Looking back on my own experience with the SAT, I recall a grueling several hours with a paper-and-pencil exam. These days, things are finally changing with the launch of a Digital SAT and Dr. Shaan Patel’s new book, “Prep Expert Digital SAT Playbook: Winning Strategies to Achieve Your Dream Score” (Scribe Media, March 9).
In this interview, Patel talks about his own experience with the SAT (it was much better than mine) and how he views the transition to a digital format. He goes into how his book can help and his goal to assist students in getting $1 billion in merit-based scholarships.
What do you see as the impacts of the SAT going digital?
I see it as an amazing leap forward in the world of standardized testing. The SAT has been a paper-based exam for almost 100 years. However, almost all work in the real world is now done digitally. The SAT is finally catching up. I also think it will be advantageous for students who struggled with the standardized tests in the past. The Digital SAT is a shorter exam (two hours instead of three hours), you have more time per question, you can use a calculator on all math questions (unlike previously), and the reading passages are about 70% shorter. A major win for students!
What was your own SAT experience and how did you raise your score from average to perfect?
I was a good student in high school who got As and Bs. However, I was not a good standardized test-taker. I had a lot of test anxiety, I didn’t know the first thing about how to prepare, and on my first SAT I only scored slightly above average. I then spent hundreds of hours self-studying for the SAT in 10th and 11th grade. I unlocked many strategies that simplified the test and increased my accuracy on questions. Eventually, I achieved a perfect score on the SAT — a feat only achieved by 0.02% of all students. My perfect SAT score opened the doors to top universities, full scholarships, and prestigious awards. It completely changed the trajectory of my life!
I read about your $1 billion mission. How will you see this through?
My favorite part about Prep Expert is helping students win merit-based scholarships through their test scores. Over the past decades, we have helped students win over $100 million in scholarships! Over the next decade, I want to help students win over $1 billion in college scholarships. This will be tracked through our website where we ask students to enter any merit-based scholarships they received after improving their test scores using our books and courses. Although $1 billion sounds like a lot, when the average full-tuition college scholarship is worth $150,000, I think we can get there pretty quickly!
Tell me about your book and what it can offer that sets it apart from other SAT-related books?
I am so excited about the release of my new book: Prep Expert Digital SAT Playbook. I have spent over 1,000 hours putting together this new book for students to ace the new Digital SAT. It specifically offers perfect-score strategies to ace the test for every section of the Digital SAT including Math, Reading, and Writing. Students will learn elite methods such as how to solve the toughest questions, read passages faster, and solve algebra questions without doing any algebra.
What, in your opinion, is the role of the SAT in helping prospective college students?
I do not think the SAT in and of itself is a good measure of intelligence or future success in college or career. However, I think there are two major benefits that students can gain from studying for the SAT in high school. First, students gain direct access to top universities, networks and scholarships that they would not have had access to without a high SAT score. Second, the larger benefit students get from studying for the SAT in high school is developing the attributes of self-control, hard work, and grit in their teenage years. If students can tune out the distractions of high school and social media, and buckle down to study for the SAT, they will develop habits that will lead to more success in college, graduate school, and their future careers.
