<p>1) I know this has been asked a lot but, I ams till confused: how do the blue book tests compare to the actual test? The reason I ask is because when I look at the difficulty levels of lets say, CR, one test will have all medium level, while others half easy half medium. How does this reflect actual test day difficulty? Also, how does the online course compare in difficulty? On each section CR, M, W?</p>
<p>2) How do you practice the essay. I am currently using the Grammatix method, but do you just devise your strategy and wait till test day, or practice prompts? Is there any use in practicing since the prompt on test day will obviously be different? Any reasons other than to get used to time constraints?</p>
<p>1) The blue book tests are roughly the same difficulty level as the actual test. I took a lot of blue book tests and my scores were very similar to the score on the actual test. So don't worry. </p>
<p>2) Of course you'd practice essays! Akahmed, you must be joking! </p>
<p>Is there any use in practicing since the reading passages on test day will obviously be different?</p>
<p>Is there any use in practicing since the writing questions on test day will obviously be different?</p>
<p>Is there any use in practicing since the math questions on test day will obviously be different?</p>
<p>Come on! You know the answer to your own question!</p>
<p>Steps:
1. Get a rubric that the SAT readers use.
2. Read a sample 12 essay.
3. Read a sample 10 essay.
4. Why did the 12 get a 12? Why did the 10 get a 10? Try to use the rubric guidelines to support your answer.
5. Read a sample 8 essay. Why did this essay fit the criteria for an 8 but not for a 10?
6. Read a sample 6 essay. Why did it get a 6 and not a 12? Can you cite sections of the essay to support your answer? Why could the writer have done specifically to get an 8? A 10? A 12?
7. Read a sample 4 essay. How would you improve it?
8. Read a sample 2 essay. How would you improve it?
9. Write an SAT essay.
10. What would you give it? Why? Would you be impressed by the essay if you were an SAT reader? If so, you've written a 10-12. If you've written an essay that's pretty good, it's a 7-9. If it's just average it's a 6. If it's below average, if it doesn't really support your argument well, if it's unclear, it's a 4-5. If it's just bad, it's a 1-3. These are general guidelines.</p>
<p>i have a list of about 4 examples that i know extremely well and could manipulate in many ways in order to fit any SAT prompt. Instead of actually writing the essay, I first figure out which examples to use and how I should conform them to the prompt. Then I just outline the main points in the intro, skip the actual body since this part is already memorized and perfected, and think about what to state for the conclusion. It usually takes me about 3-5 minutes to do all of this.</p>