11 month progress: 1060-->1970

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Folks, </p>

<p>I just wanted to share my story of preparing for the SAT. </p>

<p>A little background about myself</p>

<p>I an international student, and my native language is Russian. I started preparing for the SAT in June 2010. At that point, my english was really low. In my high school, we studied all subjects in Russian, and only had English classes 2 times a week. I wasn't even the best studnent in my english class, and my grades fluctuated between Bs and Cs. So I finished my 9th grade, and was on summer holidays. As I said before, my english was really poor; I just knew very basic stuff like ("how are you?" "good" "bad" "cat" "dog" "bye"). I didn't even know verb tenses, and couldn't speak in english at all.</p>

<p>Preparation</p>

<p>I started my preparation on June 14, 2010. As I remember, the first thing that I did was buying the SAT Online Course at CollegeBoard website. So for the next 2 weeks, I was doing some practice problmes, and also learning some new stuff about the structure of the exam. From the very first day, I noticed that writing essays and math were my strongest points. After around 2 weeks of studying (~4-5 hrs a day), I did my first full length practice test. Result: 1060</p>

<p>June 22, 2010: SAT 1060 (first practice test on collegeboard online course website)</p>

<p>On that practice test, I think I scored around 430 in math, did my essay, etc. I remeber that I couldn't answer a single Critical Reading question, lol. </p>

<p>During the next few months, I was studying like a super-charged horse, trying to find a way to "tackle" CR section. I noticed that with enough practice, I was getting pretty decent at math and essay, while definitely getting nowhere with the english part of the test. So I took my first real SAT in October of 2010, and got 1430 for my first attempt.</p>

<p>SAT October 2010: 1430</p>

<p>I think I had 340 in critical reading, and around 560 in math, and 520 in writing; don't remember exact numbers though, but I approximated them to the best of my memory. </p>

<p>After this pathetic fail with critical reading, I was trying to find all the possible ways to improve it. My english was still very poor, and my struggle with CR was pretty normal for that time. That's when I picked up two volumes of Direct Hits (someone on CC here suggested me it), and after that, I started doing much better on vocabulary-based questions of the SAT. My second real exam was in December of 2010, on which I scored 1670.</p>

<p>SAT December 2010: 1670</p>

<p>I think I got 640 in math, 620 in writing, and 390 in critical reading. </p>

<p>Again, I was going nuts over the critical reading, because obviously my scores were very unbalanced. That's why I decided to take the TOEFL IBT exam in January to make up for my pathetic fail in Critical reading. After studying for two weeks, I scored 88 on TOEFL ibt exam (pretty solid for a non-native who is 15 years old). </p>

<p>Two weeks after the TOEFL ibt, I took my 3rd real SAT exam in January 22, 2011. I was pretty happy after the toefl ibt exam, so I went a little bit underprepared, and to my great dissapointment, I got 1540 with 420 in CR. </p>

<p>SAT January 2011: 1540</p>

<p>The futile idea was to skip wr/math sections, and only focus on CR, so I can superscore it with my December score. It didn't work well, and I got only 420 in CR, which was not very good. </p>

<p>After all of this, I decided to start everything from scratch. Over the next couple of months, I was dedicating all my time to memorizing vocabulary lists. I had 1000 word and 3500 word lists, which I compiled into my own list of around 1800 words. I was also reviewing grammar rules from the internet, and practicing my essay skills. My next (and last) SAT attempt was in May of 2011, when I just turned 16. </p>

<p>May 2011: 1970 </p>

<p>CR: 530
WR: 680/ Essay 12
Math: 760</p>

<p>This was definitely the most amazing result that I could ever dream of. I intially wanted to re-take it in October, shooting for 2200+, but I decided to quit SAT and focus on admission process instead. </p>

<p>Anyway, I just wanted to share my story of SAT preparation with you guys. </p>

<p>If you have any questions/comments, feel free to ask me :D</p>

2

<p>Congrats. That’s really nice progress.</p>

3

<p>Beautiful progress. Thank you again for the advice. I know I found these guides/motivational stories extremely helpful while I was preparing for the SAT and I’m sure you’ll aid many people in their studies.</p>

4

<p>Thank you all! </p>

<p>And the thing is, I didn’t even have a tutor or anything. Pure 100% self-study. If I had a proper guidance, I could have achieved 2000s range in 6 months or so. I personally believe that regardless of one’s background, it is possible to go from scratch to 2000 in half a year. For me, it took a bit longer because I wasn’t organized and was always trying new ways of preparation. I think vocabulary is super important (esp. for non-native); as well as practice. As far as I remember, I did around 50+ full length practice tests prior to my May SAT. </p>

<p>As for books, I would say that Princeton Review is one of the best (11 practice tests), and Barron’s 3500+Direct Hits are the best for vocabulary.</p>

<p>6 months is clearly enough, provided that you work 4-5 hrs on a daily basis; lets say spend 3 months studying vocabulary/math/wr and then spend other 3 months doing practice tests. I don’t see how can someone get below 2000 after that.</p>

5

<p>Yolo swag, 6 months 4-5 hours study solely for sat you crazy lol</p>

6

<p>^
Didn’t I do just that? After January 2011 (1540, which is average score for most people), I reached 1970 by May 2011 (4months). If I could do it in 4 months, it can definitely be done in 6 months. </p>

<p>P.S. Just because some people lack the capability to achieve something, doesn’t mean that it cannot be achieved.</p>

7

<p>I agree with you. I spent like 4 hours for 5 months studying for SAT without a tutor, too. And I got 2320 this October,which is really good for me considering I got only 2080 in May. Although spending most of the time studying for a test seems crazy, the result is quite rewarding. </p>

<p>btw you are only 15?</p>

8

<p>^
Nice progress. </p>

<p>I was about to do the same, but after 1970, I decided to quit, because my parents wanted me to take SAT Subject Tests. I studied almost every SAT book that was on the market, at the time; and so, I ran out of practice tests. So that too was the reason I quit. </p>

<p>On my May 2011 SAT (on which I got 1970), I just turned 16. All other SATs were done at 15. Right now, I am an 18 year old college sophmore.</p>

9

<p>Ah yes. I guess I didn’t see you took the test in 2010. lol…
Wow, u certainly did work really hard! I just studied a few books and I had tons of practice tests to finish before the test. I guess I am not a hardworking student as u are.haha…</p>

<p>You started school really early, right? Cuz I’m your age and am still applying for universities…</p>

10

<p>In Russia, we finish high school at 17. </p>

<p>Of course! I had to work 20x harder than the usual student, because english is foreign to me, and I started preparing when I couldn’t even speak the language. My journey with SAT–is basically my journey of learning English from scratch. I went against the suggestions of my parents, who wanted me to build a solid English base first, and then prepare for the SAT.</p>

<p>I guess, I was right to not listen them, and listen to my heart instead haha :D</p>

11

<p>Speak up, folks!</p>

<p>I want to hear from you about my progress!</p>