New Educational Column Offers Tips for SAT and SSAT Preparation

By William H. Shin, Director of Apex Academy

The educational column that has catered to daycare, kindergarten, and elementary students over the past six months will now offer a series focused on high school students preparing for exams. The column will run for the next two months, providing valuable insights into SAT English and essential strategies for the SSAT. William H. Shin, an admissions expert and long-time director of Apex Academy, will present professional tips for enhancing SAT English scores and strategic know-how for the SSAT. These insights are expected to greatly benefit many students gearing up for their entrance exams.

Introduction to the SSAT

The SSAT (Secondary School Admission Test) is a necessary exam for students applying to private schools (boarding and day schools) in the United States. Over 700 private schools require SSAT scores. The test is administered eight times a year (January, February, March, April, June, October, November, December) and is divided into Lower Level (grades 5, 6, 7) and Upper Level (grades 8, 9, 10, 11). The exam consists of Verbal, Reading, Math, and Essay sections, with the Essay sent directly to the applied school without a score. Additionally, schools require "The Character Skills Snapshot" to assess a student's ability to successfully complete academic and school life. This test evaluates various traits such as Initiative, Intellectual Engagement, Open-Mindedness, and more. It is available online once a year. Further details can be found at www.ssat.org.

SSAT Verbal Reasoning Section

Synonym Section: Composed of 30 questions to be answered in 15 minutes, this section requires finding the word most similar to the given word. The following six steps can help effectively and swiftly find the correct answer:

1. Clearly understand the given word (capitalized word).
2. If familiar, think of a similar word and select it from the five multiple-choice options.
3. If unfamiliar, make a sentence with the given word to determine its meaning.
4. If this doesn't help, find connections between the known words in the choices and the given word.
5. Review the given and known words, choosing the most similar.
6. If unsuccessful, eliminate obviously incorrect choices and use an "educated guess" from the remaining options.

Verbal Analogy Section: This section requires completing 30 questions in 15 minutes, assessing a student's knowledge of academic words and word relationships. Each question provides two pairs of words, and students must find a word for the second pair that mirrors the relationship of the first pair. The difficulty increases with higher numbers. Five steps to tackle the questions include:

1. Determine the relationship of the first pair.
2. Create a sentence to understand the relationship.
3. Form a sentence with the second pair, using elimination for incorrect choices.
4. Verify by forming another sentence with similarly used words.
5. Select the correct answer.

Example: Water is to wave as...

(A) shell is to egg  
(B) cloud is to sky  
(C) fire is to flame  
(D) galaxy is to planet  
(E) tree is to reef  

Answer: C

SSAT Reading Comprehension Section

This section features 6-8 passages (Humanities, Social Studies, and Science) with 4-7 questions per passage, requiring completion of 40 questions in 40 minutes. Question types include Main Idea, Detail, Inference, Tone or Mood, Vocabulary, and Organization or Logic Questions. Five steps for question-solving are:

1. Quickly comprehend the question.
2. Identify the topic and author's intent from the passages.
3. Answer the questions. If unable, refer back to locate the answer.
4. Skip unfamiliar questions initially, returning after answering known ones.
5. Tackle Long Passages later, as they are generally more difficult than Short Passages.

SSAT Essay Section

The essay question consists of a topic (a short phrase or proverb) and an assignment (agree or disagree). Without a right or wrong answer, students are to logically write 2-3 examples (current events, history, literature) in 25 minutes. The process includes:

1. Brainstorm: Think about the topic and jot down related ideas.
2. Outline: Briefly organize ideas, ensuring the essay has an introduction, body, and conclusion.
3. Write: Clearly state your argument, beginning each paragraph with a topic sentence and including at least two examples.
4. Proofread: Check for mistakes and ensure clarity at the end.

Despite diverse personalities and abilities, all students aim for high scores. Advising students to set and achieve small targets can lead to greater accomplishments through efficient study methods.

William H. Shin  
Education:

1. Master's in Comparative Literature, NYU
2. Master's in TESOL, NYU
3. NY/NJ Certified Teacher (NYU, Post Master’s Program)
4. Slavic Linguistics, Lomonosov Pushkin Institute, Moscow
5. Bachelor's in Russian, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

Teaching Experience:

• Director of Apex Academy
• Former Adjunct Professor, Rutgers University (Newark, NJ Campus)
• Former Instructor, FDU (Fairleigh Dickinson University, Hackensack, NJ)
• 20 years’ experience teaching SAT/SSAT (Verbal/Reading/Writing) in New York/New Jersey/Gangnam
• 15 years’ experience teaching TOEFL iBT (Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing) in New York/New Jersey
• Education Consultant for boarding school/college admissions and essays