Bad SAT scores

Test Preparation
1

<p>I'm a junior in high school. I took some crappy 4 week SAT class, which was horrible. I took two practice tests in this class - I got a 1710 on the first one and a 1660 on the second one. I am a decent student - my academic GPA last year was a 3.62. I'm taking AP physics now and play a lot of music. I was expecting to do a lot better on this. Will my score improve a lot - those are the only 2 practice tests I've taken. The class just ended so now I'm starting to work through The Official Sat Guide from collegeboard and doing vocab games/practice on some websites. If I do a little everyday and get a tutor how much can my score improve? Also, what prep do you suggest, what books, websites, etc.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>I started at 1730 last year, got a 1990 in January this year and predict I will get somewhere between 2000-2150 on my October test.</p>

<p>However, I’m from Sweden so my score probably started low because I was unfamiliar with these types of tests/questions. But who knows.</p>

<p>I would say you could get it up to a 2000+ atleast, all you need to do is study like hell and read a lot :P</p>

3

<p>The best way is to discipline yourself into taking practice tests regularly (the official guide’s practice tests only) and take many actual SAT tests as well (sign up as many as you can). When taking the practice tests, don’t overwhelm yourself with the entire test; try to break it down into sections. For example, take maybe 2-3 sections a day. The more familiar you get with the test, the better! You’ll eventually will see patterns throughout tests and learn to recognize/find correct answers quicker/instinctively. Practice makes perfect, as they say. Oh, and honestly, studying vocab is not really necessary; maybe 2 times out of 10, you’ll see 1-2 words (on the entire test) that you’ve studied previously. You can easily pick out correct answers after taking tons of practice tests! Good luck!</p>

4

<p>If self-discipline to take repeated tests isn’t your thing, and if you can afford to do it, take a Princeton Review or Kaplan prep course. Some people can go to the gym on their own and some people need a personal trainer… if I may use an analogy.</p>

5

<p>I would stick with the practice tests and try the ACT. I know quite a few kids that did much better on the ACT. My D (class of 09) took PR course and never increased her score. She did take the ACT cold turkey and scored better than the SAT and then took it a second time and scored higher - no prep. Give it a try…nothing to lose. Needless to say - her brother is sticking with the practice tests and taking the ACT this spring.</p>