<p>Murkywater, I PM'ed you. Good luck!</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that most CCers have scores in the upper 50% of what colleges post in data sets and a "low" score for CC Ivy-apps is not a low score by far for overall Ivy-applicants.</p>
<p>It also sounds like you have a potential kick-ass personal statement/college app essay topic right there... you + your family + college + your struggles to overcome your heritage+etc and a good essay can definately lend help towards making up a bad test score</p>
<p>[edit: just noticed Optimization had the same thoughts heh]</p>
<p>Optimization,</p>
<p>You've helped me to think out a lot of things that I previously did not want to face. Before, people didn't really know about how my life was, they just assumed that I jumped through hurdles, but didn't really know what the hurdles were. And about writing my essay on this.. I think I owe it to myself to show a clearer picture of who I am. Thanks for all your advice!</p>
<p>Thesiren72102, I PM'd you back! Thanks for sharing your experience and advice with me. I've gleaned a lot of valuable lessons from your story.</p>
<p>Kaseyditz, I will try to remember that CC is not representative of most people applying to college, haha. And thank you for the suggestion. I am feeling a lot more hopeful and confident towards this whole "college-thing". </p>
<p>I've learned a lot. I think from now on I'm going to take things in perspective, stride, and optimism. There's so much more that I still have to do, so I can't get hung up over this.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who has helped! I appreciate your words greatly.</p>
<p>Take this challenge up as a test of you resilience. When you apply to a good school and get in, it will because you, yourself put all your effort into achieving the goal you have set for yourself.</p>
<p>Bah dont stress there are thousands of colleges that are looking for students like you and it seem like yyouve got a great essay topic too.</p>
<p>As for princeton, trust me its not all its cracked up to be. I mean its a wonderful school, but take it from someone who's natively from new jersey, you arent going to get the full college experience here, ESPECIALLY at princeton. Look into columbia at least, nice campus, great parties and social life, great education, more fun in general. Besides, undergrad in any top 40 or so school will be relatively similar, worry about all those grad programs etc, when its time to be a grad. Ive watched so many overachievers go into these ivies thinking everything will be great and then getting burnt out and bored of the studying after a year. Caltech even admits that if your idea of fun isnt staying up studying or working on something at 2 in the morning then the schho probably isnt for you. Come visit first, then make a decision. </p>
<p>I mean who willingly moves into jersey lol.
b</p>
<p>"Of course, the reason I became overly upset at Kyle's comment was not because he was stating that my score was 'low'. It was the way he stated that if he could do something, that meant I could do it, too. That kind of arrogance makes me very upset. I was looking for suggestions and was 'put down' by someone who knew very nearly nothing about me. But then again, that should have given me more the reason to ignore what he said.."</p>
<p>I don't see how that can be construed as 'arrogance.' You seemed to be making excuses, and I replied apathetically, because that's how Princeton's adcoms will react. I don't know how I was putting you down, either. I was simply saying: you must overcome these obstacles. If you can, it'll show through in your application.</p>
<p>Who said you didn't work hard? I'm sure you did. But the thing is working hard isn't the only thing that'll get you there when there are some people who are naturally talented at these things. I'm a horrible test taker, so i shot for where I fit in. I mean even after you get in, the competition is still going to be crazy.</p>
<p>There are so many good schools in alot of states, so do some research, i suppose, since getting away from home seems to be one of your main pursuits (like many other college freshmen, lol)</p>
<p>Good luck though, I want to see how this ends up. Are you a junior?</p>
<p>Use the official SAT study guide. Do the tests, and go through and make sure you understand every wrong answer. It wouldn't hurt to go over ones you had to guess on too. My best advice, though, is to take it easy a little. You can definitely do this, you just need to take a deep breath. Don't study much if at all in the days approaching the test, except maybe to go over questions you've had trouble with. I raised my score from a 1930 to a 2280. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Have you checked out the Xiggi method for SAT prep on CC? azelma's post above provides a good two-sentence summary of the Xiggi method.</p>
<p>Note: The thread kind of deteriorates after the 6-1-05 posting, lots of rehashing and not much new.</p>
<p>Ponnan, I'll keep that in mind. :)</p>
<p>Hyakku, I'd willingly move to New Jersey! Ahaha. Well, you bring up a good point.. maybe it's not all that different at the top. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be allowed to visit any schools outside my state. The most I can do is ask people who are already going there their experiences.. it isn't the same, but it does tell me a little more about a school besides numbers and 'diversity', haha.</p>
<p>Kyle, I get it. I'm trying. All right? I'll tell you a year from now if I get in to a great place, and I'll make sure you're the first on CC to know. </p>
<p>Uyulove, I realize that. I have a lot of reasons wanting to go far away from home, but they're vastly different than from most people's, hah.</p>
<p>Azelma, thanks for your advice. I think I can do that!</p>
<p>Standrews, I looked at the thread, a lot of what has been said is really helpful. I'm going to give the Xiggi method a shot.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I've gained a lot more confidence. I'm willing to take another stab at the books now. :)</p>
<p>Your problem is your attitude. </p>
<p>
[quote]
My fear is that I don't have the natural talent to get a 2400.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is what is stopping you. The fact is, there is no such thing as natural talent to get a 2400 on a test. That is bogus. Anyone can get a 2400 given the confidence, time, effort, and methods.</p>
<p>First of all, if you believe you can get a 2400 you are half way there. Truth is what people believe to be true. Now you took one practice test and you are crying over your "failure" -- that is not effort. As others have said, you need to read as many books as you can, practice, innovate. Find out what is wrong, your weaknesses, focus. Don't think that by reading a few pages and taking one practice test that you will improve by 200 points, much less 50 points.</p>
<p>Anyways, if you put the effort, and you are confident, you can get any score you wish. Don't believe the bogus you hear on CC about natural talent that people seem to believe that they are born with - when they are not.</p>
<p>A-san,</p>
<p>I think this is old news, but that was how I initially felt after taking my first test. I realize now that I have a ways to go to improve. This certainly isn't how I feel now. I feel a lot more confident in my abilities.</p>
<p>I disagree that studying is 'all you need' to get a perfect score. This is not to make an excuse for myself. I have seen seniors who have hired tutors, gotten books and have spent everyday drilling themselves, and still have not received a perfect score. Do I think it's possible? Sure! Do I think it's probable for anyone, given the effort they put in? I don't think so. In a short amount of time, people can't expect to raise scores by 500 something points. It's not realistic. Raising by a few hundred, maybe! </p>
<p>This is not to say that I don't think I can improve. I do think I can! But I have to think small first and work my way up.</p>
<p>And geez, I was not 'crying' about my failure. I was crying because someone on CC basically said 'If I can do it, why can't you?' And I've already talked to this person and realized why they said what they did. I am not suddenly less of a person because I have cried in my life. I was disappointed for a variety of reasons, but I definitely wasn't 'crying' over a score. </p>
<p>Sheesh.</p>
<p>In all seriousness, thanks for your advice.</p>
<p>Hey, well I won't argue with you. You're free to take the advice that works for you. :)</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have seen seniors who have hired tutors, gotten books and have spent everyday drilling themselves, and still have not received a perfect score. Do I think it's possible? Sure! Do I think it's probable for anyone, given the effort they put in? I don't think so. In a short amount of time, people can't expect to raise scores by 500 something points. It's not realistic. Raising by a few hundred, maybe!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I should point out some misunderstanding here, however. If you notice, I stated that the key is the correct methods. How do you know that "hired tutors, gotten books and have spent everyday drilling themselves" are the right methods? It may be for some, but not for all. Not to mention, being a senior and trying to improve your score is a bit too late. I am assuming that you are still a Junior. Just because people spent tons of hours means nothing because someone can use tons of hours and use it unwisely. Same for tutoring. You can have good tutors and bad tutors, and even good tutors won't work for the same person. The fact is that it takes alot of work and trial and error, but I believe it has little to do with "natural talent."</p>
<p>Good luck though! Tell us how you came out in the end! :)</p>
<p>I think, in some ways, their methods did work for them. They did experience an increase in their scores. They definitely didn't get 2400s, though. Another reason I don't think you can get a 2400 just by sheer effort is that there is a relatively LOW percentage of people who get this score. I'm sure there are a lot more people than just this small percentage that try really hard. And then there's always the occasional case where someone gets a 2400 without studying at all. In any case, I do believe it's possible to get a 2400 with a ton of studying -- accompanied with a little bit of luck and natural talent.</p>
<p>Though, I'm not sure exactly how to go about doing this.. I'm taking my first test in March. I don't know if I should go out, get the Official SAT Study Guide and use all the practice tests for my test in March, or whether I should wait until a later date, since I'd have more time to study. If I use all the CB practice tests for my date in March, then I might not have any real SATs to work with later when I need to retake. </p>
<p>Any tips? Thanks :D</p>
<p>Hey, well whatever philosophy works for you. :)</p>
<p>Here are some things that I am doing myself:</p>
<p>I am honing in on one section only for now. I analyzed my PSATs and tried going through every single question in that section, and find out why you are getting them wrong, whether it was time management, not knowing the concepts. See if you can retake some questions without lookng at the answer, and see how your answer now compares to what you put before.</p>
<p>Then work with what you know then, by reviewing the concepts or some strategies. Then take a full length practice test in that section only, find out your weakness, etc. </p>
<p>You should buy the blue book. You dont have to take all the prctice tests in one month. Break up the test and do them in sections as someone else has suggested again. You need to FOCUS. That's the biggest thing. Don't try to wrok on the math section and then critical reading the next day. Work on one section (try to hone in on even a subsection, like identifying sentence errors, and even a handful of concepts which you know you dont understand, like pronouns, or verbs, or geometry etc) until you start seeing improvements.</p>
<p>And remember, my tips, or anyone's tips may not work for you. Pick some, try it, and decide if it works.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your tips, A-san! Right now I only have the Princeton Review book, but I'm getting the Blue Book tomorrow. I can't wait to open it up now, haha.</p>
<p>"My fear is that I don't have the natural talent to get a 2400."</p>
<p>You might want to check out the wise words of someone that goes by the name of Thomas Edison:</p>
<p>"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration"</p>
<p>Work hard and you can overcome pretty much anything. And it sounds like you're doing just that :)</p>
<p>And, a great essay written from the heart will more then overcome a 1990 SAT score. Which shouldn't be too hard for you, I'm guessing, since you're writing for a national publication.</p>
<p>Murkywater, when I was in high school, I would have described myself exactly as you had here on your thread, but I had not known that CC even existed. My SAT I scores were not great, much lower than the 2200 you are aiming for, but still, I managed to get into Princeton. The school overlooked my very uncompetitive SAT scores and decided to focus more on GPA, individual grades, recommendations, and ECs, as well as my desire to attend the school. It appears to me that you have good all of the above. </p>
<p>I'm not telling you that you shouldn't try to improve your board scores, but rest assured, Princeton looks farther than the College Board for good applicants. </p>
<p>I would also try the ACT instead of the SAT. It worked for me. Almost all colleges these days take both. </p>
<p>If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me. I'm sure your family background and the education level of your parents will add to your overall desirability. </p>
<p>tokyorevelation9</p>
<p>If one element of your app isn't perfect it's absolutely no scandal at all. Schools don't only look for 2400SAT robots but also for people with other great attributes. Especially don't let those uber critical CC viewers beat you down.
cheers</p>
<p>You remind me of my friend who can't seem to get out of 5xx range for CR. What was the score breakdown of your 1990, so we can see where your weaknesses lie and work from there.</p>
<p>However, A-san, I disagree with telling someone with a 2000 SAT that a 2400 is possible for anyone who simply works hard and believes they can do it. Lets be realistic...if that was true a lot more students would be getting 2400's through hard work and dedication. Will she get a 2400? Probably not, but I think murkywater can definitely go 2200+ by focusing more on areas where she needs more work and applying good study methods.</p>