There has been scandal after scandal of students cheating in recent years. And believe it or not, they are doing it on standardized tests for college. Why do students do it? Is it easy? What do they have to lose? Is cheating the SAT easier with today’s technology?

Peter Wayner, in “SAT Sneak Attack” addresses these questions and more. In his short ebook he uncovers how a group of elite students use tools that are allowed by the College Board, and by repurposing them, get close to that elusive perfect score. It’s not a “how-to” cheat book but it looks at how easy it is to cheat and what motivates students to cheat on the SAT. You might be very surprised as a parent to read some of those techniques.

They take advantage of the proctors and their lack of interest during the tests. And, using the fact that the tests allow the use of calculators during the test, they reprogram calculators. In his book, Wayner notes:

One web site distributes the “SAT Operating System” that solves SAT problems and the little counter on the web site says that 2901 copies have been downloaded at this writing. That’s just a lower bound because it’s one of dozens that are offering the tool. Once the files are downloaded, kids can pass them around or load them on the machines of their friends. It’s fair to say that there many thousands of copies of just this free version.

While you’re not supposed to use your calculator during the verbal sections of the SAT, the proctors often don’t notice. If they happen to be patrolling, some students say the trick is to write the verbal questions down on their scratch paper and then return to them during the math section that comes later.

Wayner offers some suggestions on how to fix the problem as well. It’s an easy read and it will shed some light on how easy it is to hack the SAT.

You can get the book here:  http://www.satsneakattack.com/buy.html