Decrease in scores?

<p>Ok, so I took the March 1st SAT, my first time, and wasn't thrilled with my scores. cr:700, m:690, wr:670, essay 8. My Psat scores were much much higher- cr:78, m:76, wr:80, so I was expecting at least a 2200 on the march sat. I just find it really weird that my scores went down so much.. I knew I messed up a few problems on math so I was expecting a score around 690 but I thought I did very well on writing and at least a 740 on cr! Prior to taking the march sats, I did a few practice tests but I'm guessing my lower scores were due to a) never having taken a practice test in one sitting before (I always split up the sections and did them separately, never did it in 4 hours at one time) b) never written an essay before (I was thinking of examples the night before.. smart I know =/). So that's probably why I didn't do as well as I hoped but I still thought I'd do better than a 2060! Especially considering the 234 I got on my Psats, which I didn't really prepare for at all. What do you guys think? Did I just not practice enough or was I just too nervous at taking it the first time? I'm going to retake them in June, do you guys have any tips for me? Especially with writing essays? Also, what books do you think I should use.. I already did all the practice tests in the blue book and did the practice tests from the collegeboard online course. Thanks so much!</p>

<p>A lot of people have a bit of a tough time in their first real SAT test. Your scores will probably go up when you retake it in june.</p>

<p>What have helped me a ton (in math specifically) are Kaplan flashcards (a question with answer choices on the front, and the answer and explanation on the back). </p>

<p>Don't worry too much about your March SAT, you will most likely do better in June</p>

<p>That is strange. If it were me, though, I would just blow it off as there's practically no pattern to any of my standardized test scores. Sometimes I can score fairly well and other times I get like 300 points below that. I've never been consistently good at one section either, even though I'm a math/science person in school, so maybe you're like me. I can't explain it though, so just retake and hope for a better score.</p>

<p>Sorry I can't help.</p>

<p>Thanks guys.. Hopefully I do better on June (I am working my butt off for these months!) Any other advice please??</p>

<p>well, the SAT includes an essay, more difficult math questions, & more difficult vocabulary (some might say)...any of those factors could have contributed to your "decrease" in scores (the nerves could have affected you negatively, too)... good luck on the June test! (maybe you can prep w/ the blue book?)</p>

<p>Me too, my score dropped by almost 200 points...</p>