SAT Tests Loom Large for Seniors : Education: Students cram for Saturday exam that can determine where they go to college. More than 123,000 in state are expected to take it.

“Ugh!”

Ask high school seniors what they think of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and that’s their usual reply. They might even use a more colorful but unprintable expression.

Filling out those bubble answer sheets, the college-bound students say, makes up the worst three hours of their young lives. While the results certainly make for conversation in school hallways--”How did you do on your SATs? I broke 1,000”--they ultimately can determine where students attend college and what they will be doing for the next four years, and then for the rest of their lives.

It’s unquestionably among the most important tests they will ever take. But the consensus among seniors remains less-than-enthusiastic, such as the response of 17-year-old Tara Fox.

“I hate it,” said Fox, a senior at Corona del Mar High School who is spending her weekends poring over vocabulary lists.

Seniors across the nation are gearing up for the Saturday test, usually the last one taken before college applications are submitted. The fall exam traditionally marks the beginning of the rush when seniors begin applying for colleges and completing last-minute requirements, such as writing essays and gathering teachers’ recommendations.

“November is the last gasp for seniors,” says Paul Kanarek, director of the Princeton Review, which offers SAT preparation classes. “At this point, they are really under the gun. They know that this is it for them to score well.”

More than half of those applying to college will be taking the test on Saturday, said Ray Nicosia, a spokesman for the New Jersey-based Educational Testing Service, which prints and distributes the college entrance exams.

The SAT is administered in two sections, verbal and mathematics. The highest score for each section is 800. A perfect score of 1,600 is a rarity, although one Orange County student did achieve that feat last year.

Statewide, more than 123,000 students are expected to take the test this Saturday. Seniors can also take the test on Dec. 7, but most of them usually take their achievement tests, which determine knowledge of individual subjects such as history or English, around that time and prefer to get the high-pressure SAT out of the way first.

Juniors can take the test in spring and seniors can take the fall exam to improve their scores and reach eligibility standards set by colleges, Kanarek said.

For example, the University of California requires that students reach certain SAT scores to be eligible for admission. The scores are matched according to a student’s grade-point average--a student with a 3.0 GPA, for example, must score at least 1,090 on the SAT to be admitted.

In Orange County, seniors are cramming study halls, attending expensive SAT preparation classes, buying up No. 2 pencils and memorizing strategies on how to do better, particularly on the reading sections. Students say the reading section is difficult because it is the last portion of the verbal section and usually involves unusual topics that are difficult to absorb after hours of testing

Newport Harbor High School senior Stacy deBoom said she took one look at her June SAT results and shuddered. The 17-year-old wants to attend Chico State or San Diego State University, but she doesn’t think her score, which she declined to disclose, is high enough to qualify.

“When I was taking the test in June, all I kept thinking was, ‘I want this to be over with,’ ” ’ deBoom said. “This time, I’m going to be ready. I feel a bit of pressure, but I think I can take it.”

For students who aren’t quite so determined, there are always parents to step in and provide a little extra motivation.

Take Philana Abram’s parents, who insisted that she improve her June SAT score. The Corona del Mar High School senior is now prepping for this week’s exam by taking private classes.

“If I had a choice, I wouldn’t go through this again,” Abram, 15, said. “Questions on the SATs are totally boring.”

And if parental prompting isn’t enough, some schools are providing incentives for students to do better.

At Century High School in Santa Ana, school officials offer students reimbursement for the $42 test if they break 1,000, teacher Greg Coombs said. If students score between 900 and 999, the school pays for half of the test’s cost.

November’s exam is the most intensive time for seniors, says Century High School teacher Jan Osborn, who instructs SAT preparation classes during the summer.

“For some students, the SAT is the last ticket to a college campus,” Osborn said. “For now, it is the hardest test of their lives.”

Since school started, Osborn said, she frequently observes seniors toting all kinds of SAT help books including the teen-agers’ best seller: “Up Your Score.”

Osborn has her own simple tips:

* Complete the verbal section first, then go on to the reading section--”the reading is the pits,” Osborn said.

* Eat light foods so you don’t feel weighted down--it will help you think better. “Forgo the bacon and eggs and go for the orange juice and fruits,” she said.

* If you cannot narrow the multiple-choice answers down to two, leave the question blank--”Every wrong answer counts against you.”

Sample SAT Questions

The following questions have one or two blanks, indicating that a word or words have been omitted. Students are asked to select the word or words that best fit the sentence.

1. The body is protected by a natural defense system that acts in the blood to destroy the army of germs . . . . . our bodies daily.

A. guarding B. vacating C. attracting D. invading E. nurturing 2. Annoyed by his seemingly endless attempts to persuade her to his point of view, Nancy wished that Hamilton were just a bit less . . . . .

A. vain B. controlled C. persistent D. impressive E. devious 3. The scientists reported that the pollution in the coastal areas had already . . . . . their tentative limit of tolerability and that a higher scale of tolerability would have to be postulated.

A. restored B. ignored C. validated D. surpassed E. determined 4. Traditional views assume that violence is somehow . . . . . “masculine” behavior, rather than a way of behaving which may be . . . . . by either sex in particular circumstances.

A. naturally . . . . . adopted

B. inherently . . . . . perceived

C. acceptably . . . . . described

D. accidentally . . . . . selected

E. avoidably . . . . . intensified

5. Smith contends that psychology is bad poetry . . . . . science in that many of its theories are based on unexamined . . . . ., such as the mind as a blank slate, a computer, or a camera.

A. expanding toward . . . . . hypotheses.

B. inimical to . . . . . facts

C. escaping from . . . . . quandaries

D. analogous to . . . . . redundancies

E. masquerading as . . . . . metaphors

MATH SECTION M

C

6. A mouse located at point M wants to eat the cheese located at point C . If the mouse can only go up or to the right along the given lines, how many different paths can he take from M to C ?

A. 12 B. 10 C. 8 D. 6 E. 4

7. The sum of two positive consecutive integers is X . In terms of X , what is the value of the smaller of these two integers?

A. X2 - 1

B. X -12

C. X 2

D. X +12

E. X 2 + 1

8. If two odd integers are prime, which of the following statements must be true?

A. Their product is an odd integer.

B. Their sum is prime.

C. Their sum is an odd integer.

D. Their product is prime.

E. The sum of their squares is prime.

9. A restaurant manager notices that T orders of iced tea, each sold a C cents, are served per hour. If the restaurant is open H hours a day, what is the amount of money in dollars received from the sale of iced tea?

A. 100 TCH

B. TCH

C. CHT

D. TCH 100

E. TC 100 H

RESERVE SUPPLY OF BAUXITE AND TUNGSTEN

Bauxite

Tungsten

10. In the chart above, the amount represented by each black square is twice that represented by each white square. According to the chart, the amount of tungsten in reserve is how many times greater than the amount of bauxite in reserve?

A. 931

B. 3136

C. 3631

D. 116

E. 319

Answers

Answers (Insert upsidedown in hole above)

Verbal: 1: D, 2: C, 3: D, 4: A, 5: E Math: 6: D, 7: B, 8: A, 9: D, 10: ETo enter one of the nine University of California campuses, high school seniors must achieve a minimum Scholastic Aptitude Test score pegged to their grade-point averages. The lower the grade average, the higher the test score must be:

Grade Point SAT Average *Total 2.78 1,600 2.83 1,480 2.88 1,370 2.93 1,250 2.98 1,130 3.03 1,020 3.08 900 3.13 780 3.18 670 3.23 550 3.30 400

*The SAT is scored in intervals of 10 points from a minimum of 400 to a maximum of 1,600.

Source: University of California