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Best Bets for Surviving and Succeeding the

SCAT Exam

The School and College Ability Test, SCAT, is designed as a challenge for the best

and the brightest students. It is used to screen for entrance into gifted programs and

schools in the United States, most notably the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented

Youth. It is offered to youngsters, currently one or more grade level below the exam

standard, offering an above-grade-level challenge.

Three levels of the SCAT exam, containing both verbal and quantitative

sections, are offered to that in K-12, as follows:

Elementary – given to 2nd and 3rd graders, designed for 3rd

through 6th graders.

Intermediate – given to students in grades 4 and 5, designed for

6th through 9th graders.

Advanced – given to 6th graders, designed for 9th through 12th

graders.

The exam is available to students twice during the academic year. There is also a

mock exam, available to students prior to the actual, for SCAT test prep. The mock

exam results can assist in identifying areas of potential weakness, and hence areas

requiring further review.

Each student’s results are compared against children in the student’s current grade,

as well as those in the more advanced grade(s), those for which the exam was actually

designed and intended.

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The Verbal Sections

The verbal segment of the SCAT exam is presented as a series of 55 questions that

are analogies, 5 of which are experimental and are not part of the grade. Typically,

two words are provided that has an association with each other. Four possible sets of

similar comparators are available as possible solutions. The pair closest to the

original analogy must be selected, though there are usually narrow differences

among, at least, two of the choices.

Verbal understanding and word analogies require a strong vocabulary, excellent

verbal reasoning skills, and the ability to understand shades of differences across the

meaning of words.

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Practicing word analogies is perhaps the best way to master the verbal section of the

SCAT exam, regardless the level of the exam, grade or age of the student. There are

a near infinite number of possible analogies with infinite categories and

classifications. Preparing for the exam means solving and remembering the different

type of classifications, all of which will facilitate enhanced scoring. The ability to

recognize the varying classifications, will allow the student to quickly identify many

more analogies than would otherwise be the case.

Mathematics and Quantitative Segments

Once again, there are 55 questions, in this case quantitative questions, where 5 are

experimental and the 5 are excluded from the final grade. The quantitative section

of the SCAT examination, like the verbal, is all multiple choices with 22 minutes

available to complete the segment. A calculator is not required although the

questions do measure understanding of basic number operations, mathematical

relationships and quantitative reasoning.

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Three possible answers are given for each question, and the questions are set-up in

pairs. A pair of mathematical questions are provided, part A and part B. They can

be a set of factoring equations, number sequences, requesting the next number in

the sequence, or a comparison of the area of 2 geometric shapes.

All possible answers are within the following:

A > B

A < B

A = B

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Tips for Improving SCAT Scores

The best approach for improving SCAT test results requires pulling

together all resources available.

Study and review sample test questions, both verbal and quantitative

Be sure to familiarize yourself with the exam format and the exam questions

so as not to waste time doing so during the exam.

Practice with mock exams early on, focusing on and strengthening areas of

weakness.

Scoring is based on the number of correct answers, so do not leave any

questions blank. Guess, if necessary.

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When in doubt, stick with your initial impressions, they are most often

correct.

Stay calm. Don’t panic.

Several on-line tutoring services are available for SCAT test prep,

Etutorworld is one of them, with a 90 percent success rate. It is

worth investigating, depending on the level of need and the time

frame available for improvement.

Thanks & Regards

eTutorWorld Corporation

www.etutorworld.com