Desperate SAT help

Test Preparation
1

Hello,

Thank you first and foremost for reading my post, im new to CC and noticed there are a plethora of forums and replies. I really need help with my SAT preparation. i have not really done so good on the SAT the first two times i have taken it, but the mistakes i have made were in my preparation. The first time i took the test in February i did not take practice tests, instead elected to take notes and techniques but not applying them to actual practice, so i recognized my mistake. The second time i really did not target my weaknesses like i would have liked to and did not pinpoint the main idea of critical reading passages which are struggle with. I am pretty good at sentence completions, certainly my strength when it comes to the SAT. I had a half way decent writing score, scoring better than 80% of last years graduation class, keeping in mind i did not study for writing at all because its sort of irrelevant to me. I do own the BB, I also own a Barron’s prep book along with a 13 practice test thick book of full lengths from kaplan. I have the Barron’s prep book, critical reading workbook, writing workbook, and also math workbook, the Grubers SAT guide. The math, reading, writing, and Grubers i have not touched yet because i just ordered them.
I am on summer vacation and the way i practice is as follows:

  • i complete 3 reading sections each day and come up with a raw score.
  • review tips and strategies online, most particularly with a guy named Jeff Bergman or something like that on youtube
  • i do thoroughly go over my answers.
    i do the tests under test conditions, timed, and also only about 2 minutes of a break between each section.
    I have seen good improvements from this technique of studying, i do it everyday except Saturday which i devote to going over every answer and researching new techniques to apply to the next week of preparations. Sunday is a religious day for me so i do not study at all.
    With this technique i have seen a plus 70 boost from just 2 weeks of preparation. It is currently July and i take the test again in October. I have not begun to prepare for math which is by far my weakest subject. My score did not increase from test 1 to test 2 not one point. I was a victim of the June 6th test when the college board cancelled 2 sections but i do not take that as an excuse, i still should have improved.

For those who struggled with SAT math… what books and techniques did you use to make a dramatic jump? My parents are going through a lot so i cannot pay for classes, but i think my motivation and ambition complimented with my dedication is enough to raise my score.

I have a mediocre reading score, not bad, not good. I have improved in the reading section but it does not feel like im catching all the details or im missing simple questions, Im okay with the gigantic reading passages that tend to be in the last reading section but i struggle a lot with the comparing passage questions. Like i can never get any of them right, except the ones that relate to a single particular passage.

Are there any must have books i must have in my preparation?

Cost for books really is not a problem because i make a little money cutting my neighbors grass and washing cars here and there so i can think i can afford a good amount of books.

Also if anyone has a comprehensive advise on how to prepare for the ACT (i have never taken) and any books required that would helpful as well. i have purchased the “real act”.

i really want to maximize my score, i do well in English class but my reading score is very mediocre, i want a really good sat score. I had a 1460 the first time and raised it to 1530 the second time. Really need that jump to an 1800, i have about 4 months to prepare. I REALLY NEED HELP WITH MATH! EVERYTHING MATH! I SUCK, and comparing passage questions and time management as well. My 2 part was only 950 which is shamefully low, i was really hoping for a 1200 2 part.

CR - 500 :frowning:
Writing - 570 :confused:
Math - 460 ( always have hated math since k1)

Also guess or omit? How many questions should i aim to answer for the math section as well as reading?

Thank you so much everyone!

2

It is not worth it to omit or guess any questions on math, it’s a stupid idea, and definitely not worth the brutal curve (-1 or omit one usually equals 770-790, rarely 800). I scored 800 on both sittings of my sittings for the SAT in Math. I tried to avoid silly mistakes, and I had become so efficient that I even finished the 20 minute section with 5 minutes to spare. You can cover most material for SAT 1 by reviewing Algebra 1 and Geometry. I used the math tests from Gruber’s SAT Prep books to cover my bases, because I only scored 760-770 for math before my first SAT (my first sitting was the first time I scored an 800). For CR, I would recommend WordSmart by Princeton Review for vocab. I have no suggestions for passage reading because I am bad with that (this is my lowest score for both of my tests, coming in at 690 and 680 respectively). For writing, I always used the big blue book by CB to review test formats and grammar fallacies. For essays, after you write like 5, you’ll realize that CB only administers certain types of essay prompts. I would recommend finding 2-3 solid examples (history, books, MAYBE personal stuff) that cover these types of essays. For both CR and Writing, I say omit 1-2 at max. If you narrow down your answer choices to 2-3 choices, just guess from there.

3

Wow thanks helps a lot! Will purchase the Grubers mathbook as well! You’re awesome!

4

@goldendaka you’re welcome! If you ever bump into any problems with SAT math or studying in general, just shoot me a quick pm.

5

Hey daka, first thing is that your drive is great. The SAT is for the most part a test about grinding and not persevering. Reading through this, you seem to have dedication. Now with this dedication, it can only be matched and utilized with correct studying habits.

Writing:
Seriously just a book of annoying damn rules. It’s your strongest right now and writing is the section which can be the easiest to improve (because it’s just memorizing those formulas). With this section, as long as you manage to do A LOT of practice sets you’ll see obvious improvement. Why? Well with practice and review of your answers, you’ll start seeing a lot of questions which are very similar to each other that utilize the same rules. I’d recommend just doing the official CB book along with the Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar.

Math:
Similar to writing, math is also just formulas. The difference is that the CB will give you different questions but can still be solved using the same set of formulas you’ve learnt. The farthest math level they will test on is Geometry and the whole test is comprised of Geo and Algebra 1. With this in mind, I recommend Kaplan’s SAT Math workbook with the Official CollegeBoard book.

CR:
The arguably hardest part of this whole test. CR is one of the hardest sections to improve on because it involves using skills that you already have and punishes you for not having skills used on the test. With that said, I think that memorizing vocab is useless in the big picture. You can try and cram 2000 words (that was a huge waste of time in retrospect) or you can brush up on the actual Critical Reading part. What that means is that first focusing on test taking tips.

Sounds simple but here’s how I did it:

  1. I took all parts of the CR section in the SAT (under time) and then counted up my score.
  2. Take a long ass break. Do something other than studying or staring at a bright computer screen. (I chilled out to Spotify)
  3. Right afterwards, I got myself back in the zone and tried a set of tips that my Literature teacher taught me.
    These tips included:
    a. Read every single question of each reading section first.
    b. Circle the ones that say “In this context, the definition of _____ is…”
    c. Do the circled ones
    d. Read the passage from start to finish (and try not to have a mental breakdown)
    e. Say in your mind and give a 2-3 sentence summary of it to yourself.
    f. Proceed with the questions (I always hit the"main idea" questions first because you just reminded yourself what this passage was about)

Okay, now that you have that part of CR down, if you have more time, you can do vocab. Everybody’s vocabulary bank is different; mine is different from yours, my friends’, etc. If you feel like you can get around 50% of the vocab questions right then I would just immediately go and study roots of words. If you google “Most common english word roots” you’ll find a buttload of resources online. I’d recommend printing these suckers out and taking them on by reading, learning, and then writing them down by memory a few roots at a time.

Disclaimer: Fuck Barron’s. Unless you have time to waste, you like taking the SAT (hah), or just want to make sure that you’ll get a 2400, it’s a waste of time. Literally every single test I’ve prepared for, either the SAT 1, 2 or AP, the Barron’s book is much harder than the actual test. For example, I got consistent high 600’s and low 700’s for the Math 2c test and got a 790 on the real SAT 2 test.

Lastly, don’t give up hope. It’s easy to see your score and just say “screw it”. The SAT is a very important test you’ll take and it’s up to you to do everything you can to get the best score you can. You can suffer for this short amount of time (4 months you said) and grind out page after page of prep and then be rewarded with that sweet score. Or, you can just yolo it and look back in half a year and say “Damn, I wish I tried harder”. Believe me, no moment made me happier last year than when I saw that jump from my first diag test of 1790 to 2280 on the real test. You can do it.

6

Yeah all of us have been through this type of test at one point or another in our high school career. When I took my first diag SAT in like the eighth grade, I got a 1560. I didn’t break 600 for any section, and I think I got next to none on the CR sections. After working long and hard for three years, I was actually elated when I saw my first SAT score of 2140, followed by a 2210 just a mere three months later. I realize that I still have a lot of room to grow before November, but it’s great when I look back and see how far I’ve come. It takes time, and while you may have trouble reaching your goals, just take life one step at a time. Things click into place. Don’t worry.

7

If you are around 500, you should automatically omit the last problems in each section that is in difficulty order, that is all but the critical reading passages. It is fine for someone who scored 800 to say don’t omit anything. Obviously, if you are near 800, you should not omit anything.

8

sure will Michelle! im about to now lol Thanks

9

@michelle426 awesome, life sure will, just really want a great score. Planning on going to Grad and Medical school, and since im not some type of athlete and sort of flunked off my 9th grade year, this SAT stuff is really serious for me lol

10

@dvniel wow man thats awesome! thanks for the motivation and belief, truly inspiring. I won’t give up and i will use the tools you provided me with. yeah has got to be a sweet feeling getting back the score you wanted lol, plus must have given you a couple bragging rights towards your friends lol. Have you heard of Dr. Chung? everyone keeps insisting it only for those who scored over 600, of course i did not. I heard its a good book with typos and what not

11

@sattut awesome, sounds like a logical theory ill take into consideration! :smiley:

12

I havent tried Dr. Chung’s but its online reviews look good. If what’s said is true, then I’d just use what you have now and once you break the 600ish mark, then get the book.