<p>How did you prepare? When did you first take it? How many times did you take it? Any helpful tips? </p>
<p>Thanks! :)</p>
<p>I’m not a high scorer, but I scored pretty well (2230). I took my first SAT in October and got a 2090, with self-study and a tutor. And I took a class in January, that was a 10 week intensive course, and then I took the March SAT the week after that class ended, and I got a 2230. </p>
<p>(That probably wasn’t any help…)</p>
<p>2240 never touched a book</p>
<p>^
you have got to be kidding me. 2240 w/o a book ***!?</p>
<ol>
<li>One time.</li>
</ol>
<p>Do the practice tests, timed, until you get in the range you want. Then take it. Rinse and repeat, if necessary.</p>
<p>2400 this march, 2nd time.
1st time in oct 2009: 2290 (M: 750, CR: 740, W: 800)</p>
<p>Book Studying (for content material only):
Princeton Review Student Manual
Princeton Review Cracking the SAT
McGraw Hill’s 2010 SAT book
The Gruber books (regular, 2400, math, cr, and writing books)
Bits of the Kaplan books (Regular + Advanced)
Barron’s 2400 book</p>
<p>Vocab (not a big fan of vocab studying, but did 1 hr per day throughout the summer)
Barron’s Hot Words
Princeton Review’s Hit Parade</p>
<p>Practice Tests:
Princeton Review 11 Practice Tests
Collegeboard Official SAT Guide (1st + 2nd edition)
Collegeboard free practice tests (2007-2010): Get the 2010 test from your guidance counselor or online at collegeboard.com; google for past years’ tests
8 previously administered tests (message me for them)</p>
<p>I also have about a 256+ mb folder of a lot of books as .pdf files that I didn’t use but it seems helpful. You can message me for those as well.</p>
<p>Strategy:
2 weeks - 1 month before the test: 2 hours every day afterschool do 3-4 sections of a practice test, grade, then look up any unknown words. I box completely new words and squiggle words that i’ve seen but don’t exactly know the meaning of. I circle numbers that I guessed on, underline numbers that I’m a little unsure of. For math, I put a little c next to numbers that I want to go back and check. I usually try to finish math sections without checking at a pace of about 1 min/question then double back first to check I gridded right then double back to check the circled, underlined, and “C”-ed numbers, then double back starting from the last numbers towards the beginning problems checking those I haven’t yet. After checking a problem, I jot a little checkmark next to the number. Start with practice tests that have answer explanations, then at least a week before (prob. 2 weeks better or as early as you are making only minimal mistakes i.e. 1-2 math wrong, 4 cr wrong, 1-2 writing wrong), switch over to ETS-written (aka Collegeboard) tests (which usually don’t have explanations, but the 2nd Ed. of the Big Blue Book [BBB] has online explanations, so you should probably start with those ETS tests). </p>
<p>Over the summer of 2009: Princeton Review Comprehensive course. It was okay, really targeted to the average 500-600 student. Not enough homework assigned; techniques were good but most of them are in the PR books sold. If you have a modicum of diligence I would recommend you bypass a course in favor of self-studying.</p>
<p>I think I bought only 1-2 actual books. A lot I got from my local library and just made copies of the practice tests. I also got some books from senior friends very ready to rid themselves of sat materials.</p>
<p>Read through some content books for strategies and formulate your own system of test-taking, using a mix-and-match of all the different brand strategies. Here are some I used:
For CR, I used the PR method of reading a bit then answering a question. this gets some time to get used to but i found it pretty time efficient.
For Essay, I did a 4-paragraph essay each time. One lit example + one history example. Always have a hook + a conclusion. A bonus: have some sort of “social impact” in your conclusion. i.e. prompt: Should we go with the flow/the majority? argument: No. Social impact: The world is shaped by many lone mavericks who resist conforming to social norms; therefore, people ought to pursue truth - not what is socially acceptable. Only through such individuals will the world continue to progress.</p>
<p>Really, figure out a system that works for you and stick with it consistently every time you take a practice test.</p>
<p>Feel free to message me if you have any additional questions.</p>
<ol>
<li>Practice, practice, practice. Unless you’re the rare genius that hits his/her target score on the first try, practice will be your golden axiom. Nothing beats cold, hard sweat and good, old grit for achieving success. I scored 2070 on the PSAT sophomore year…which became a 2390 at the start of junior year.</li>
</ol>
<p>2370 Jan (dumb math mistake) and 2400 March.</p>
<p>Just use the Blue Book practice tests + Direct Hits. Only real resources required</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes, this is all that I used also.</p>
<p>How do you guys approach the CR section? I’ve tried doing it by paragraph, doing Noita’s method of underlining first, and the plain and simple read it through once and answer the questions method. I’ve even tried eclectic methods where I combined these strategies. Aiming for a 2350+ in June.</p>
<p>Might not be particularly helpful to you (I got 800 on PSAT with no studying), but I find just reading to be most effective. No fancy strategies. Just read through and answer questions, always being sure to look back to justify responses. If any words seem long/important, underline them—they’re likely question targets and it’ll be faster to reference.</p>
<p>kameron, </p>
<p>I’m assuming you read abundantly as a child, drawing this conclusion from your mentioning of getting a perfect on the PSAT CR. I was never a voracious reader, although I did read avidly in areas that interested me. How would you suggest someone who has relatively weak reading comprehension approach this section? Many people on this forum seem to have an 800 CR score and it’s really tantalizing. Has anyone managed to score around or 800 on this section after a rough start?</p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t really know. I’ve never had trouble with CR, so I can’t offer much advice.</p>
<p>If you had time, I’d recommend immersing yourself in challenging literature and contemporary prose.</p>
<p>What is direct hits?</p>
<p>^ Two vocabulary books which usually fare quite well in accurately predicting “hits” on SAT CR vocab.</p>