A very, very SAD story

<p>I'm very upset. I started studying for the SAT last May and had scores of 500 verbal and 640 math. I spent tons of hours at Barnes and Noble looking through all the SAT prep books. I seriously think I have spent approx. 800 hours doing SAT related stuff. I have done everything a human being can possibly do and the result: SAME as it was last MAY. </p>

<p>Im now to the point where I just hate the SATs but unfortunately I need a score in the 2100-2200 range because I <em>have</em> to get a full ride to college and because my parents dont want to get a loan or fin.aid and they dont want to pay a lot from their pocket. So Im basically screwed. :(</p>

<p>umm. . .buy Grammatix</p>

<p>like seriously, I've tried everything. </p>

<p>But before I buy grammatix, can you show me how it is? Like the material thats in the book? </p>

<p>thanks.</p>

<p>Try Grammatix. I'm buying it on Monday.</p>

<p>I've heard that it was really good. It comes with many strategies but the practice is what will raise your score. If you buy it and don't like it, you can always return it for a FULL refund. You have nothing to lose, and all to gain.</p>

<p>So you really think I can improve my score from a 610 math to a 700 and my 520 verbal to atleast a 600?? And btw, Ive like almost used up the entire CB book so how am I going to practice if I already know the answer to the questions>??</p>

<p>Try using rocketreview.
late 600s in CR went to 770 in june 2005 in about two weeks. Use it I strongly recommend it.</p>

<p>thats really good even though that seems kind of impossible to me (well maybe cause I havent seen any improvement in 1 and a half years of prepping for the SAT) but yeah I think i should try that.</p>

<p>If you're looking for more official practice tests, well my GC gave me this booklet with a practice test in it. So ask your GC if they have any prep material for the SAT because mine gave me a whole crapload of sample questions, registration materials, and a practice test waay before I needed it.</p>

<p>sorry to ask, but who GC?</p>

<p>guidance counselor. i think u r studying using the wrong method that is why ur score isn't moving anywhere.</p>

<p>yeah thats what I think as well. So what *method should I use?</p>

<p>well i have to know what ur weaknesses r and what methods u've been using.</p>

<p>do they sell that book in stores i doubt i can buy it online?</p>

<p>please tell me the correct method because even if I wasted those 800 hours of studying, Ill still be happy if I can get my score to improve.</p>

<p>yes they do. i bought it at borders. Well there is no "correct" method. U just try out the various methods and use the one that works best for u. RocketReview worked out for me so try it. However, it might not work out for u although i believe it will improve ur score even a littl.e</p>

<p>Sanguine007, I know exactly how you feel. </p>

<p>I went through the exact same thing... I worked for tons of hours on the SAT, and my scores didn't change one bit. I felt cursed.</p>

<p>But you know what I realized? The SAT is not a worthless test. It really does measure something. Not intelligence, but your ability to solve problems - and I came to realize that it is hard to learn how to solve problems overnight.</p>

<p>Out of all the hours you've spent studying the SAT, you've learned FACTS: ideas, concepts, formulas etc. But have you learned to THINK and REASON differently? Has your problem-solving thought process changed? If you're presented with an SAT problem, will you immediatly jump for the right answer or begin working out the solution correctly, arriving at the answer in seconds? Or will you attempt to recall something you read in a prep book like "Oh yeah, I've seen this kind of problem before... I think you do this, then this, then that..." and stumble around for a while till you figure out the right answer, sometimes only half-sure you were correct?</p>

<p>People who do really well on the SAT (2200+, the kind of score you want) are the former kind of test-taker. They immediatly know what to do. Hundreds of hours of test prep has taught you things about the SAT. But it has not changed your problem solving ability.</p>

<p>That does not mean your time was wasted - infact, that SAT prep was the best investment you could've made, and WILL make you into that type of test-taker who excels at the SAT.</p>

<p>But it will take TIME for your studying to achieve that result. That is the time that it takes time for knowledge to become understanding. </p>

<p>In my opinion, the best thing you can do right now is take a break from the SAT. Spend a semester or longer focusing on nothing but school-related academics. Study hard - do more homework than you have to and bring outside problems to class, and most of all, take the hardest classes you can. In your free time, read for pleasure, or seek out math problems that are NOT from SAT prep books. You will be amazed that as you work these problems your thought process will be different than it was before, because of all your SAT prep. Then when you go to take the SAT, you will find that you immediatly know how to solve most of the questions that were probably totally enigmatic to you before.</p>

<p>In my SAT prep books, I marked with a star the problems that I did not understand. then I took an SAT "hiatus" like I described. Months later, I came back to the books, and found that I was getting every problem I had marked with the star right. It was not a case of remembering the answers. I was solving them all the way through, correctly (my main focus was on math). Believe me, this really works. </p>

<p>My SAT score went up over 350 points with this approach, to well over 2000. The daily 24 hour test cramming brought my score up nil. I learned that doing great on the SAT is about more than prep - it's about learning how to think and reason better - that only happens if you apply your knowledge in school and in life (reading, math problems, etc).</p>

<p>Best of luck to you. Don't give up - you will get the SAT score you want.</p>

<p>hey thanks for that long, helpful reply. Yeah youre right, I havent learned to reason differently. On math problems, I approach them like I did 2 years ago and so I havent really changed my concept. For 70% problems, I find the answer some other way around unlike you all who actually work step by step and use formulas like making equations to solve word problems and etc. I think this is what I <em>need</em> to change before its too late.</p>

<p>u think they would sell it at barns and noble</p>

<p>Which book are you talking about, RR or Grammatrix?</p>