<p>Hi, I'll be sitting the SAT next month in January. This will be the first time I'm sitting an official SAT exam, but I have done practice tests in the past that my friend gave me. In those, I've been getting 750-800 in math, 650-750 in writing (depending on how well I do in my essay and how careful I am with the multi-choice) and a modest 600 in critical reading (reading passages and vocabulary really frustrates me). I'm learning about 10 words a day for critical reading, but is that enough? How many should I learn exactly? Also, any tips on improving and preparing for the essay and just improving my critical reading and writing scores in general?</p>
<p>Plus, I want a really high score in my SAT to get into an Ivy League university. My extracurriculars are modest (I have joined some groups but I haven't won any tournaments or anything) so my academics have to be outstanding.</p>
<p>Yes. You need to practice a lot in Math/Writing because you need to absolutely nail those sections to compensate for your lower Reading score.</p>
<p>Create an essay template that you use in every essay. Your essay should already be pre-written in your head before you go into the SAT. Practice fitting that template to a wide range of essay prompts beforehand.</p>
<p>In Reading, just remember that Every Answer Is In The Text.</p>
<p>You will never have to make a single inference on the SAT. Everything answer is in the passage. If the answer isn’t in the passage/supported by the passage, it is not the answer.</p>
<p>If you learn enough vocab and practice enough passages for CR, you can probably get a 700 in Reading. You can practice enough to get an 800 in Math and Writing. You could also just get lucky and get like a 780 on Reading on the day of the test, it’s happened…</p>
<p>Make sure to not make any mistakes on the Math and Writing as the curve is extremely harsh…The CR is very generous…I managed to get an 800 with 2 mistakes :D</p>
<p>I have noticed that I go down to 750 when I get one or two wrong in math and writing. I just need to stop making derp mistakes in them and I’ll be fine. I really need to get better in Critical Reading. For essays, I have two 12 essays I wrote (not under timed conditions, but I wrote it so that the length is realistic in a 25-minute frame) that I use as a template, but I need to practice writing a really professional essay like that under timed conditions. How can you think of really smart thesis statements in a really small time frame?</p>