<p>Okay guys, so PSATs came out, and I gotta say, for a sophomore, mine came pretty bad...a total score of 170! This is my first time taking the PSATs. Although I'm lucky this time (it's not going to be used for any scholarships, etc.), and I took it cold (I'm not lying, 0min of studying.), I need to improve, for the real SATs!</p>
<p>So, if anyone can tell me how they improved their scores, that would be really helpful. My school is very preoccupying with my time, and I do want to do a program in the summer, so I was thinking an online course would be really helpful for me. Are there any books that helped you raise your score as well? I would really appreciate those! ANY advice in regards to boosting my (potential) SAT score would be great. Thanks!</p>
<p>i don’t know if a particular book is better than the rest, but I will say you should study hard for these tests. I took the psat in sophmore year and did ok, but not as good as my older brother had done. My math score (60) was especially low compared to what i had wanted. So I studied hard. Next year, I got something like 66. Then I studied super hard and took a bunch of practice tests and tried to improve my weaknesses and got a 730 on the SAT math a couple of months later. Improvement takes time and work, but you can definitely do it.</p>
<p>Nothing like some brotherly competition to get one motivated haha</p>
<p>So yeah, take practice tests and evaluate yourself… your strengths and weaknesses and try to figure out how to improve both.</p>
<p>If you went in with zero preparation, absolutely zero preparation, then your chances of scoring above 210 are reasonable, in my opinion. If you prepped and got those scores then something between 180 and 210 is more likely. My son’s score went from soph 173 to jr 219. His verifying SAT score is even higher. </p>
<p>The easiest to improve was Writing. My son had a 45 and raised it to 76. The hardest to improve was critical reading (7 point improvement). Math was a 9 point improvement.</p>
<p>Buy the official SAT prep book published by College Board. It has 10 practice tests with actual questions and essays from prior SAT exams. Much better than using another publisher’s test prep materials. D used it last year and got a 237. Also, get a copy of the Oct. PSAT and review the questions that you got wrong. Do you need to memorize certain formulas required for the math section? Relearn some of the frequently tested grammar rules? Lastly, when you take the practice tests, take them under conditions that are as close to the real exam as possible. Try to find a 3-hour stretch of time and a quiet place. If that’s not possible, at least do each section in the allotted time. Good luck.</p>
<p>Take a lot of practice tests, especially the online ones that analyze what you are weak in. Then focus on the exact questions.</p>
<p>But “not studying” should only be an issue if you literally don’t know how to take a standardized test - the material on the PSAT is E-Z, and similar to honors level of 9th grade.</p>
<p>The 2012 questions and answers are probably not available online yet, even though you have your score. Check online in mid-January - make sure you have your PSAT testing number & that you have an account on the College Board website
[College</a> Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.org/]College”>http://www.collegeboard.org/)
If you don’t already have an account, you can set one up anytime. And be sure to go to collegeboard.org, NOT collegeboard.com.</p>
<p>@ bubblycrim: My son improved his SAT scores by using the College Board practice tests. My daughter prepped for the PSAT using a book from Barron’s. The Barron’s book had really difficult questions in it - much more difficult than most of the questions on the PSAT. I felt my daughter’s time would be better spent using the College Board book. My son felt that taking practice tests over & over was the key to improvement - he had a 206 on the PSAT when he took it as a junior but ended up with a superscored SAT of 2210 in March of his senior year. He took the PSAT as a sophmore, again as a junior, and took the SAT five times.</p>
<p>I had my daughter read sections of both books, take the practice tests in the College Board book, and review Alg I heavily, since it was a weak area for her. When the questions & answers are available online (check collegeboard.org in mid-January) you can see exactly what your weaknesses & your strengths were. Building your vocabulary with extra workbooks might be helpful, too.</p>
<p>Oh, and Bubblycrim - doing a section of the testing each week is very manageable. Just 30 - 45 min/week, analyze your errors as you go, and in another year you’ll have improved your scores. Most students improve a little without doing anything extra besides doing regular schoolwork. For a big improvement, though, you’ll probably need to invest more time than that.</p>
<p>If you’re motivated, I don’t think you will need a tutor/prep course. Silverturtle’s guide and the blue book are probably your best bet, in addition to taking hard classes at school (especially AP English Language- if you can get through the AP passages, the SAT critical reading section will be a piece of cake). I got a 177 on the PSAT as a sophomore and a 2300+ on the SAT at the end of my junior year, so it is possible.</p>