The primary difficulty, I would say is handling a question paper that tests your ability to think creatively and your ability to apply your thinking to the question at hand. Indian education system does not foster these skills, they merely teach you rote learning and plugging formulas to get answers. In SAT, the student often has to use his brains to figure out the right formula that he needs to apply to obtain the correct answer. Hence it is very important they undertake test preparation under the guidance of an experienced teacher who can teach them to think creatively, and impart out-of-the box thinking skills. The second difficulty is Reading Comprehension questions in the Verbal Section. This involves reading short and long passages and answering questions based on those passages. Again, Indian schools do not teach reading and comprehension skills to the students, and hence this is another area of difficulty for Indian students. American schools teach their students to read a passage critically and understand it. This skill is lacking in Indian students. Hence it is imperative to choose a trainer who can impart these skills to the students. I have developed special strategies which enable a student to answer the questions correctly after reading the passage just once! This will enable the student to finish the Reading Comprehension questions as quickly as possible, so they have enough time to attend to the other questions. The third difficulty is in the Essay Writing section. You will be given a topic and you have to write an essay on the topic based on the instructions that follow. Often students do not follow the instructions and write according to their own whims and fancies. Indians encounter problems in this section as well for the same reasons I mentioned when discussing the difficulties related to the Reading Comprehension section. read less