1800 to 2200?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

I know you guys are sick of these threads.

But I got a 1800 on my last SAT (540 CR, 620W, 640 M)

I’m planning on heavily focusing on my W and M to get them above 700 then afterwards I’ll focus on CR.

I have the Official Study Guide. I do 2-3 sections a day and review my mistakes (but I’m not sure if I remember what I review :S )

I got an 8 on essay, so I need to improve that too

I’m planning on also making a list of flashcards of all SAT vocab I don’t know in the blue book.

My test is Oct 3. Should I keep doing what I’m doing? Change anything? Add anything?

Thanks a lot.

2

I would focus on your CR and Math the most, but still work on writing. First of all, it’s usually much easier to raise lower scores than it is to raise higher ones. Second, many colleges value CR and M over the Writing portion of the SAT. Cornell, for example, will no longer consider the writing score starting with the class of 2016. That’s not to say that you should completely ignore the writing sections, as many colleges still operate on a holistic review process and put each section of the SAT into equal consideration (UC’s, for example). Writing is also fairly easy to improve though. Don’t ignore any section… work on them all. Vocab is a tricky subject, and heavily depends on the amount of time you have. There are so many words that can pop up on the SAT that you simply don’t have the luxury of studying them all in a short 2 month span (if you’re missing a ton of the sentence completions, then buy the Direct Hits vocab list). You’re going to need to study a LOT of words, not only those you don’t know out of the Blue Book. Keep doing those 2-3 sections a day, but also add in 1-3 full length practice test per week (space them out at least a few days so that you have time to work on fixing some of your mistakes). Avoid online practice tests… just print them out. You want to have a similar testing environment for when you do take the real SAT again. Cut out noise distractions, and time yourself strictly. If you’re having trouble remembering what to review, then go over what your mistakes were immediately after you take a test/section, or write them down for later. Make sure you don’t just mindlessly take practice test after practice test. Actively work and understand what’s wrong with your approach, and change it to accommodate.

3

@Stanucbear Thank you! I’m aiming to apply for a great dental school (most likely not Ivy League)

Writing is my favorite subject, and CR my least.

I read what you said and heres what I came up with

Monday: 3M sections + 15 vocab flashcards + error review
Tuesday: 3W sections + 15 vocab flashcards + error review
Wednesday: 2CR sections + 15 vocab flashcards + error review
Thursday: Full Length Practice Test
Friday: 3M sections + 15 vocab flashcards + error review
Saturday: 3W sections + 15 vocab flashcards + error review
Sunday: 2CR sections + 15 vocab flashcards + error review

Sound good?

Do you think if I do this till October I can pull off a 2200?

(oh sh*t just noticed today is Thursday hahahah why do I do this to myself)

4

just realized I have no essay practice.

idk I feel like it’s a waste of time practicing for the essay. like honestly, you’re either a good writer or you’re not.

I think the vocab memorizing will help me pull off a 10 on the essay. No? (I currently have an 8)

EDIT 2: nvm, full length practice test includes essay, so I’m good.

5

Alright, another thing - I’m officially declaring this as my progress thread.
I’ll post daily updates on what I did and how I scored. As well as what I need to review and if I reviewed it or not.

Oh boy, this is going to be fun haha

6

I know I’m talking to myself here, but I would like to post my June SAT Essay to see how I can improve it for a 10-11 (or maybe a 12?)

It’s really bad, and I mean REALLY bad. I’m surprised I got an 8, should’ve been a 6 or worse even… :frowning:

Prompt: Do people need to spend less time with others in order to appreciate them?

Spending time with other individuals has a direct correlation with the amount you appreciate them. Several examples through literature and personal experiences exemplify this claim. In order to fully appreciate someone in your life, you must initially realize what they do for you. This can only be achieved when this person has been excluded from your life for a certain amount of time.

In the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main character, Gatsby, has an immense desire to be with is love, Daisy. Gatsby never sees Daisy as they have no former connection and little reason to interact. The absence of Daisy makes Gatsbys’ inner desire for her intensify. Ultimately, Gatsby disregards the majority of his lifes priorities and spends an unreasonable portion of his wealth simply for the sole reason of attracting Daisy over to his mansion. This example goes to show how extreme of an impact the absence of someone has on the life of another person.

In my personal experience, I have always been raised in a household with my family. However, when my family was forced to split apart for my educational benefit, I felt as if a part of my life had been taken away from me. The mother who raised me, supported me, and caused me to strive for success had been exerted from my daily lifestyle. Furthermore, I realized many things which I took for granted were not available to me anymore. I never realized what I had until it left me, and now I truly appreciate my mother for what she did.

In conclusion, the deprivation of a persons actions can cause you to sincerely appreciate them more. Thus, people do indeed need to spend less time with people in order to fully appreciate them

Done
-2 pages
-Tons of errors in grammar and word placement/usage
-Tons of grammar errors
-Very little vocab

^ can anyone add on to that?

I’d just like to say I’m no longer THIS bad at writing essays, and have certainly improved as a writer. Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.

7

Yes, that seems like a fine schedule. Make sure you add in error review for your full length practice test as well. I got 10’s on my essays, but I didn’t practice essays specifically. As you said, the full length practice tests were basically my essay prep. I just don’t know how specifically someone can improve their essay writing since I was content with my essay scores on my practice tests from the beginning. You should check out some other threads in this forum on essay tips. I’m sure there are many. For my essay, I just wrote 4 well developed paragraphs (idk how people can write 5 and still be satisfied with the quality of the paragraphs, I guess I’m just a slow writer?).

Your essay:

  1. Your syntax is rather similar throughout your entire essay. Basically, all of your sentences are approximately the same length, and you have no variety in punctuation (your essay is exclusively commas and periods). Throw in a semicolon! Or an em-dash! Something that develops sophistication in your essay (while it is the easiest format to write/organize your ideas, the cookie cutter intro, thesis, 2-3 body, conclusion can get boring for the SAT graders who have read hundreds of essays formatted just like yours, so you MUST make up for that in varying syntax and diction).
  2. The first two sentences of your intro contradict the last two sentences (of your intro). You claim that the more time you spend with an individual, the more you will end up appreciating them. But after, you claim that you will end up appreciating someone more if you are spending less time with them. I understand what you’re trying to get at… it just needs to be more obvious to a reader who’s hastily reading through your essay.
  3. You need at least 1 more example in your body paragraphs. Alternatively, you could go very in depth into a single topic/example in each respective body. I do not think that your first body is developed enough (it is a decent example though).
  4. Your second body is fantastic. I tend to tell others to avoid personal examples unless you have very specific and outstanding one. Yours was pretty good.
  5. TRANSITIONS TRANSITIONS TRANSITIONS!!! You NEED to add in a transition sentence either at the beginning of your second body paragraph or the end of your first body (you usually do not need a transition in your intro/conclusion but that depends on your own style of writing). EXPLICITLY link the Great Gatsby to your personal experiences. It helps with the flow of your essay so much, and when the reader is powering through your essay as quickly as the SAT graders do, it is incredibly important.
  6. Please do not use “In conclusion” ever again. They know it’s your conclusion. You don’t need to tell them.
  7. Your conclusion needs to be developed more. Make it profound. Give your reader a lasting impression. People remember very well the last thing that they read, and that’s your conclusion. Avoid ending with a brief conclusion, unless it’s so profound and outstanding that more sentences take away from its effect.
  8. The quality of your essay is heavily dependent upon the quality of your prompt. Sometimes you’re unlucky and end up with a crappy prompt you have no good examples for, and sometimes it’s like you’ve just been given the perfect question to answer that you have been preparing for your entire life. It’s just how it is.
8

@Stanucbear

Thank you SO much.
Your advice is golden and I’m thankful you took the time to write all that. Everybody could learn from that.

I honestly thought my second body was terrible.

OK. I’ll keep you updated with my progress in this post.

DAY1 - busy as hell today, managed to memorize 60 words from the blue book while sitting in a very long car trip.
DAY2 -
DAY3 -
DAY4 -

(will add more days as necessary)

9

Forgot I can’t edit past 15 mins haha

welp

DAY2- tired as f today, did a math section. :confused:

hope tomorrow yields better productivity.

10

Hey I think your study plan is great!

Quick tips to improve your essay score:

  • Make sure to have 3 body paragraphs, not 2 (first time I wrote the SAT I only had 2 examples, or body paragraphs and got a 9. second time I wrote it I had 3 examples and got a 10).
  • Also, make sure your examples are “varied” (ex. one from literature, one from history, one from personal experience). The readers like to see that you can support your argument using a lot of different sources.

The essay can help your writing score a lot, the first time I took the SAT I got a 700 (essay: 9). The second time I got a 790 (essay: 10)

Good luck!

11

wow, nice!

but lots of people who get 12’s have 2 body paragraphs. I just don’t think you can put enough detail in time if you write 3…
I’ll try that on my next practice essay. I just need to know a list of examples though.

anyway

DAY3- 2 math sections (4 errors total), 2 writing sections(12 errors :f) and ~70 vocab words memorized.

hope today is the same or better. I need to be more prolific xD (vocab word)

12

I raised my score from a 1500 to a 2030, I don’t know if that qualifies me to give some advice, but here’s what helped me. By far the easiest way for me to raise my CR reading score was memorizing vocab. Just that alone raised my CR score almost 100 points. I usually memorized 10 words a day for about 3 months before the test. For the actual passages, reading the explanation for every answer, even the ones i got right, helped me too. For writing, learning all 12 grammar rules and doing problems everyday to refresh my memory helped a lot. Math, for me, was just doing problems. The trickiest part for me was the language of the problems, so doing more allowed me to become accustomed to the confusing language of the SAT. I signed up for the official SAT online course, which gave me access too about 8 more tests in addition to the tests from the blue book. That should be enough tests to last.

Good luck!

13

Awesome, thanks a lot. I honestly dont mind if youre qualified to give advice or not. Advice is advice. Yeah im studying tons of vocab but im considering slowing down so I dont over…er -heat myself (did 100+ words in 3 days)

Anyway
DAY4 - was on the road to finishing a full length test. I did an essay and 6 sections, but unfortunately critical reading kicked in the guts and made me lose all my motivation. (that section is so fkn hard) ill continue it tomorro I guess. Work is work I suppose. Im getting more prolific day by day xD who uses these words

Oh well. Ill post my essay tmr. I think I wrote this one much better than my last… and magically finished it with literally 20 seconds to spare

14

100+ words in 3 days is a lot… I’d definitely slow down if I were you. But if you feel like you can continue at that pace and still remember the words you studied on the first day, then go ahead.

15

DAY5- I’ve completed my first practice test (test 10 in the BB)

Sweet, got either an 1850 or 1820 depending on how I did on the essay (5 or 4) though I’m pretty positive this would get a 4. If not a 3 (but I doubt I’d get a 3)

Alright heres my essay, please grade accordingly

Prompt: Should heroes be defined as people who say what they think when we ourselves lack the courage to say it?

What defines a hero? A question thats bewildered a decent percentage of humanity since the dawn of the modern age. Tenacity? Perseverance? Resilience? All of these are key aspects found in a so-called “heros” arsenal. Nevertheless, another aspect rises above all: courage. The courageous ones who are militant to get their way of life and believe as they desire are those who stand-out from the crowd. This is exemplified in several examples in history, literature and art.

Martin Luther King, an African American man who would stop at nothing to save his people from discrimination. This individual is immensely charismatic and aided greatly in the civil rights movement, and is frequently quoted from his speech “I Have a Dream” whenever a relevant topic of freedom is brought up. MLK was a representitive of African-Americans in the 1950s’ and will eternally be the face of freedom. This mans courage and benevolence lead to his accomplishments of monumental achievements [rip english lol, i added this] and ultimately became what is now known as a h ero.

In my teenage endeavors, I have also been appraised as a metaphorical “hero.” One day, in the midst of the summer heat, my friends and I were feeling bored so as atypical teenagers we decided to do something exhilarating, but extremely dangerous, drift. We were about to begin this tragic idea when I spoke up and said “Maybe this is a bad idea.” After some arguing and clarifying why I said that, I managed to convince them and we went home that day in one piece.

Overall, a hero is a person who takes risks to please a moral cause by stepping out of their comfort zone

I realized how off-topic I went just now D:
Okay. While typing this up, I noticed a plethora of grammatical mistakes in sentence structure, word usage, and much much more. I was under time pressure and had to google who the fk MLK was halfway though xD (yes, fire me)

Anyways, this would get a 4 correct?

Thank you.

SELF REMINDER: REVIEW MY ERRORS TOMORROW.

16

@OneDoubleThree
Your essay would probably get a 3 (or a 4 if you’re lucky). I would predict a combined score of 7, maybe 6. The biggest thing holding your essay up is your vocabulary. Keep that up!

My review excludes grammar mistakes, as I’m sure you already know that there are many. Plus, I can’t tell which mistakes are due to typing issues while transcribing, and those that you actually made on your paper.

The biggest issue in your essay is its lack of depth. Your paragraphs just seem underdeveloped to me. You don’t spend enough time talking about WHY you used ______ as an example, and its significance. To solve this, add in another example to each of your body paragraphs. The amount of supporting elaboration you wrote is not enough if you only have one example in your paragraph. On the SAT essay, in each body paragraph, either pick 1 example and develop extremely well, or pick two and develop each moderately well (the latter is easier for me). Your personal example is lacking. Your historical example is one that many of the people on that essay have written about, so you HAVE to do a damn good job at explaining its significance. Also, avoid phrases like “Overall…”, “In conclusion…”, “For example…”, etc. 99% of the time, they’re not necessary and detract from the impact of your essay. Your conclusion needs more.

Also, where are your transitions??!??!?!

17

yeah, you’re right.

I must have had really generous essay graders considering I got a 4 on the other one.

a 3…hmm. oh well :frowning:

next essay, I’ll try to go into extreme depth and detail. also I was braindead so I couldn’t find an example other than MLK. yeah I felt it was really lacking too. (but it was 2 full pages, so that’s why I predicted an 8)

also, did I appropriately use most of my vocab? I think so.

that’s what I was trying to get out of this essay -> implementing vocab (somewhat) correctly

what do you mean by vocabulary being the biggest issue

how do I add transitions? (please give me an example)

CR is my worst section and essay being my 2nd worst, then writing, then math.

18

@OneDoubleThree It seems you’ve misunderstood me. My fault. What I mean is that vocab would be the reason you would get a 4 instead of a 3. Or a 3 instead of a 2. It’s keeping your essay score raised (“holding your essay up”). It’s a good thing!! The comment I had about your use of vocab was a compliment, not a criticism (I probably should not have listed it with the criticisms, sorry). You had a sophisticated and varying word choice in your essay. If that was your goal, then you’ve accomplished it well.

Transitions for a 4 paragraph essay (intro, body, body, conclusion) are added at either the end of the first BODY paragraph, or the beginning of the second BODY paragraph. Some people like to add one after their thesis to transition into your first body paragraph (I don’t think it’s necessary, but that’s for you to decide). Transition phrases are often used to introduce a slight change in topic (phrases like “Just as…”, “However…”, “Like…”, “While…”, you can google more since there are a ton). Keep in mind that sometimes you don’t need transition phrases to signal a transition. Transitions help with the flow of your essay.

e.g. “King’s profound courage and achievements have solidified his position in American history as a hero to millions, but courage and heroism can also be found in much smaller environments.”
=> Add that sentence to the end of your first body paragraph (the one on MLK), it mentions the topic of your first body paragraph, and leads into your example in the second body paragraph.

The trick with transitions is to find a common point to compare the two main ideas of your respective body paragraphs, one that can also be related to the overarching topic of your essay. This way, it’s much easier to link the two together. In my example, my common point was scale/size. Even though MLK’s accomplishments took place on a much larger scale than yours, your small personal example was still a display of courage and heroism. In my example I link the topic of the essay (courage/heroism), the first body paragraph (MLK), and the second body paragraph (small personal example).

Just because your essay is two entire pages in length does not mean it deserves a higher score than one that is 1.5 pages in length. After a certain point, length doesn’t matter nearly as much as quality of content.

19

@Stanucbear oh ok, so that’s how you use a transition.

next essay (which I’ll be uploading by tonight) I’ll be using academichackers guide on a 12 essay. With some fine adjustments such as 2 pgphs instead of 3 and 4 sentences rather than 6 (thats tough!) for volume.

I’ll also implement transitions as you said and let’s hope for a 9 or 10 on this one :smiley:

English isn’t my mother tongue, so I think that holds me back in sentence structure.

Great advice though.

oh, I forgot
DAY6- reviewed practice test errors in-depth. (kind of burnt out, so I’ll pretend this was a break.)

20

also, I figured out a really good trick for solving some tricky “me and I” problems.

the question was Ms. Tanaka asked -Juan and I- -whether- we -would consider- -joining our- schools quiz bowl team. -No error-.

Then I thought there was no error because I always learnt you have to put yourself as I after someone else.

But then I learnt that if you remove the other person, you can ALWAYS get these questions right.

e.g. Ms Tanaka asked I (WRONG, it’s ME)

or e.g. Me (WRONG) went to the basketball game

Never looked at it that way.