GSQT – Vu Truong Giang (1,450 SAT scores) received a scholarship of 14,000 USD a year from the University of Massachussetts as one of the candidates who prepare for SAT exam to win US scholarship.

SAT and ACT are two standardized tests that serve as a common yardstick for assessing a candidate’s natural, social, and logical thinking when applying for admission to most universities in the US. Furthermore, most universities in the US will accept and award scholarships to students based on their SAT scores.

According to male students, many students think that essays can be used to replace standardized tests. That’s true, but it’s rare, because SAT isn’t everything, but it’s a very important part. The best time to prepare for SAT exam to win US scholarship is at the beginning of 11th grade and get the desired score by the end of 11th grade.

The deadline for the application period is mid 12th grade, not the end of the year like in Vietnam. Completing these exams early will give you more time and less pressure during the essay and paperwork phase, which means you should focus the last 6 months on essay writing only.

Vu Truong Giang said that, first, you need to determine how much the target score of the school you want to study is, as well as the target score that the scholarship level requires. This will help you get more specific. Some good database sites to refer to include: Niche, Princeton Review, or direct access to school information.

Scores displayed on websites usually range from 25-75 percentile (the score of the highest and lowest 25 percent). As an international student, to make sure the school has a good pass, your score should be at least 75 percentile or higher (the highest 25 percent).

• Reading: Read things you enjoy in English (eg a TV show with English subtitles, comic books, movies). This will help you stay motivated and get used to the language. When practicing or taking a real test, don’t rush to practice reading quickly, but read carefully and understand the structure and meaning of sentences and questions. If you find a sentence too difficult to understand, analyze the main subject and main verb of the sentence.
• Writing: Will focus more on grammar. This is one of the sections where you can get high marks when you understand the basic rules of English such as punctuation, parallel structure, and linking words. Writing passages are also much easier to understand than Reading, and the questions don’t require you to fully understand the passage in order to get them right. In the process of studying for problem solving, look carefully to see which rule your mistake falls into, then review and make sure you have mastered that rule.
• Math: The two main sections you see rarely taught in high school in Vietnam include Statistics and quite a few exercises related to coordinate geometry, equations on coordinate systems… While the SAT has many questions related to this section and suggestions you should pay attention to.

Each person will have their own strengths and weaknesses in the process to prepare for SAT exam to win US scholarship, so the advice of male students is to spend a lot of time to overcome the bad subjects by reviewing the theory carefully. Which you don’t really understand. Especially the Math and Writing sections because most of the questions in these two parts can be solved according to the given formulas.