<p>Hi!
I've seen a lot of repetitive questions, some left unanswered, about the SAT. I still have free time left (about 2 weeks) to answer any questions. Someone has created a post similar to this, but still, hit me up if you have questions! I'm going to be a senior next year, and my dream is to go to Stanford (I made a "chance" post if you wanna check that out!). I took the SAT only once, January 2014, and I scored 2390, 790 CR. This is a major improvement for me since Sophomore year, I got a 209 on my PSAT and a 218 on my Junior PSAT, not qualifying CA standards for the National Merit :(.
I'll try to answer as many as I can.</p>
<p>MODERATOR'S NOTE: Anyone is free to ask or answer questions in this thread.</p>
<p>Good job! It is so cool to get 2390! My dream score! Wish your dream come true!
I am looking for practice tests now. I got the 10 tests in blue books. Where can I find more tests?</p>
<p>Whenever I practice each section on it’s own, I score almost 100%. However when doing multiple sections, my score drops with a dramatic difference. Advice/Tips? Thank you!</p>
<p>what were you getting on practice tests? 2400? How’d you grade your essay / prepare it (12 in 10 days?). lastly, for crit reading, did you need to “read” a lot, or did you get used to the questions/sat system.</p>
<p>@worrywart2k15 how much does your score drop? When doing each section on its own, do you time yourself? Are you not accustomed to the length of the test? You should start practicing with more than one section at a time, and keep going up!
@andyis I did not get 2400s on practice tests. I usually got around 2320. Also, I used get a 12 in 10 days, I practiced the format more than five times, but never graded my essays. (1 untimed, more than 4 timed). I did read a lot (for ap classes), but nothing in particular for CR. I just got used to the questions and finding answers/sometimes implying from the information given in the text! Hope this helped!</p>
<p>Thanks for the information! It’s nice how you were able to get higher than your average on practice tests:). I’ve been getting ~2200 but I was a bit scared it would drop by a lot on real tests.</p>
<p>Congrats on the score! How did you study for the math section? I’m hoping to raise my score above a 700 but I’ve been having a lot of difficulty on this section.</p>
<p>Alright, I’ll request it at the library later today thanks! Also would you recommend skipping prep books altogether & instead do practice exams from the blue book because I heard the math sat questions are repetitive and usually test the same concept? I’m not too sure about this though?</p>
<p>@Brackish use prep books if you need them, but taking tests and getting used to the material is more important. Math usually contains the same concepts, but sometimes there are questions that aren’t mentioned in the blue book. </p>
<p>@Brackish his website is full of useful material. If you’re scoring over 700 already, the book would be more useful! September is fine, you could go over the whole book in a day or two :)</p>
<p>I am a student in China and I scored 2060 in May. I will take SAT one more time in October and I meet my impasse in CR. My CR always fluctuates from 590 to 650. What should I do? Read more novels or just learn how to understand the problems better? </p>
<p>Hi!
Currently my CR score range is between 650-760, but I’m still suspicious with my technique.
I used Noitaraperp’s method, if you are wondering. However, no matter how fast I go, I still struggle with my time-management - that’s it, I hardly have any time left for each of my CR section to review.</p>
<p>Many people use noitaraperp’s technique and finish each section in half the time, so I wonder how do they do that without sacrificing accuracy? Also, SHOULD I READ THE LINE-REFERENCES ONLY (well, maybe 1 sentence up and down) AND SKIP THE WHOLE PARTS THAT DON’T HAVE LINES-REFERENCE?</p>
<p>One more question, I’m struggling between the 700-760 range for Math, should I buy “PWN the SAT” to maximize my chances of getting 800 on Math?</p>
<p>Hi, so after practicing with specific section books (The Critical Reader, Pwn the SAT Math & Essay, ies SAT reading comprehension workbook, The Ultimate Guide to SAT grammar, Powerscore SAT reading bible) I took a bluebook practice test for the first time. I got a 710 in math, 650 in CR, and 640 in writing (mostly because of my essay) = exactly 2000. I was disappointed because I thought I had used all the recommended resources possible for each section to raise my score. What do you suggest? Do you think working through the whole bluebook practice tests will help my score improve drastically??</p>
<p>Hi there! I’m currently scoring in the 2200-2400 range on practice tests, so hopefully I’m on the same track to scoring like you! That being said, I was wondering:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How hard did you find the vocabulary on an actual SAT? I know that when people study vocal from historical compilations they’re probably studying a lot of words directly from the blue book, so people do better on blue book tests since they reviewed the words specifically. How did the real test compare?</p></li>
<li><p>When you were taking the Blue Book tests, did you actually write the essay every time? I’m thinking of skipping this step but don’t want to hurt myself in the long run; how difficult did you find it to acquire the essay skills necessary to get what you did (I’m assuming 11-12)?</p></li>
<li><p>Any recommendations for studying for the PSAT as opposed to the SAT? I really want to qualify for national merit</p></li>
</ol>
<p>@Phongtheha I somewhat used Noitara’s method, and IMO it takes long because it guarantees accuracy. I took long to choose the correct answer and I didn’t need to go back over my answers because I was satisfied that my answers were correct. But, if time management is a problem, you should read a paragraph at a time, then answer questions associated with it. PWN the SAT covers a lot of difficult content, but it’s up to you to fully understand the concept in order to apply it to SAT questions. Yes, you should buy it if you don’t know all the concepts well. </p>
<p>@blackhole22 yes, of course you should try more! Your score was low the first time because you probably aren’t accustomed to the test-taking conditions, time management, etc. Tell me how you do on the second test. </p>
<p>@lanflan the vocab on the real SAT are very similar. I’m sure direct hits covers about 90% of SAT vocab. Even if you don’t know a particular word, you should know how to eliminate the other answer choices! I only wrote essays for the prompts I thought were easy lol. A good tip is to research, make a list, and find historical events or books that could be interpreted in many ways (I used Fahrenheit 451 and Frankenstein). And to answer your last q, the PSAT is basically the same as the SAT. If you’re doing well on blue book practice tests, you’ll have no problem :). </p>
thanks! Also would you recommend skipping prep books altogether & instead do practice exams from the blue book because I heard the math sat questions are repetitive and usually test the same concept? I’m not too sure about this though?</p>