SAT Preparation and College Admissions Blog

Hello Everyone. First of all, I would like to apologise for writing this post so late. So, the college application filling period has begun. This period is important for every student. In this period, every student should take care of the deadlines. Although their are different deadlines for different universities, but the general deadlines are as follows - Early Decision deadline - Typically November 1 Regular Decision deadline - Typically January 1 The deadlines of few universities are - New York University - Early Decision : November 1 ; Regular Decision : January 1 Duke university - Early Decision : November 1 ; Regular Decision : January 3 Georgia Tech University - Early Action : October 15 ; Regular Decision : January1 Yale University - Early Action : November 1 ; Regular Decision : January 1 For more information about the deadlines, visit the  CommonApp official website .  Information about CommonApp Signup -  Create a CommonApp account. Select your col

In my last post, I asked students to start checking their desired universities and their application deadlines. I this post, I will talk about the deadlines of UCAS applications. There are two deadlines - 15 October 2018 - for   any course at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or for most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, and dentistry. You can add choices with a different deadline later, but don’t forget you can only have five choices in total.   15 January 2019 -  for the majority of courses. For International students -  15th October deadline is usually inflexible, but students should not worry if they miss the January deadline. Many universities will continue to accept the applications from international students until  later in the year, nearer the beginning of the course. But it is still preferable to apply on time so that the students could apply for visa and accommodation on time.  Application Fees -  For 2019 entry, the application fee

Hello everyone. I am delighted to inform that this blog has crossed 500 views. Thank you guys for your support. To increase this number, I request everyone to share this blog with friends and other relatives. This would help the blog to reach everywhere. Let's learn together. Regards, Nimit Sharma

Hello everyone. August SAT is finally over. I hope that students had a great exam. Now, students need to start focusing on college applications. Students need to check the websites of universities to get info about the application and the deadlines for submitting the application. Soon, I will tell the dates of application deadlines for various universities. Just follow my blog to get more info about college admissions. Regards, Nimit Sharma

Hello everyone. This is an exclusive post for US students. Just a gentle reminder, do check the student checklist before leaving for the exam center. All the Best everyone!!!!! Just remember this fact that you know everything and you will score really well in this test. Regards, Nimit Sharma

Hello everyone. This is an exclusive post for US students. So, the time has almost come. The time has come when you will be ready to give a prestigious exam which will help you in getting admission to best US Universities. The time has come when you will give the SAT exam. Guys, just believe in yourself. Just think that on the test day you will score really well. This though would help you in preventing nervousness before the exam. Now, you need to also take a few important things. They are as follow - Any government issued id or school id (prefer government issued id only)  Admission ticket 2 No 2.Pencils Eraser An approved calculator A watch (without any audible alarm) (In general, it is not required) Extra batteries and backup equipment  I request everyone to please contact their test center once to get info about the acceptable id, so that, on the test day, you don't get into any trouble.    I also request you all to have their breakfast before arriving at t

Today, I will talk about the SAT Math Test. SAT Math test consists of two sections - No Calculator Calculator The time limit for this section is 80 minutes(25 minutes + 55 minutes). I will discuss the two sections in brief - No Calculator section - The time limit for this section is 25 minutes. The student needs to solve 20 questions in this time limit.  Calculator section - The time limit for this section is 55 minutes. The student needs to solve 38 questions in this time limit.  In the SAT Math test, most of the questions are Multiple choice questions(MCQs). But, few questions are grid-ins. In these questions, the student needs to solve the questions and enter the answer in the grids provided in the answer sheet. Here is an example -  The questions in this test, usually, are of following topics - Heart of Algebra (includes topics like linear inequalities, linear equations in two variable etc.) Problem Solving and Data Analysis (includes topics like ratio and

It has been almost a month since I made this blog and I am happy to see that people all over the world have seen the blog and have also liked it. Thank you, everyone, for liking this blog. It means a lot to me. I request all the students and other viewers to share this blog with everyone because SHARING IS CARING. I want this blog to reach everywhere so that children could learn and could score well on standardized tests and could get the admission to the world's best universities. Once again, THANK YOU !!

Hello everyone. This is an exclusive post for US students. I hope that those students who are giving the August SAT must be fully prepared for this test. I also hope that students would have given some sample tests on Khan Academy and would have also solved few sample tests of Princeton Review. Students should give sample tests till 23rd August. Students should relax after giving their last sample test. They should enjoy. Students score well in SAT only when their minds are relaxed and are not burdened or pressurized.  Since this blog was made on 14th July, so I couldn't give much info about all the sections of the SAT. But, if anyone has any doubts about anything related to the exam, he/she can email me the doubts. My email id is - sharma.nimit@yahoo.in. All the Best !!!!!!

In my previous post, I talked about TOEFL test. In this post, I am going to talk about another standardized test for English proficiency. IELTS or The International English Language Testing System is an international standardized test for English proficiency for non-native English language speakers.  IELTS is usually of two types - IELTS Academic test IELTS General training test Since this blog is made for grade 12 students, so I would talk about IELTS Academic test. If you want to have more info on IELTS General Training test, please visit  IELTS official website . IELTS academic test should be given by those students who want to study UG or PG courses in foreign universities. This test could also be given for professional registration purposes. The main objective of this test is to access whether you are ready to begin studying or training in an environment where English language is used. IELTS can be given in any of the two test forms - Pen and Paper test Computer bas

In this post, I would talk about a test which is important for every student who is aiming to study in the best universities in the world. TOEFL or Test of English as a Foreign Language is a standardized test which measures the English speaking ability of non native speakers. ETS (Education Testing Services) is the administrator of this test. TOEFL is usually of two types -  Paper Delivered test (Paper and pencil test) Internet based test (also known as TOEFL iBT) Most of the students prefer to give TOEFL iBT.  TOEFL iBT consists of four sections -  Reading Listening Speaking Writing (A break is also given after the listening section) About the four sections- Reading - This section consists of three passages.You will get 60 minutes to complete this section.You may look back at a passage when answering the questions. You can also skip questions and go back to them later as long as there is time remaining.  The passage are excerpts from university level tex

I am uploading the first test for writing and language section. Once you complete the test, please ask for solutions in the comments section and I will upload the solutions. Please solve the test first and then ask for solutions. I request students to please use College Board OMR sheets for filling the answers because this will help to create a real exam environment. You can download them from college board website. Do the test in the limited time period. After seeing the solutions, share your score in the comments section OR you can also email me your scores at - sharma.nimit@yahoo.in . All the best!! Keep Learning. 

In my last post, I talked about Writing and Language section of SAT. Today, I will talk about an important topic of this section, Punctuations. What are punctuations ? According to Wikipedia, Punctuation is the use of spacing, conventional signs, and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of handwritten and printed text, whether read silently or aloud. Read the following sentence- Oh my God ? Erik met an accident yesterday-He is still in critical condition, When you read this sentence, don't you feel that this sentence is odd ?   Now, read the following sentence- Oh my God! Erik met an accident yesterday. He is still in critical condition. How does the sentence look now? Does it look better ? This sentence looks better because of proper positioning of punctuations. For SAT, students should have a general idea of punctuations and their proper positioning. We will study three types of punctuations - STOP Punctuation -

In my last post, I discussed  about the Reading section of SAT. Today, I will talk about the second section section of SAT - Writing and Language Section. As discussed before, this section consists of 4 passages, each of 11 questions, for a total of 44 questions. The time limit for this section is 35 minutes. College Board, in this section, wants students to organize information and ideas in the best way possible to create a logical and smooth progression. Generally, the passages come of following topics - Humanities History Social Studies Science Career related Here is an example - Out of four passages, one will be narrative, at least one will be argumentative, and at least one will be informative or explanatory. some passages would also have charts, tables etc. In the passage, you would see the question number, followed by an underlined word, phrase, or sentence. Most of the questions in a passage would ask the student to change the word/phrase/sentence to make t

Recently, I discussed the books suggested for SAT preparation. Today I will talk about the first section of SAT - Reading Section. As mentioned in my previous posts, this section consists of 5 passages of 10-11 questions each, for a total of 52 questions. The student needs to complete this section in 65 minutes. Passages ,generally, come about the following topics- US/World Literature History/Social Science Science In one of the 5 passages, there would be two smaller passages.This passage is called as "paired passage". When I prepared for my SAT, I considered these paired passages to be the most time consuming because in limited time, you have to read two passages and solve the related questions. Here is an example- In reading section, questions come of following types- Information and Ideas: Questions that focus on what the passage says, directly or indirectly. Rhetoric: Questions that ask about how the author conveys meaning. Synthesis: Questions

Hello everyone. This is a post exclusively for US students, who are aiming to study in great universities in 2019. June SAT is done. I know that there are thousands of students who felt that fallacious checking has been done.  Congratulations to all those who performed well and are satisfied with their score. But, those students who are not satisfied and are willing to improve their score, August/October SAT is the best option. Those students who are sure that they know everything and little more practice would help them achieve their dream score, go for August SAT. Just practice as many papers as you can and try to avoid silly mistakes. Those students who are still unsure about their preparation, then don't give August SAT. First, focus on you weak points(like vocabulary, algebra etc.) and try to solve the related exercises. By, August end , finish your weak points. Then, in the month of September, try to solve as many papers as you can(refer to my previous post for inf

In my last post I discussed about SAT and the pattern of the exam.Today, I would talk about the books recommended for getting 1500+ in SAT. Books suggested for SAT- Official SAT Guide by College Board  9 Practice Tests for SAT by Princeton Review Cracking the SAT by Princeton Review Essential SAT Vocabulary by Princeton Review 10 Practice Tests by Princeton Review Also, students are encouraged to practice on  Khan Academy . NOTE- Students are requested not to buy many books. Buy only limited amount of books. Students should first solve the above books, then they should buy other books like Barron/Kaplan. In my next post, I will talk about the different sections of the SAT test. Also, I request all the students(non US citizens) to start preparing for October SAT. If you have any doubts, you can email me your doubts on - sharma.nimit@yahoo.in Till then, Keep learning :)

Scholastic Aptitude Test (or SAT) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States.It was introduced in 1926 by CollegeBoard (an American non-profit organization).SAT, along with TOEFL, is considered to be one of the most important tests for admissions in US Universities. Pattern of SAT- Before 2016, SAT was composed of following sections- 1) Critical Reading 2) Writing 3) Math 4) Essay Guessing penalty-0.25 Total score-2400 But in 2016, CollegeBoard changed the pattern of SAT. The redesigned SAT is composed of following sections- 1)Evidence based Reading and Writing 2)Math 3)Optional Essay Guessing penalty-  0 Total Score- 1600 Duration of Test- 3 Hours 50 Minutes(including 50 min optional essay) Duration of the test can be divided as follows- Reading test- 65 minutes Break Writing and Language test-35 Minutes Math(No Calculator)-25 Minutes Break Math(Calculator)-55 Minutes Optional Essay-50 Minutes A score above 1400

In 2016, I started preparing for various standardized tests like SAT (I will talk about these tests in later posts). I gave my first SAT in December 2016. In 2017, I gave AP's in May, along with TOEFL and IELTS in August.I gave my second SAT in October, followed by SAT Subject in November.In October, I applied in UK Universities through UCAS. In December, I applied in US Universities through various portals like CommonApp. In March, I received 6 admission offers from NYU(full scholarship)(World rank- 43), University of Wisconsin Madison(World Rank-53), Pennsylvania State University(World Rank-95), University of Manchester(World rank-29), and The University of Warwick(World Rank-54). Finally I decided to join The University of Manchester for Computer Systems Engineering. I will talk about the the admission portals used for applying in my later posts. 

Hello everyone. My name is Nimit Sharma. I am a student at the University of Manchester for BEng (honors) Computer Systems Engineering  (2018-2021). In the recent years, I have witnessed that various students want to pursue their graduation degree in Foreign universities. Most of the children prefer USA, UK, and Canada for graduation. But due to improper guidance, students have various questions in their mind about the admissions process ,the tests to be given, etc. So, I have made this blog, which is about SAT's and other exams required for admissions in prestigious foreign universities. This blog would also help students to know about the deadlines of applications, how to apply, which universities to be chosen etc.