<p>Wow I definitely admire your strong will to do this. DO NOT give up! You will be so satisfied with the results eventually, and it only comes out to an hour or so per day, with 4 hours on the weekend (for the practice test). I really want to know how you do eventually!</p>
<p>Mr_Socrates06, i have the same problem as you do. and sometimes when i read long passages, i was thinking something else not even regarding to the test. so after all, i have to re-read it. It totally waste all of the valuable test time. Guess my brain is not working when i take the big test. i m trying to work on it during the summer, hopefully i ll get better.
And all of the advices above are GREAT. i think it's better than reading the prep books. THX</p>
<p>is McGraw-Hill that good book???
Is it usefull if youre already owning barrons, PR ,CB bluebook??</p>
<p>And if so , which one should I buy:
McGraw-Hill's SAT I
or
McGraw Hill's SAT I W/ CD-ROM with CDROM
or
McGraw-Hill's SAT 2400!</p>
<p>Preppers like you are the people who discredit the results of the SAT.</p>
<p>You dislike the SAT because you do poorly on it. You spend...(do the math) 5 days of your life prepping for it (5x24 hours). You say it doesn't measure anything when it clearly does - the fact you have to prep for a score others get without prepping SHOWS your scholastic aptitude is lower than theirs - the point of the test. It does accurately show aptitude, you are just dissapointed with your results.</p>
<p>How does a standardized test that I do poorly on show my scholastic aptitude which is supposed to predict how well I will do in college? I think if you would take a look at my college application with my grades and activities then that would better show how I am going to do in college. The fact is, I don't care what you think or if you think I discredit the test. All I know, is it is possible to get whatever score you want with preparation, and I have to do what I have to do. What do you want me to do, apply to colleges with poor scores that will discredit 4 years of hard school work on top of 4 sports among other things? Get real, we will never encounter anything like the test in college, and it is innefective. I am going to prove this by raising my score a ridiculous amount.</p>
<p>I disagree w/Spartan Pho3nix in someways. I agree that the people w/the best analytical skills do well without prepping and they are definately going to be the face of the country one day. but i think that people who prep gain skills that they might not even know they gained and it helps bring them up to that level of analytical thinking.</p>
<p>i think analytical thinking is key to success in the american way of life.</p>
<p>Why is it then, Kevin, that you fail to achieve high scores? Can you give me a reason for this? If you can't do simple Math - can't even find grammatical errors in sentences, what can you do? What do you have to build an educative base off of?</p>
<p>What about the SAT stumps you?</p>
<p>How can you honestly say that a standardized test can overrule 4 years of good grades with a ton of extracurricular activities? This claim is ridiculous, and I do not see where you are coming from at all. As I said earlier, I am not trying to get into Ivy League schools like you guys, or trying to get a perfect score on the test. </p>
<p>I do not know if you guys pay attention to sports, but the test is comparable to the NFL Combine. In this, players are tested on their speed and jumping abilities. Their results in this test overrule how they performed in college and is supposed to predict how they will do in the pros. Often times, a good college player will not get a chance, and a terrible player will if they succeed in the testings.</p>
<p>No it's not the same. Good grades in high school have SO many variable. Grade Inflation, the amount of work you put in, the time you have/choose to spend on em, your interest in the classes, what your teachers think of you.</p>
<p>What are the variables on the SAT? None. And it can "overule" your 4 years of hard ass work - cause other people can have the grades you got with far less work - and their SAT's show it. High school is incredibly boring - college is such a light at the end of the tunnel - a fun place where you can study what interests you (for the most part). High School performance has LITTLE representation of how you are going to do in college. </p>
<p>You FULLY discredit a time tested test (...) because you did poorly and don't think you deserve the score you recieved. That doesn't make sense.</p>
<p>i agree with spartan, but i still applaud what you are trying to do. keep working at it to raise your score.</p>
<p>I still do not see how you feel this will carry over to my college performance. In elementary school, I was always one of the brightest kids in the class, and our school had a program called the "horizons" program. The group met one day a week and did different activities. In order to get into this group, you had to pass a test with some things like the SAT that you did not learn in school. I took the test a half dozen times probably, and never got into the program. This test was supposed to show how the student would do in middle and high school, and these students were placed in "advanced classes". According to my test results, I should not have taken these classes, and If I did, I would have failed. My parents overruled the testing and I took the classes anyways, and I ended up being extremely successful in them. This simple test was supposed to dictate all of the classes I took in high school, and I would have never taken any AP courses. If these tests accurately show how one will do in the class, then explain to me why I got the highest grade in both AP US History and AP Lit, and possibly got 5's on both tests. Is it a "mystery" or is that the tests are irrelevent, and it is all about how hard the student is willing to work and how much they are willing to learn?</p>
<p>it is very hard to measure a student using just grades from school. different schools grade differently- some have rampant grade inflation, some deflation- who knows? That is why colleges use these standardized tests; the colleges have done research on these tests! if they didn't show anything, they wouldn't require them. do you think the colleges are stupid? the writing section on the new SAT, for example, is extremely basic: write a short essay and find some simple grammatical errors in sentences. the math section is even simpler! the critical reading section can be a little tricky, but practice a little bit and even that turns out to be a piece of cake. i think your quarrel with the sat's is unfounded for these reasons. like i said before, however, keep working hard and you will achieve no matter what anyone says. good luck.</p>
<p>I still don't see how it shows how I will do in college. I know of some people with extremely low gpa's and bad students who score extremely high. Is the test supposed to tell me they are going to do better in college than me (although they won't be accepted in the first place)? </p>
<p>It was not my intention to start an argument in this thread. We both have our opinions, and we are not going to change them no matter what the other says. The fact is, if it is as important as gpa, I do not see why I shouldn't take the steps to get the best score I possibly can?</p>
<p>The over emphesis on the SAT today is staggering. It measures how well you can take a test; it measures nothing about your character or how well your going to do in life. The industry of the 'undergraduate university' in America is fueled by the fear of not doing well on the SAT. As witnessed by this entire website, this industry is doing quite well, and there as those who actually lose sleep on doing poorly on a test. </p>
<p>....the entire process is appauling, and people have been made dupes of it.</p>
<p>AP US? What...a 90% memorization class? That shows critical thinking skills...yah, right, okay.</p>
<p>Yea man, there's grade inflation/deflation all over. Just because you get straight As doesn't mean you're smarter than somebody else who get's B's in a dif school. A standardized test however levels the playing field. And please if you continue to do poorly on tests, what does that tell you? Maybe you're not as bright as you think you are. An "accelerated" or "honors" course is only as tough as the teacher makes it.</p>
<p>And you may have ECs or good grades, but that does NOT mean you are smarter than somebody with a great SAT and decent ECs or good grades...just because you work hard doesn't mean you are smarter. Hard work just means you're dedicated.</p>
<p>I admire what you are trying to do kevin, but I have to agree with Spartan. One can't measure the skills of a student x from a random school in Maine, with student y in California unless some sort of universal guideline is established. This guideline is the SAT, which levels the playing field, taking away all biases, all weighted GPA's, e.c.t so that an accurate comparative assessment of student x can be made with student y. Although the test is indeed beatable and can be studied for, one must still acknowledge that the test is needed because it is the only method by which to rescind these state wide and school-wide biases.</p>
<p>And, I can guarentee that when you get into college, there is a lot more "hard work" than there is in high school. Most people are willing to put the extra effort into something that interests them - and people major in things that interest them.</p>
<p>you know what? I think the key to a high score on the SAT is a good breakfast. I had two mcgriddles and an orange juice, and I was pumped up to take the test. Went in, made my bubbles...easiest thing in the world. Of course, when my depressing scores come back, I'll have to take back <em>some</em> of my arrogance.</p>
<p>Dude. Chocolate. Great critical thinking food. Eat a chocolate powerbar and some real dark chocolate before the SAT - BAM. Instant millenium. Maybe that's what you need, Kevin.</p>
<p>Seriously - everyone has their own supersticious breakfast before atheletic events and school events. I forgot mine before the June SAT - let's hope it doesn't hurt me. Lol.</p>