Examine the contribution of functionalists accounts towards an Essay

Examine the contribution of functionalists accounts towards an explanation of the family - Essay Example As such, these parts tend also to function in an orderly manner, with minimal conflict. Even when the different parts are not in equilibrium (which they usually are in), their interrelationship is one of consensus, rather than conflict. In this regard, the role of functionalists is to examine social phenomena and its significance to society as a whole (Murdock 1949). The emergence of functionalism as an anthropology school of thought came about in the twentieth century. The development of functionalism at that time is especially credited to two renowned anthropologists of the Great Britain; A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, and Bronislaw Malinowski. In this regard, functionalism as a theory sought to check on the excesses of the nineteenth century diffusionists and evolutionary theories, as well as the theory of historicism later in the twentieth century (Goldscmidt 1996). Functionalists hold the argument that the nuclear family is capable of fulfilling many roles which have an impact on the larger society. One of the functionalists, Parsons, believes in the contemporary role of the family; the instrumental role of the male, and the expressive role of the female. Whilst the male works as a bread winner, the female gives care and emotional support to the husband and children. Although the argument sounds sexist, a majority of the nuclear families applies this contemporary role. Murdock, on his part, believes that the nuclear family should be of benefit to the larger society. In this regard, his functionalists’ ideas are based on the stable personality of adult, whose role it is educated the children about the values and norms of the society. Several scholars have been credited with the development of the theory of functionalism in the family. However, Talcott Parsons, an American sociologist, have been regarded as an advocate of the school of

Mac vs. PC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mac vs. PC - Essay Example Because of the two different models of manufacture, each type of computer, Macintosh and PC, has its strengths and weaknesses. Since Apple controls every level of the manufacture of Macs, one of the positives of the platform is that there is a high level of quality control. Also, since Apple designs the hardware to run their software exclusively, the Mac operating system is very stable. Because PC manufacturers are unsure what operating system (OS) their user will purchase, they are unable to design a system solely for a single OS. The result is that, whatever OS the user chooses for their PC, it will likely not be as stable as the Mac OS. Also, since PC manufacturers source their hardware from other suppliers whom they do not control, the level of quality is not always as high as a Mac. One of the drawbacks to Apple’s level of control is that they employ many proprietary technologies. These technologies often require the user to purchase specialty products from Apple in order to perform tasks that PCs can accomplish with generic products. One example of this situation is in the way Macs and PCs connect to external displays. PCs, because they are produced by so many different manufacturers, rely upon international standards for technologies. For external displays, PCs typically use HDMI connections. Apple, however, does not follow the international standards. In order for a Mac user to connect to an external display, he must purchase a special cable available only from Apple instead of a standard HDMI cable. The result is that the Mac user must spend more money to accomplish a task because the proprietary technology is more expensive than the standard technology. Another drawback to Apple’s approach is that the level of customizability of the Mac is generally much lower than that of a PC. A Macintosh computer typically comes from the factory with nearly maximum performance. Apple provides very little

Dormancy-breaking Treatment on Spices of Fennel

Dormancy-breaking Treatment on Spices of Fennel Effect of moist chilling and application of dormancy-breaking treatment on two spices of Foeniculum vulgare Mill Sayyid Amirreza Tahaei, Ali Soleimani Abstract One of the problems of planting of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill) is seeds dormancy of this plant’s seed. We designed an experiment and investigated effect of wet chilling levels including 0, 15, 30 and 45 days of chilling and different breaking dormancy treatments on breaking dormancy of seeds of two fennel species which are named Nahavand and Malayer. Dormancy-breaking treatments were including gibberellic acid (100 mg L-1), benzyl adenine (10-5 M), chitin (10-5 M), mixture of gibberellic acid + benzyl adenine, mixture of gibberellic acid + chitin, mixture of benzyl adenine + chitin, mixture of gibberellic acid + benzyl adenine + chitin (with the mentioned concentrations(, concentrated sulfuric acid (90%) for 15 second, potassium nitrate 0.4%, distilled water, aminol forte 0.4%, kadostim 0.4%, fosnutren 0.4% and humiforte 0.4%. The results were indicated that chilling have significant effect on increasing of the germination percentage, coleoptile length, radical length, se edling length, rate of germination and vigor index. The treatments of benzyl adenine + chitin, gibberellic acid + chitin, aminol forte and distilled water caused a significant increase in characteristics of fennel germination in compare to other treatments. Varieties of Malayer has significant percentage of germination, coleoptile length, radical length, seedling length and vigor index in compared to varieties of Nahavand. The results indicated that in the condition of this study moist chilling treatment (stratification) for 15 days convey with application of treatments of benzyl adenine + chitin and aminol forte is suitable to breaking dormancy of fennel seeds. Keywords: Chilling, dormancy of seed, dormancy-breaking treatments, fennel Introduction Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) is an aromatic, Herbaceous and biennial plant which grows to a height of 2 m. Fennel fruit is small with the length of about 8 mm and width of 3 mm, aromatic and sweet (Rchinger1987). One of the main characteristics of seed is the power of germination and vigor that is important for farmers (Copeland L. O. and M. B. McDonald, 1375). Studies have shown that many of the family Apiaceae plants are produced seeds with lots of endosperm and small embryos (Baskin, 1992). Percentage of seed germination in many plants of this family are low and their germination standards is lower than other plants. Lack of embryo, incompletely and dormant embryo in seed are the most important factors of seed dormancy and reducing of germination in this plants category (Robinson, 1954). The results of the studies of (Hedayati, 2000 and Nichols; ,1934Baskin, 1984, 1991 and , 1999 Troy, 1993; Widrlechner, 2000) indicate that a variety types of the Saubacus genus, Umbelliferus seeds and Dioscora and Cuphea species also show different degrees of physiological dormancy patterns and chilling can greatly help to resolve this type of dormancy. (Slater, 1982). Soltani Pour (1388) showed that the maximum and minimum rate of germination of fennel were 34.1 and zero per day related to cold treatment and hot water treatment. The maximum index of vigor seed was 365.75 related to cold treatment and the minimum index of vigor seed was zero related to hot water treatment. Moist cold causes permeability of seed, materials washing and prevents germination, also cold resolves physiological dormancy and overcomes internal abscisic acid. Plant hormones or growth regulators are involved in many aspects of plant growth. Investigations showed that most of the plant hormones such as auxins, gibberellin, cytokinin, ethylene and abscisic acid affect on the stimulating germination or dormancy of seed via specific ways that cause controlling functions of nucleic acids (Cournf et al., 2002). The results of the interaction of different concentrations of gibberellin hormone (0, 100, 250, 500 and 1000 ppm) and the time of dipping in this hormone (24 and 48 hours) of the rhubarb indicated significant differences between treatments in terms of the evaluated characteristics (percentage and rate of Fecula gummosa). The maximum a mount (65%) was obtained by increasing concentrations of this hormone from 100 to 500 ppm. However it was reduced by increasing concentrations of hormone to 1000 ppm. Bannayan and Najafi (1383) stated that germination of Fercula gummosa was increased at concentrations above 50 ppm of gibberellic acid. They observed that low concentration of gibberellic acid had no effect on breaking dormancy of Fecula gummosa, but the concentration of 50 ppm and increasing the soaking time from 48 to 72 hours improved percentage of germination. As the maximum percentage of Fercula gummosa seed germination was obtained at concentrations of 1000 and 2500 ppm. Materials and Methods Seed Characterization Seed samples of two species namely Malayer and Nahavan were collected from Sarsir area of Hamadan in 1390. In order to preparation seeds, at first the same size and apparently healthy seeds were separated by a loop. Average weight of 1000 seeds was 3 g. After stratification period, the seeds were sterilized and breaking dormancy treatments were applied on them and they were placed in germinator machine with photoperiod of 8 hours of light at 30  ° C and 16 hours of darkness at 20  ° C (ISTA, 1985). Characteristics of Experiment Location To evaluate the effects of moist chilling and application of hormonal, chemical treatments and biological stimuli to break dormancy and induce germination of two varieties of fennel, an experiment was performed in laboratory of seed technology of the Agriculture faculty of Islamic Azad University khorasgan brunch Isfahan in 91-92 years. The research was performed based on a split factorial experiment in a completely randomized design (CRD) with four replications. Levels of stratification set in the main plot and variety factorial and break dormancy treatment set in sub-plots. Effect of moist chilling on breaking dormancy of seed Moist chilling levels include 0, 15, 30 and 45 days. This means that the seed is placed in distilled water for 24 hours. Then the moist seeds were placed inside sterilized and humid cotton bags separately. These bags were kept in isolated and dark environment at 4  ° C in the refrigerator. Effect of treatments on breaking dormancy of seed After the chilling period, 14 pregermination treatments were applied on the seeds. 14 braking dormancy treatments were as follow: 1-Gibberellic acid (100 mg L-1). 2- Benzyl adenine (10-5 M). 3- Chitin (10-5 M). 4- Mixture of gibberellic acid + benzyl adenine. 5- Mixture of gibberellic acid + chitin. 6- Mixture of benzyl adenine + chitin. 7- Mixture of gibberellic acid + benzyl adenine + chitin. 8- Concentrated sulfuric acid (90%) for 15 second. 9- Potassium nitrate 0.4%. 10- Distilled water. 11- Aminol forte 0.4% (Growth Stimulus). 12- Kadostim 0.4% (Growth Stimulus). Fosnutren 0.4% and Humiforte 0.4% (Growth Stimulus). Concentrations used for treatments 4, 5, 6 and 7 were same as the concentrations of treatments 1, 2 and 3. Used hormones in these experiments were manufactured by Sigma Company and biological stimuli, including 19 kinds of amino acids, low molecular weight polypeptides and also nutrients were manufactured by Inagrosa Company. Statistical population and sampling In order to determine the percentage and rate of germination germinated seeds were counted once per 24 hours according to the ISTA instruction. Root were considered germinated when they exhibited a radical extension of 2 to 3 mm (Bahadori et al., 1386). Evaluation of germination will be end when amount of germinated seeds in consecutive counts are same and this time was considered as the end of the germination period. After this period, the following parameters were measured: 1-Germination percentage 2- Coleoptile length 3-Radicle length 4- Germination rate 5- Uniformity of germination 6- Seed vigor index Percentage of germination according to equation of (Jefferson and Pennacchio, 2003) G=(n/N)Ãâ€"100 G = germination percentage n = amount of germinated seeds N = amount of the seeds in each petri dish container Germination rate according to equation of (Bahadori and Javanbakht, 1385) RG =1/MTG RG = rate of germination MTG = Mean Time of Germination Uniformity of germination was calculated according follow equation (Karam and Al-Salem, 2001) Uniformity of germination = (4) D = number of days from the beginning of germination ∑n = total number of germinated seeds N = number of germinated seeds at day = average number of days from the beginning of germination Data Analysis: Analyses of variance was performed on the data by MSTATC software. The means of parameters levels was compared using Duncan’s multiple range tests at %5 level of probability. Excel software was used to plot diagrams. Results Stratification It was observed that moist chilling is the most important treatment on seed germination of Fennel like many other members of Apiaceae family. However, Stratification have a significant effect on percentage of germination, coleoptile length, radical length, seedling length, average time of germination, germination rate and seed vigor index at %1 level of probability but the uniformity of germination was not significant (Table 1). The results indicated that increasing cold stratification duration for 15 days increased seed germination. Comparison of means using Duncan method indicated that the maximum percentage was obtained with 15 days cold stratification treatment resulting in 36.86% and it was decreased by increasing moist cold stratification duration as 45 days cold stratification treatment resulting in 11.18% stated that there was no significant difference in germination practically (Table 2). Results indicated that the maximum average time of germination was obtained by using no stratification treatment and cold stratification of 15 days but average time of germination was decreased significantly by increasing cold stratification duration from 15 to 30 and 45 days (Table 2). Stratification treatment have a significant effect on seed vigor index at %1 level of probability (Table 1). the maximum seed vigor index was obtained by using cold stratification treatment of 15 days and there was a significant difference between this treatment and other treatments. the minimum seed vigor index was obtained by using cold stratification treatment of 45 days and there was a significant difference between this treatment and other treatments (Table 2). Breaking dormancy treatments The results of variance analyses table of breaking dormancy treatments application indicated that applied of hormone- amino acid- chemical treatment caused a significant difference between germination parameters such as percentage of germination, coleoptile length, radical length, seedling length, average time of germination, germination uniformity, germination rate and seed vigor index (Table 1 and 2). Comparision of means indicated that the maximum affect on germination of fennel was obtained by using aminol forte, benzyl adenine + chitin treatments (Table 2). Interactions of moist chilling and breaking dormancy treatments indicated that bio-stimulant treatments of kadostim and aminol forte and hormonal treatments of benzyl adenine + chitin had the highest percentage of germination in the absence of cold. An increased in germination percentage was observed by increasing cold stratification duration of mentioned treatments to 15 days but increasing cold stratification duration up to 15 days reduced germination percentage with the same ratio. However, increasing cold stratification duration from 0 to 15 days for nitrate potassium treatment increased germination percentage of 26% that is maximum percentage of germination but increasing stratification duration to 30 and 45 days reduce germination percentage to a lesser extent compared with that (Table 2). The results of applied treatments revealed that the concentrations of used materials and the duration of these treatments are effective in stimulating germination. Varieties The results of varieties reaction indicate that increasing percentage of germination, coleoptile length, radical length, seedling length and seed vigor index of Malayer variety is significantly higher than nahavand variety. The seeds of Malayer variety with 32.29% of germination is ranked higher than the seeds of Nahavand variety with 13.11% of germination (Table 2). The interaction between the moist chilling with break dormancy treatments and varieties Study of interactions of moist chilling, varieties and breaking dormancy treatments indicated that cytokinins convey with increasing cold stratification duration to 15 days increased some parameters such as percentage of germination, coleoptile length, radical length, seedling length and etc. in Malayer and Nahavand varieties (Table 3). The highest average time of germination was obtained by using 15 days cold stratification treatment covey with distilled water treatment in Nahavand variety while the lowest average time of germination was obtained using 30 days cold stratification treatment covey with sulfuric acid treatment in Nahavand and Malayer varieties and 30 days cold stratification convey with kadostim in Malayer variety. Interactions of variety, chilling and breaking dormancy treatments have a significant effect on seed vigor index at %1 level of probability (Table 3). The maximum seed vigor index was obtained by using humiforte treatments convey with cold stratification tre atment of 15 days in Malayer variety and there was a significant difference between this treatment and other treatments. The minimum seed vigor index was obtained by using sulfuric acid treatment convey with cold stratification treatment of 30 days in Nahavand and Malayer varieties and there was a significant difference between this treatment and other treatments except kadostim treatment convey with cold stratification treatment of 45 days in Nahavand variety and sulfuric acid treatment convey with cold stratification treatment of 15 days in Nahavand variety (Table 3). Discussion Our data indicated that improving moist chilling to 15 days can be caused breaking dormancy of seeds as the maximum amount was obtained with 15 days cold stratification treatment resulting in 36.86% and it was decreased by increasing moist cold stratification duration as 45 days cold stratification treatment resulting in 11.18% stated that there was no significant difference in germination practically. There is continuity between seed dormancy and germination (Choun, 1996). This reaction can be due to growth of stratified embryos. Similarly, number of cell, dry weight and final length were increased in the embryonic axis of cherries seed which had been stratified (Eleni and Pelak, 1960). Also absorption of oxygen and energy were provided at the surface of cellular that the enzymes catalase, phosphatase, alkaline lipase and peroxidase were increased (Zarska-Maciejewska and Lewak, 1976). Thus it becomes clear that many of fetal development and metabolism are affected by stratification. In addition amount of hormone changes in stratified seeds. For example, ABA level is reduced due to seeds stratification of apple, pine, walnut and hazelnut. Adding gibberellin can be substituted stratification in some seeds (Pinà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ eld, 1968) due to the stimulatory role of this hormone. During the stratification procedure observed an increase in the amount of internal gibberellin which can be confirmed previous hypothesis )Frankland and Virnik, 1966). Therefore, in addition of the increase in growth rate and metabolic activity of the stratified seeds, changing of the inhibitor and stimulator levels can also be effective in breaking of the seed dormancy. The stratification time varies depending on the species. Seeds of Wild Rose needs to have a two-month period of stratification (Crocker and Barton, 1931). The stratification time depends on the age of the seeds. The seeds of Malayer variety with 32.29% of germination is ranked higher than the seeds of Nahavand variety with 13.11% of germination. The difference between seeds collection areas or the condition of the seed on the mother plant and strength of seed dormancy could be the reasons of this observation. On the other hand, it seems that induction of secondary dormancy is provided by the development of chilling on the studied seeds of the 1390. Study of breaking dormancy treatments effect indicated that the maximum affect on germination of fennel was obtained by using aminol forte, benzyl adenine + chitin treatments (Table 2-4). These reactions can probably be accrued due to the effect of cytokinins such as kinetin on increase activity of alpha-amylase that finally lead to the breakdown of starch molecules. In the other hand it seems that the resolve of seed dormancy by cytokinins may be related to increasing membrane permeability and exchanging storage materials. In addition cytokinins increase the process of cell division in the embryo by stimulating the synthesis of RNA and DNA and thereby facilitates seed germination. Thus the cytokinins are required to complete induction of germination by GA and reduce the effect of growth inhibitor (such as ABA) indirectly. Agrol and Dalani (2004) also proposed a model to study the effect of the germination stimulating and inhibitory hormones and they concluded that 1ibberellins can n ot break seed dormancy when there are high levels of ABA in the seed and in this case, presence of 1ibberellins besides the cytokinin leads to overcome ABA and seed dormancy will be beaked. Totally, it is believed that seed dormancy in excellent plants will be occurred by the balance of growth internal inhibitory and stimulating. Therefore, dormancy may be occurred due to the presence of growth inhibiting substances or lack of growth stimulating substances or a combination of both them. The amount of these endogenous compounds are controlled by environmental factors such as light and temperature. Study of interactions of moist chilling, varieties and breaking dormancy treatments indicated that cytokinins convey with increasing cold stratification duration to 15 days increased some parameters such as percentage of germination, coleoptile length, radical length, seedling length and etc. in Malayer and Nahavand varieties. The increase of mentioned parameters by cytokinins probability r elated to increasing membrane permeability and exchanging storage materials. However, chilling is effective due to elimination of germination inhibitory factors. Moist chilling increases effects of breaking dormancy treatments and as a result resolve dormancy and Induces germination. In the other hand, bio-stimulant treatments of kadostim and aminol forte and chemical treatments of nitrate potassium convey with increasing chilling duration improved degree of their germination. Acknowledgements This study was part of a MS thesis of Sayyid Amirreza Tahaei that was defended in Faculty of Agriculture of Islamic Azad University Isfahan brunch. Therefore, I would like to express my special appreciation and thanks to manager of Faculty of Agriculture of Islamic Azad University Isfahan brunch, my supervisor Dr. Ali Soleimani and my advisor.

T.S. Eliot’s Powerful Use of Fragmentation in The Waste Land Essay exam

T.S. Eliot’s Powerful Use of Fragmentation in The Waste Land T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land is an elaborate and mysterious montage of lines from other works, fleeting observations, conversations, scenery, and even languages. Though this approach seems to render the poem needlessly oblique, this style allows the poem to achieve multi-layered significance impossible in a more straightforward poetic style. Eliot’s use of fragmentation in The Waste Land operates on three levels: first, to parallel the broken society and relationships the poem portrays; second, to deconstruct the reader’s familiar context, creating an individualized sense of disconnection; and third, to challenge the reader to seek meaning in mere fragments, in this enigmatic poem as well as in a fractious world. On the most superficial level, the verbal fragments in The Waste Land emphasize the fragmented condition of the world the poem describes. Partly because it was written in the aftermath of World War I, at a time when Europeans’ sense of security as well as the land itself was in shambles, the poem conveys a sense of disillusionment, confusion, and even despair. The poem’s disjointed structure expresses these emotions better than the rigidity and clarity of more orthodox writing. This is evinced by the following from the section "The Burial of the Dead": Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade And went on in the sunlight, into the Hofgarten, And drank coffee, and talked for an hour. Bin gar keine Russin, stamm’ aus Litauen, echt Deutsch. And when we were children, staying at the arch-duke’s, My cousin’s, he took me out on a sled, And I was frightened. He said, Marie, Marie, hol... ...ze anything other than the awful finality of despair. The sense of healing and salvation at the end of The Waste Land indicates that there is hope for meaning, even in fractured worlds and obfuscated poems. But it is up to each of us to discover it. NOTES 1. T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land, in Selected Poems (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1962). 2. In his preface to his notes on The Waste Land, Eliot writes, "Not only the title, but the plan and a good deal of the incidental symbolism of the poem were suggested by Miss Jessie L. Weston’s book on the Grail Legend: From Ritual to Romance (Cambridge). Indeed, so deeply am I indebted, Miss Weston’s book will elucidate the difficulties of the poem much better than my notes can do; and I recommend it . . . to any who think such elucidation of the poem worth the trouble" (68). 3. See Eliot’s notes to The Waste Land.

On the Road Essay

â€Å"On the Road† is not merely a tale of adventure. It is a story of a journey of life. As the characters travel back and forth between places, they move from one phase of their life to the next. It is a story of friendship, realization, and growth. The story’s ending highlights the end of a journey for Sal. Furthermore, it shows his metamorphosis as a human and his growth in terms of maturity. Also, the last part of the novel shows how he transformed in term s of how he viewed life and the people around him, most especially Dean. Most important of all, the latter part of the novel shows a much needed transition and change in Sal’s life. As he journeys alone, it serves as a symbol and a metaphor of his growth and independence from Dean. His decision to venture out on his own without calling on Dean to join him is a metaphor. As was seen in the beginning of the novel, Sal was mesmerized with Dean’s outlook of the world. He was at awe with how Dean lived his life. He wanted the same life which was the reason he joined Dean in travelling around the country. However, as the novel came to an end, so did Sal’s enchantment with Dean and the life he was living. His decision to go out on his own is evidence that he changed his view of the world. It showed how he outgrew their old ways and moved on to more important and valuable things in life. No longer was he interested in simple fun and the happy-go-lucky life. He aspired for more significance and meaning. He craved for a more meaningful life. The ending of the novel shows how Sal transformed as an individual. It showed how he moved on to a better life. Sadly, this meant disassociation with Dean and the life he chose to live.

Financial Aid Appeal Letter Essay

My name is Ali Shaheed and I am writing to appeal my suspension from financial aid. I hope that you will reconsider your decision and grant my financial aid. I would like to begin thanking you in advance for taking the time to read this letter and consider my request to reinstate my financial aid at Henry Ford Community College. I take full responsibility for my unsatisfactory completion rate, but I would like to explain the circumstances. I started my first semester at HFCC in winter 2012, and I failed to attend my classes due to my mother being sick, and I had to rush her to the hospital every other day. I had to take care of her because I’m the only one she had. In a result I failed to make satisfactory academic progress due to me not attending classes. This summer of 2013 I went to Baker College of Allen Park to continue my education because they approved me for financial grants, and because I could not afford to pay my classes at HFCC. Now I’m a full time student at Baker and I have completed one class so far and I got an A in it, and I got 3 more classes that I’m currently attending right now, I will attach my classes schedule and registration with this letter to verify and see that I’m serious about this and I want to move forward to continue my education and be successful and never look back, and my I will also send in my official transcript from Baker when I finish the semester in December 16th 2013. I’m looking forward now to go back to HFCC for the winter semester because they got better learning environment and better teachers and it’s the college that I want to finish my education at. I am really serious about my future and I recognize that a degree is essential in attaining a great career. Again, thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and I assure you, if granted financial aid, my education and will continue to be my main priority.

How to Early Prepare for the SAT

How to Early Prepare for the SAT SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips One of the most common times to take the SAT is during junior year of high school (th grade). Is it too early to get started on the SAT preparation if you start before junior year - say freshman year or even middle school? What can you do to help with the SAT during the early years? The SAT is one of the most efficient ways to boost your chances of getting into college. I've said it before but I'll say it again: if you have spent less than 40 hours total studying for the SAT, hour-for-hour, there is NO BETTER WAY to improve your college chances than by SAT studying. Does this mean that it's not efficient to study way ahead of time for the SAT? I believe that is it not. There are a few key reasons I'll outline later, but the main logicis this: By starting to study and think about the SAT earlier, you have so many different options and interventions open to you. The old saying that a stitch in time saves nine holds particular true for the SAT. Say you find out your math score is incredibly weak: if you're a freshman or middle schooler you can actually solidly learn the underlying math content. You have the years to take that algebra class or hard math class to improve your skill. Say you find that your SAT score is strongly limiting your college options - you have so many years to fix that. Without further ado, here are someadvantages to starting early: 1. You know where you stand. Once you prepare for the SAT and take it the first time, you'll know roughly where you stand in the college admissions process. The most important advantage to taking the SAT early is that you'll know whether the SAT is a limiting factor for you in college admissions. If your SAT score is 1510 but your GPA is only 2.5 and you have two extracurriculars, then the SAT is NOT your limiting factor. You'll know that you can relax about the SAT, never worry about it again (just use your first score) and boost the other two as much as you can. Conversely, if your SAT score is 1220 but your GPA is pushing 3.9 and you have clubs up the wazoo, the SAT is a strongly limiting factor. It would be well worth your while to spend over a hundred hours on SAT study in this case. Knowing this early gives you so many advantages. You'll know way beforehand what your balance of effort should be between the SAT and other college admission factors. 2. You don't forget content. I would advise the follow ratio of content versus strategy studying depending on how far ahead of junior year you are. If you are studying junior year, I believe a 60/40 content:strategy ratio is most optimal. At this point you've already built your underlying skills for years, so content studying will have limited returns, while strategies, getting used to the timing, fatigue, and quirks of the test are a great way to get quick points. If you are studying sophomoreyear the ratio is 70/30, freshman year the ratio is 80/20, and in middle school the ratio ought to be 90/10. Why do I recommend a higher content:strategy ratio the earlier you study? The simple reason is twofold. First you forget content less through time. Once you learn how to solve a system of linear equations, you'll be using that all the time in math class, and often in real life as well. It's like riding a bicycle; you won't forget it. On the other hand, knowing a strategy like "double check at minute 20" will earn you points, but unless you're taking the SAT, you won't repeat it and so you'll forget it much faster. Second, content studying suffers less from decreasing marginal returns: strategy can only take you so far, but content can take you all the way. I would say you'll be just as efficient studying for SAT content junior year as freshman year. Start early, and begin by focusing on content. 3. You get the SAT over with Junior and senior year will already be stressful enough as it is. You'll be applying to a number of colleges, trying to get the highest GPA possible (junior and senior year GPAs matter most), and these will be your prime years to compete in a number of competitions that will be the crown jewel of your college applications. You don't want the stress of uncertain SAT scores to add to that. So study early, and you could get it over with by the time you reach junior and senior year. In fact, this is exactly the strategy I took: I look the test only once and never had to worry about it most of junior and senior year. The point of this is that it's definitely useful to get started on SAT studying earlier. Found this article useful? Get a lot more helpful with our Free SAT Ebook! // Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Dr. Fred Zhang About the Author Fred is co-founder of PrepScholar. He scored a perfect score on the SAT and is passionate about sharing information with aspiring students. Fred graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor's in Mathematics and a PhD in Economics. Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Get FREE EXCLUSIVE insider tips on how to ACE THE SAT/ACT. 100% Privacy. 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