Advice for SAT

Test Preparation
1

I’m a rising senior, and I didn’t take the SAT yet, to I’m taking it August 25 in order to get the scores in time for college applications. I’ve taken only community college classes since sophomore year. When I was a freshman, I took Algebra I and Geometry, and I was placed in Trigonometry the next year, so I never took Algebra II.

I took the PSAT and got a score of 1420. I’m practicing for the SAT, but I’m finding the math section really hard because I’ve never really learned the material, and it’s hard to quickly learn it through test prep books/Khan Academy. I want to apply to Questbridge and Ivy Leagues (my grades and extracurriculars are good enough), but I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a mediocre SAT score.

Any advice please?? Can I get into an Ivy League with a low SAT score (like in the 1400s)?

2

A bit too late to prep, probably not going to change much. Just do the best you can.

If you want to take another in time for the RD round, the latest is Oct, you can still prep enough to make a difference.

Invest in a tutor, study the questions you miss, and put alot of effort into it in the event you are deferred and have new scores to show.

Good luck.

BTW, dont underestimate how competitive Ivy league yes. Each year 10s of thousands are rejected with 3.9 and 1500+.

3

1400 is not low… and probably not.

4

I teach SAT prep some years.

At this point, you’re not going to have much luck learning the material for the August SAT. So I would think your time would be better spent on strategies.

If there’s a bookstore(??) nearby where you can get a copy, pick up Up your Score, the Insider’s Guide to the SAT. I will warn you, they try desperately hard to use kid-speak-- but their strategies are solid!

Beyond that, be SURE you’re familiar with the directions, in particular for the Fill In questions. That set of directions is in the middle of a timed section, and can be a bit confusing to some.

5

I had a very similar PSAT score to you, at 1430. The vast majority of my studying for the test I took last year was done the night before, so I wouldn’t listen to the people who say it’s too late to learn stuff. What I did was meet up with a couple of smart friends and practice math that we thought might be on it and talk about grammar rules. We all got 1450+, so it worked out fine for us.