<p>Does anyone know how many people get a perfect 2400 on the SAT annually?</p>
<p>Does that take superscoring into account? Selfishly speaking, I hope not...</p>
<p>Sometimes I wonder how people score in the 600-700 range.</p>
<p>how is it possible to get a 600 on the entire thing?</p>
<p>bschenkel,</p>
<p>I don't think the scores are "superscored." Typically, the policy is to use each student's last set of scores (from one single test date) in the statistics if the student has tested more than once.</p>
<p>By the way, congratulations on your 2400. I wish you were my student so I could have claimed credit for that. :)</p>
<p>Just to verify, this is per year, right? (Not per SAT date or something?)</p>
<p>Just to know, how many 2400s have you gotten in a row Godot?</p>
<p>stix2400,</p>
<p>As far as the new SAT, I've only taken the May and June SATs this year (I just started taking official SATs this year). 2400s on both. I was thinking about taking a break in October and sending all of my employees out to take the test instead. They better all get 2400s, too. I need to take/re-take a bunch of other exams this summer and fall (ACT, MCAT, GRE, LSAT, GMAT, etc.).</p>
<p>A question for you Godot. How can you virtually guarantee an 80 MC for Writing? I've been able to achieve that a few times but there are always a few questions that are strange. Even though I can usually get them right, I'm never completely sure about all the questions. My question is, I guess, how can you confidently answer the strange questions? The idiom questions, for example, can be quite annoying at times. Sometimes, I can't be sure if a certain idiom is correct or not. Half the time it is and half the time it isn't. Some other questions have strange phrasing that I'm not sure is correct or not. Is there a way to recognize definitively which oddly phrased sentences are correct and which aren't?</p>
<p>For example,</p>
<p>(Having an exceptionally dry and stable atmosphere, astronomers chose Mauna Kea) as the prospective site of the world’s largest optical telescope.</p>
<p>A. (Same)
B. Astronomers who chose Mauna Kea for its exceptionally dry and stable atmosphere saw it
C. Mauna Kea’s exceptionally dry atmosphere led to its choice by astronomers
D. Because its atmosphere is exceptionally dry and stable, astronomers chose Mauna Kea
E. Based on its exceptionally dry and stable atmosphere, Mauna Kea was chosen by astronomers</p>
<p>I couldn't underline so I just put the underlined part in parenthesis.</p>
<p>This question seems to have a problem with all of the choices...</p>
<p>Also, one sentence on a practice test I took began with, "Four years in the writing..." To me that sounded awkward. However, I knew that "Four years in the making" would be an everyday phrase so I put no error (correct). Is it okay to say "For years in the <em>insert gerund here</em>?"</p>
<p>This is somewhat of a rambling post but I think you catch my drift. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>stix2400,</p>
<p>One answer to your question is A LOT of practice, especially with questions even tougher than those on the SAT. Barron's, as I wrote previously, is a good source of hard Writing questions. The College Board Online Tests (available through the Online SAT Course) also contain a good number of tough Writing questions. You will also want to build a good foundation of explicit knowledge of grammatical principles and subtleties. Using your "ear" (choosing the correct answer based on how a sentence or part of a sentence sounds) can be a great tool for some students, but, ultimately, knowing the exact logic behind the correct answer choices AND incorrect answer choices is one key to securing an 800 on the Writing section. The students who work with me know that it's not simply enough to identify the correct answer, but they must fully justify it, as well as explain why the incorrect answer choices are wrong. Some test prep books have very good answer explanations; these can be quite useful in learning those myriad rules and fine points of grammar and style.</p>
<p>In the example you gave, choice D is best because it converts a misplaced modifier into a clause. Choice A is wrong because the leading phrase is a misplaced modifier that appears to modify "astronomers" when it actually represents the reason that the astronomers chose the site. Choice B does not work because it distorts the meaning of the sentence slightly. The pronoun "it" is also ambiguous. Choice C is awkwardly phrased and omits the "stable atmosphere" part. Choice E uses the wrong idiom ("Based on ...") and the passive voice, an inferior voice on the SAT.</p>
<p>"Four years in the writing" would be a fine modifier to describe something like a novel: "Four years in the writing, the novel was finally completed by Stephen King in 1999."</p>
<p>Sweet. I'll have to check out the Barron's writing workbook maybe. Thanks!</p>
<p>Godot....i need some help, could i holler at you?</p>
<p>That example was fairly obvious -- D. What DS1 found most helpful on the MC was reviewing idioms, since they may vary by region of the country or may not be used that often. DS got an 80 first time.</p>
<p>Are you guys tutors? Was curious why you would otherwise repeat a 2400.</p>
<p>To the OP -- the 238 2400 scores repesent single sittings within that year (I believe 2006). It doesn't count folks who superscored a 2400 or who got 800s on individual sections.</p>
<p>anyone have a good list of idioms to study and memorize?</p>
<p>Funny how you say D was "fairly obvious" considering there was a thread about it and only one person out of like 5 picked D. The others claimed it was bad structure and a dangling modifier. Also, only 35% of people got that one right.</p>
<p>Godot - Do you take the test with highschool students? Wouldn't they notice your a bit older? Unless of course you decided to become an SAT tutor in highschool -.-</p>
<p>Matt,</p>
<p>I'm sure I look a bit older, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few students suspect that I am not in high school anymore. But I look younger than my age, and I've actually gotten confused for a high school student in the past, so I don't think I really stand out that much. :)</p>
<p>Still, I'm very paranoid about other students noticing that I may be out of high school and guessing that I am an SAT tutor. I don't want students next to me trying to cheat from me and getting 2400s. So I generally don't even chat with others during the breaks.</p>
<p>Idioms may be good to learn (by the way, it's hard to find a "comprehensive" list of idioms), but there are definitely other kinds of grammatical errors that can appear in tricky questions on the SAT Writing. It appears that CountingDown's daughter already possessed a good innate knowledge of grammar, so she was able to focus on idioms and score an 80 MC. That will certainly NOT be the case for most students.</p>
<p>By the way, please DO NOT send me PMs. If you have a private question or comment, please E-MAIL me (you can find the link under my profile).</p>