Introduction

Everyone comes to the SAT World History Subject Test from a different place. For some, it's the one SAT Subject Test of their high school career; for others, it's just one test of many. Some students have focused on it all year, supplementing their class work with extra study and practice at home. Other students haven't been able to devote the time they would like—perhaps other classes, extracurricular activities, after-school jobs, or family obligations have gotten in the way. But wherever you're coming from, this book can help! It's been designed to provide maximum assistance no matter where you are on your study path.

You'll find that this book has been divided into three sections: a lastminute study guide to use in the days before the test, a comprehensive review for those with more than a week to prepare, and a long-term study plan for students preparing well in advance.

Think of each section as full of suggestions rather than a rigid prescription. Feel free to pick and choose the pieces from each section you find most helpful. Of course, if you have time, we recommend that you review everything and take as many practice tests as you can, as many times as you can.

Whether you have a day to cram or a year to study at leisure, here are some things you should know before diving into the test.

For starters, what is the SAT World History Subject Test, and what does it cover?

About the Test

The SAT World History Subject Test is an examination used nationally to assess student readiness for college-level work in history. Some colleges require potential students to take particular SAT subject tests to qualify either for admission to the school itself or to a particular discipline or major. Some schools may even award college credit if you score highly on the test. Talk to your school guidance counselor about the requirements and possibilities for the schools you're interested in.

The SAT World History Subject Test is designed as a global examination that touches on significant issues and trends in the modern world. More specifically, it

• Tests your knowledge of basic facts and terms as well as your understanding of basic history and geography

• Examines your knowledge of typical cause-and-effect relationships throughout history

• Assesses your ability to interpret artistic materials as well as quotations from speeches, documents, and other published matter

• Analyzes your ability to interpret and apply data from maps, charts, and graphs

The examination takes one hour. During that hour, you'll answer a total of ninety-five multiple-choice questions.

What’s covered

The topics covered on the SAT World History Subject Test break down as follows:

You'll notice the percentages above sum to 105 percent. Just remember that these are estimated percentages, so they'll vary slightly on the actual test.

Note: The SAT World History Subject Test uses BCE (before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era) as chronological designations rather than BC (before Christ) and AD (anno Domini), which may be used in certain world history textbooks.

Test Scoring

As you probably already know, SAT subject tests receive a raw score that is converted to a point-based score between 200 and 800.

Here is how the raw score is calculated:

1. For each question you answer correctly, you are awarded one (1) point.

2. For each question you answer incorrectly, you are docked

fractional points. (The amount of fractional points varies depending on the test.) For World History, you lose a quarter of a point (.25) for each question you answer incorrectly.

3. You do not gain or lose points for questions you do not answer.

4. Once your correct answers are totaled and the fractional points deducted, your raw score number is produced. If this number is a fraction, it is rounded up or down accordingly.

5. A complex process called equating is then used to convert the raw score to a scaled score between 200 and 800 (with 800 being the highest score available).

Your score shows college admissions staff how well you performed compared to other students who took the test. For example, the mean or average score for students who took the SAT World History Subject Test in 2011 was 607. What does this mean? Well, if you took the test in 2011 and scored close to a 607, college admissions staff understood that to mean you scored about as well as half the students who took the test nationally.

If you haven't yet taken the test, your goal should be to beat the average score by as high a margin as possible! With this material in hand, you should feel confident about your ability to do just that. Put the material in this book to its intended use so you'll have not only a strong understanding of the key concepts being tested but also ample opportunity to practice tried-and-true testing strategies.

Beyond the material in this book, we make an additional SAT World History Subject Test available to you on our website, mymaxscore.com. That site includes practice tests for other SAT subject tests as well.

Good luck!