<p>I got a really lousy SAT score in October, granted it was my first time, but I can't afford to get another bad score on the SAT again. I'm international by the way and taking it again in December. I have approximately 2 weeks or so left and I have to improve from 1580 to 1900. I know, I know, is it possible? I didn't have a lot of information or practice on the SAT when I took it on October, but if I prepare for the upcoming one, can I get a the score I want? This is my last chance and I'll do whatever I can, but I'm disorganized at the moment and nothing is getting done for me. I just don't know how to start over and practice again anymore. How have you prepared when you retook the test? Did you do any better? Any help appreciated.</p>
<p>Hey man, so I recently retook the SAT after 3 years (long story) so idk if this will help but my 2 cents is that you should get AS MUCH PREP done as possible in these last few weeks. It may seem like not a lot of time but if spent wisely, it’ll definitely help. Re-do old tests (you can find them online pretty easily), re-do blue book tests, review your math formulas and equations (for maths, I HIGHLY recommend pwnthesat website and his q&a tumblr. No idea if his book is any good but his website is excellent for techniques).</p>
<p>Don’t do tests from dusk til dawn obviously. Maybe set out a morning/afternoon a day if it fits your schedule. I did lots when I felt energetic but only did around 2 hrs when I felt lazy. </p>
<p>For CR, get direct hits books and memorize 20 new words a day (really easy, I could’ve easily bumped it up to 30-40 words. I used this app called “anki” and it made learning vocab an absolute breeze even for a lazy bum like myself) to . The kicker (if you dont have anki) is that you have to memorize your daily new words AND review previous days’ words as well. I learnt about 300-400 new words in 3 weeks. For the passages, this is a broken record but play devil’s advocate. There are 4 wrong answers but only 1 correct, it’s much easier to weed out incorrect answers. Try out different methods and see which one you like best. It might take some time (it took me like 30+ passages for it to <em>click</em> and I started to see the correct answers more easily) but you’ll get there if you keep at it.</p>
<p>For maths, well if your target is 1900 then you don’t have to do all the questions. Focus on the easy ones and you’ll be ok.</p>
<p>For writing mcq, I recommend the sparknotes website. A lot of the material I’ve read on college confidential is very complicated to me since grammar is not my forte, but the sparknotes website helped me a TON.</p>
<p>As for the essay, the “how to get a 12 essay in 10 days” (or something similar) article on here is great. THe thing about the SAT is that you can make up examples completely as long as they arent obviously false (like Columbus went to the moon or something). You don’t HAVE to use examples from US history/culture/etc. In my essay, I made up EVERYTHING. Names, dates, stats, all made up. </p>
<p>Lastly, and this is SOOOO important (at least for me, but if you’re a naturally hard worker then this may not be as big a problem). You HAVE to be motivated. Seriously. I probably worked the hardest I’ve ever worked for ANYTHING when I prepped for the SAT I just took. Remind yourself WHY you want to do well on the SAT. Try not to think of it as labor, but as something that will get you to where you want to be.</p>