S-A-T—three letters that strike fear in the hearts of teens everywhere. But it doesn't have to be that way! Here's how to take control and make your test day a success.

The SAT is your friend. The SAT is your friend. Yes, we said it twice because we thought you wouldn't believe us.

The SAT may be a three-hour-and-45minute-long testing frenzy; but it's predictable. And that's good news for you. Understanding the format and organization of the test can work to your advantage and help you gain points.

Knowledge Is Power.
The key challenge on any standardized test is time. So building speed on the SAT without sacrifcing accuracy is crucial. How do you do it? Two ways: practice and mastering a few time-saving strategies.

We'll take the SAT apart, teach you a few of Kaplan's exclusive strategies, and provide you with practice opportunities online. Once you familiarize yourself with the SAT, all that natural test anxiety will subside and you'll feel more confident—and confdence is the foundation for a high score.

The Facts on the SAT

SECTION	CONTENT
Time:	Three hours and 45 minutes with two 10-minute breaks
Format:	10 sections (3 Critical Reading, 3 Math, 3 Writing, and 1 unscored Experimental section)
Scoring:	Total score of 600-2400 broken down into 3 scaled scores ranging from 200-800 for Critical Reading, Math, and Writing

Test Dates & Registration

TEST DATE	REGISTRATION DEADLINE
October 9, 2010	September 10, 2010
November 6, 2010	October 8, 2010
December 4, 2010	November 5 , 2010
January 22, 2011	December 23, 2010
March 12, 2011	February 11, 2011
May 7, 2011	April 8 , 2011
June 4, 2011	May 6 , 2011

The easiest way to register for the SAT is online at collegeboard.com. You'll choose your test date and testing center, receive confrmation, and print your admission ticket. The registration fee is $47. Additional fees for late registration apply.

Try these Top Kaplan Strategies

On your high school tests, you probably approach each question in order, spend more time on harder questions, show your work, etc. Well, none of that really works on the SAT. When you take the SAT, you will have one single objective: Earn as many points as you can in the time that you have. Here are a few ways to do that.

Strategy #1: Memorize the Directions. Time may be money in the real world, but in the world of the SAT, time is points. The directions for each section never change. Memorize them and you'll have more time to spend on the questions.

Strategy #2: Jump Around. You're allowed to skip around within a section. Again, the goal is points. Answer all the easy questions first. If you run into a diffcult one, circle it in your test booklet and skip it. Come back to the hard questions after getting the easy points out of the way.

Strategy #3: Answer All Grid-Ins. On the SAT, you earn one point for each correct answer and lose ¼ point for each incorrect answer. However on the Grid-Ins, there is no penalty for a wrong answer. So if you don't know the answer, guess. You have nothing to lose.

Strategy #4: Grid Five or More Answers at Once. Transfer your answers to the grid after every fve questions. You won't break your concentration, you'll save time, and you'll avoid costly gridding mistakes

These are just a few strategies on approaching the SAT. There are many. Comprehensive practice and preparation can pay big dividends and increase your score dramatically.