<p>i m a junior and i want to boost my Verbal and Math scores..however i only have 5 months..
How can i do this?
spend how many hoooours doing SAT..and what should i study????</p>
<p>Get practice tests and practice books (Princeton Review, Barrons) and take many, many tests. Five months might not seem like a long time, but I raised my SAT score by 120 pts up to a 1580 in 2-3 weeks! (Although maybe some of it was just luck). Spend time understanding your mistakes. Also, get a book on the most used vocab words on the SAT and start memorizing.</p>
<p>5 months is plenty of time, as conwoman said, practice practice practice, and make mnemonics to help you remember vocab words. Associating words with your friends/people you know worked best for me. I raised my score from 1280 to 1540 (one darn careless error cost me a 1560) in 4 months. So yeah, don't sweat, just practice.</p>
<p>Take one test every week untill the last month, then up it to two tests a week, that's what I did.</p>
<p>vocab study also helps a la flash cards</p>
<p>doesn't take too much time</p>
<p>Personally, on the math, I do everything through my calculator to avoid careless errors. 16-2? Calculator. 2x^2-4x+16? Calculator. 790 for me...grrr, where did I go wrong?</p>
<p>nikeswooshguy, where you went wrong is being upset with a 790 :)</p>
<p>nikeswooshguy - It's kind of sad that you used your calculator for such simple operations. It probably took more time to punch the buttons than simply doing it in your head. Also, I assume you were sarcastic about being upset with a 790.</p>
<p>Yes, but doing it in my head is only accurate 99% of the time per operation....</p>
<p>conwoman, sometimes it is faster to use the calculator. For an operation like 16-2, yes, I understand that it should be done mentally but sometimes things like quadratics and things like 40^5 take much less time to do in the calculator if you know how to use it well, assuming you don't mistype anything.</p>
<p>As for the topic, 5 months is actually a very good amount of time to prepare thoroughly. To start out, try to take a diagnostic test to see where you stand. Then over a couple months, get some prep books to try and improve your weaknesses. If you're weak at verbal, you should try and improve your vocab using mneumatic techniques or learning latin stems. If you're weak at math, review the concept you're having trouble with and do some practice problems until you feel you're good enough. After you've done all the review you can, then the best way to study is to take many practice tests. If you still have 3 months at this point, it's a good idea to take at least 2-3 tests a week and be sure to continue improving your vocab. Once you have about a month left, that's when you start taking even more practice tests, depending on how much you think you need. This might seem like a lot to take in, but it's pretty easy. Good luck when it's time!</p>
<p>Start reading every night. I reccommend the New York Times Magazine.</p>
<p>KEEP PRACTICING! Buy as many SAT Prep books as you need and take 1 Practice Test per week. By the time you are ready for the SAT, sitting the test will feel like a breeze. It is important to be comfortable and relaxed if you wish to do well on the Critical Reading.</p>
<p>If you have alot of difficulty with vocabulary, make flashcards, buy a book (Sparknotes's NO FEAR Vocabulary seems pretty decent), or go through lists...you NEED a certain knowledge of vocabulary to do well. Learning roots also helps.</p>
<p>Buy Barrons's Math Workbook and go through it.</p>
<p>Voila.</p>
<p>well how did u..? </p>
<hr>
<p>how did u go up from a 640 to a 740..perhaps because u were already good at reading since u probably read alot..its just that u werent familiar with the concept of SAT...so u took practice tests and saw waht the answers were like.its .just that u learned the strategies by going thorugh the books, no need of improvement in ur reading skills since u were already good at it, but ur sstrategy skills which u werent familar of at all..i am ..i know every single thing what SAT requires..but does my score go up? no....its my reading comprehensions perhaps that is lacking behind...</p>
<p>timed yes..i have..its just that i dont see how i can change the method of practicing, although i have tried alot
going over the correct ansers scrupously, but then again, always the same verbal score....
what can i do? what should i read?</p>
<p>my verbal is very low...550..i want to pull it upto a 700, in just 5 months..i want to know what i could read</p>
<p>i took a practice test and infact did poorly than i did before, just the passages, not the sentence completions..tell me a way to improve reading...</p>
<p>what magazines..books...names</p>