I am a sophomore in high school and I got a bad PSAT score: a 1140. I have a plan though, study at 1-2 hours a day of SAT practice from a big SAT book and Kahn Academy. I’m also going to read at least 1 hour a day. With this, I will take 1 full practice test every Sunday during the summer. Will this help me achieve my goal? By the way, I feel that I could have done much better than I actually did. Thanks 
Just try your best to prepare. A 300+ boost in one year is challenging.
I think you can do it, but I would try to lower your goal a little bit, and only raise it when you’ve reached a more modest goal, like 1300. Otherwise, you might get frustrated. That should definitely be achievable with the kind of work you’re talking about putting in.
You actually have a year and a half. If you take it really seriously over the summer, I think you could make a lot of progress. Just make sure you have a good strategy.
There are some good threads on here about the SAT. I would highly recommend looking at them, and buying a couple of books that discuss how to attack the test. There are also some good web sites that discuss prep strategy, and test taking strategy too.
Thankyou to all of your responses! I greatly appreciate them and I’ll take a look at those sites
Daughter read all books (lol) Barrons, Princeton, english for sat, realtestprep.com, a 4 week test prep, over 200 hours personal study over 15 practices tests, 30 hours private tutor.
To go up 200 points in 7 months. Its not easy! You are literally saying you will be getting 2-3 wrong and thats it.
She is a soph.
While every kid is different, if you work extremely hard, then 200-300 points is very possible. And I think most test prep companies will tell you that before you start. 400-500 points is in the “anything is possible” type category. Good luck.
doable … but tough.
My personal view is that any student that he/she is not a natural high scorer should have as first goal high 600s or a cumulative score in the range of 1350. First that is a respectable score that will open a lot of doors and second that is an attainable goal that a lot of student can achieve by studying and diligence. After this score is achieved then yes a student could aim higher but at that point he/she will have a better idea of what it needs to be done and if the amount of work is worth it or sustainable. A lot of students will be having a challenging curriculum at school and ECs that they care. In my opinion things need to be balanced.
I actually got the same psat score sophomore year (1140). On the March SAT this year I got a 1470, and I will be studying over the summer to try and raise it in August. If you study it’s completely doable. Keep in mind also that you’re only a sophomore and have a year to gain experience not only through SAT practice but also through your schoolwork as well. Good luck!
I don’t know if your goal is to study to qualify for National Merit or simply just to practice for the SAT but Khan Academy directly partnered with the College Board (company that runs SAT) to provide real practice. It’s completely free and you can load your PSAT results in online (you log into your college board account, it’s really not as hard as it sounds). It then figures out your weak areas and provides practice to help target those areas. It really helped me significantly; my first PSAT was an 1160 and I was able to raise it to a 1310 the next time.The ACT ended up catering more to my strengths than the PSAT/SAT (obviously I didn’t qualify for NM with a 1310 and my ACT equivalent was significantly higher) so I didn’t take it again after that but I think the Khan Academy practice really helped me. Good luck!
Thanks to all that replied, you’ve given me a lot to think about
Happy to help!
Definitely possible, but you have to be very dedicated! By taking a 6 week [ACT] online course, I was able to raise my score 230 points [if it had been converted to SAT].
I suggest trying both the ACT and SAT if your schools accept both.
I will definitely look at that, thanks.
I’m gonna be honest with you. It’s more than doable to raise your score by 300+ points. I feel like the PSAT doesn’t really prepare one for the SAT. Especially since alot of sophomores take it at the beginning of the year with no knowledge yet from sophmore classes. Just use khan academy at least 15 minutes every week day. Than 1-2 hours every weekend.
I went from a 1660 old PSAT (around an 1100 new PSAT) to a 1530 new SAT. I took 2 online practice tests for my preparation. You don’t really need to study for the SAT - in my opinion, it’s more of a maturity test than an intelligence test. When I took the PSAT, I was nervous (I actually almost threw up during the test), but a year later, I was much more relaxed while taking the exam so my score shot WAY up. Just realize that the SAT doesn’t really matter (you can take it as many times as you want) and try your best.
Sounds like you have a nice plan! However, taking a full practice test every weekend will wear you out quickly. Try maybe, once a month?
That way you see more improvement when taking them.
When I took the PSAT in 2016, I got an 1190. A couple months later (and now studying), I took the SAT and got a 1310.
I know this is a bit late, but I wouldn’t worry to much. A lot of it comes with the classes you will be taking by junior year. I never prepared for the PSAT and as a sophomore I got a similar score as you (1180/1520) and then junior year also without studying got a 1400/1520. That’s an over 200 point improvement. PSAT scores do not matter that much. While they will give you a general idea of how you will do on the SAT, I didn’t find them very accurate. For example, on my junior year PSAT I got 2 math questions wrong in total while on all my actual SATs I have been consistently getting 5-8 wrong. Just breathe and work hard, you ARE smart and very capable. You got it.