Are you planning to write the SCAT test sometime soon? Worried and confused about what you have to prepare and how much you have to work? Here’s a short guide on all the things you need to know to plan your SCAT preparation optimally.
What exactly does the SCAT mean for a future examinee?
The SCAT or School and College Ability Test, an online test conducted by the JH-CTY ( John Hopkins Centre for Talented Youth), made specifically to test your skill and knowledge in English and mathematics against those of higher grades. The actual grades you are tested against varies from 2-4 years above. Source: JH-CTY
How is the test formatted?
The SCAT comprises two sections, one verbal and the other quantitative. Each section contains 50 questions and 5 additional unidentified experimental items.
- Verbal: This section measures a candidate’s verbal reasoning and vocabulary. This requires a student to identify the best pair of words to complete an analogy.
- Quantitative: This part is a measurement of a candidate’s mathematical reasoning ability, most of the time it doesn’t require computation. These are multiple choice questions.
How much higher are the grades being tested against?
This answer varies between grade but here is the division:
- Grade 2 is compared to Grade 4
- Grade 3 is compared to Grade 5
- Grade 4 is compared to grade 6
- Grade 5 is compared to Grade 8
- Grade 7 is compared to Grade 12
- Grade 8 is compared to Grade 12
As you can see the difference in grade goes up as you move from grade to grade. However, the difficulty rises exponentially with increasing difficulty in concepts and greater grade difference.
This makes the duration of preparation longer and longer as you rise in grade. However, this is just a broad generalization. The specifics can be seen below.
Here’s where the question of how much time you need to spend pops up.
There are several points that can help you answer this question. These are:
- Prioritization of subjects:
When you decide to prioritize studying some sections over the other you build a habit of strengthening and deepening your understanding of various subjects. Being aware of which subsection you are working on and progressively covering different sub-sections can decrease your total time spent.
- Technique:
Choosing a more efficient study plan and covering the major topics while making sure you don’t waste time can significantly improve your rate of studying. Having a more efficient study plan beats studying for hours on hours any day of the week.
- Practicing over and over:
Finally, remember to practice. Nothing can beat practice in the long run. Making sure you spend time working on sample papers and working on hundreds of problems for the SCAT test can not only put you in the lead but also improve your general aptitude in your daily life.
- Coaching:
Having the right coach will drop the time required to learn new concepts, much quicker than studying by yourself. Hiring the right coach or taking online coaching classes can ensure you spend much fewer efforts in learning new concepts.
Taking these steps may allow you to cut several hours off your daily study pattern.
While the required number of hours varies from individual to individual, the net effort required to complete a single chapter may vary depending on several conditions such as your current grade, the concept level, your previous knowledge, and your grasping power.
You must also take into consideration the question of how well you want to do. The amount of effort will vary. If you are at an elementary level a general rule of thumb you can follow is:
- Twice the time for intermediate-level.
- Thrice the time for advanced-level preparation.
- To achieve a high rank you might have to work a lot harder, the best idea would be to invoke one of these practices against working longer hours. Work smarter, not harder.
So as much as spending 5 or 6 hours a day preparing for a test seems like a good idea, making sure you get enough sleep, exercise and nourishment are just as important.
A healthy individual is always gonna be quicker, better, and more efficient at learning new concepts.
Stay healthy!
