<p>Has anyone done particularly well on the SATs without prepping first? I mean, absolutely nothing at all; no practice tests, etc.
Why is prepping necessary--does it help with the actual information, or just getting used to the format of the test?</p>
<p>When someone says “I don’t prep at all” and does well, you may seem initially suspicious, as if he/she is bragging about how well his/her scores are to the little amount of “prep” they do (if none at all). However, their prep may not necessarily be “SAT prep”. Participating in math competitions, as I know myself, is plenty of practice for doing well on the SAT math without reviewing the test’s problems. For critical reading and writing, reading advanced literature will expose you to lots of great writing and correct grammar, making rules and styles of authors quite intuitive.
People prep for a variety of reasons, but one may want to practicing being used to test conditions and building up his/her endurance. The test does require several hours of one’s time and it may be hard to focus during the entire test. Prepping also can be to help prepare for questions that might be on the test. While problems are rarely identical, many contain similar concepts and strategies for doing well.</p>
<p>Prepping can really help on two levels. The first level is that it simply helps you familiarize yourself with how questions on the test are asked and how the test makers want you to respond to them. This may not seem like a big deal, but it only takes a few practice tests to get this down and once you do the whole test process will be a lot smoother. Personally, by taking a week to prep and familiarize myself with the test I had increase of about 200 points. </p>
<p>The other level is more long term, when you actually take the time to read and work through the entire prep book. This should increase your score by another 200 points or so, but those are much harder to earn than those first 200 you can get by just getting more familiar with the test.</p>
<p>Yes, there are a few rare geniuses who can cram for the test two days beforehand, walk into the testing center, and pull off a 2400 without a sweat. </p>
<p>However, for the rest of us, prepping is, in my opinion, absolutely essential to doing well or at least improving your score. The topics covered by the SAT are fairly narrow, especially on writing, which means that even a bit of preparation will lead to significant improvements in score. It is also very beneficial to familiarize oneself with the timing and format.</p>
<p>And by the way, the hypothetical genius I mentioned above is actually a real person that I know; he now goes to MIT. However, people like that are very, very, rare.</p>