the difficulty of the real SAT.
https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/practice/practice-tests/paper
💡 Tip of the Week 💡
This week's tip focuses on time-saving tips for Rhetorical Synthesis questions.
Example: Sometimes, we can save time by focusing on the prompt and eliminating answer choices. If we can't solve the problem quickly, we can always go back and read the text for more information.
- Pay attention to the prompt:
The student wants to emphasize the location of the first synchrotron built to provide synchrotron light. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal? - Eliminate answers based on relevance to the prompt:
A. Tantalus, the first synchrotron created for the purpose of providing synchrotron light, was built in 1968. (says nothing about location)
B. Circular particle accelerators known as synchrotrons radiate energy in the form of light, and this light is an ideal tool for researchers investigating the structure of matter. (says nothing about location)
C. The first synchrotron created for the purpose of providing synchrotron light, Tantalus, was housed near the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
D. Synchrotron light is among the brightest light ever produced, making it an ideal tool for researchers investigating the structure of matter. (says nothing about location) - Which answer choice is the only one that speaks to the location?
Yep, you got it: C. You didn't even need to read the bullet points from the passage. Yet, here they are for reference:
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Circular particle accelerators known as synchrotrons radiate energy in the form of light.
- Synchrotron light is among the brightest light ever produced.
- Synchrotron light is an ideal tool for researchers investigating the structure of matter.
- The first synchrotron created for the purpose of providing synchrotron light was built in 1968.
- It was called Tantalus and was housed near the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Time-saving tips like this can go a long way toward finishing the test in time, especially on the second module.
🚀 Know someone who wants to take his/her SAT prep to the next level? 🚀
Mr. John offers personalized SAT tutoring programs designed to meet your specific needs and help you achieve your target score. Refer a friend, and if they sign up, I'll give you a free session!
Schedule a free consultation today!
Stay motivated and keep pushing forward! We're here to support you every step of the way.
Here's to a favorable curve,
Mr. John
