For those people who have scored in the 2000’s on the SAT, how did you guys do it? I scored a 1730 on the march 2015 SAT. My subscores were:
Math: 620
CR: 530
W:580
How can I improve my score drastically?
2170 (not super high, but above 2k)
I did a lot of practice tests. That’s honestly what helped me most because a lot of the questions are structures the same especially in the grammar section, so the more familiar you are with the answers they want to see the better you will do.
Also I would recommend getting sat apps if you have a smart phone. They make it super easy to study when you have a few minutes extra when you are out and about and they constantly keep the sat question structures fresh in your mind:)
If you have the money, go for a tutor. I didn’t (too expensive), but my friends who had one said they helped.
I raised my PSAT from a 1910 to my sat of a 2170 using these strategies, so they must work somehow:)
Good luck!
I’m aiming for 2250 next time
2290 (superscored)
I think what helped for me was like Katecat27 said, a lot of practice tests. I honestly forgot how many I did…
I would really recommend it for the writing and math section. They were both my weakest sections and I would get 600s on it, but if you practice a lot, you realise that a lot of the same types of questions pop up with the same sort of errors. If you practice enough, you can get used to the pattern and see exactly where the error is very quickly. For the essay writing, I would recommend the same: get a lot of past exam questions and practice writing them. I personally had an SAT tutor help me with grading my essays, but I feel that if you ask around to your teachers or even here on CC, then people would be more than happy to help!
2170 (not too high though)
I think beside practicing, you should set aside 15 minutes everyday to review your mistakes. Find your weak points and focus on improving those. For example, if you get many vocabulary in context questions wrong, you should learn more new words and pay more attention when doing that type of question. Also, I use every sunday morning to do a full length practice test in the blue book to get used to time pressure before the test day. good luck, I get my score after 3 attempts so there is no need to worry :))
Thanks so much guys! @arimakousei @ielino @Katecat27
@arimakousei @ielino @Katecat27
Could any of you guys provide me with a very descriptive schedule as to how I should approach my future SAT’s? Give me a sample week schedule if possible.
DD got a 2300 one sitting, one try. Can’t remember what her PSAT was but def. not near 230. She used the college board’s blue book with practice tests and then used the black book to understand why she got answers wrong. Black Book available on amazon. Good luck!
Practice tests from the blue book and from the SAT online course (10 additional tests). Work on content of each section untimed until you get over 700. Once you get over 700 (or after a few practice tests) then do everything timed. Being able to do test timed is very important before actual test day.
PWN the SAT math. and Erika Meltzer books good for additional prep. The 12 essay in 10 days is great. Prep 10-15 historical, literature, and current examples and have them ready. Write a few sample essays, follow the format from 12 essay in 10 days.
When you score a test, make sure you understand every single problem that you got wrong. Pretty much every answer is online when you google. Write down notes in notebook analyzing your errors and writing how to,solve correctly.
CR: vocab, Vocab, vocab. Direct Hits 1&2 is great. Also, for passages, figure out what technique or combo of techniques works for you.
Mainly, drive and determination will help tremendously. Get lots of sleep the week of the test.
I got a 2330 and I agree 100% with what others said about practice tests. I got a 2090 on my first test (November 2013) and my 2330 June 2014. Starting 2 months before the June sitting, I took a full timed test every Saturday, and during the week I took another full test during a section or 2 a day. The SAT is super predictable and after you take it multiple times at home you will begin to see obvious patterns, especially in critical reading.
Good luck!
The SAT is all about practice!
Sophomore PSAT: 208 January SAT (11th grade): 2360
My study schedule went like this:
Spring 10th grade:
3 hour class once a week working in blue book and McGraw Hill mostly.
Fall 11th grade:
Mostly worked by myself on practice tests. I completed all in the Blue Book and found some PSAT’s through Google - for example, just google “2011 PSAT pdf genevaschool”. Make sure you figure out why you got wrong what you got wrong!
I also think that the Critical Reader’s Complete SAT Grammar Rules is very helpful.
thanks guys
Both of my kids scored above 2000. Neither did anything more than take practice tests. Princeton Review offers free practice tests. These are great because you go to a local location where you take the test as if you would the real one (as opposed to taking the test at home with possible distractions) and they give you feedback on what you got right and wrong. They also have practice ACT’s and if you aren’t sure which to take they have a hybrid test that helps you determine which you would do better on. (Princeton Review does offer all sorts of prep classes and tutoring, but there was no pressure to sign up)
what did you kids do other than that ma’mm? @ClaremontMom
@ronin24, what do you mean “other than that”? For SAT prep? Not much else. They got some prep books but barely looked at them. The extent of their prep was the practice tests.
@ClaremontMom how can you get access to Princeton review’s practice test?
@ZBlue17 - Go to: http://www.princetonreview.com/product-search/sat#s=04%2F04%2F2015&e=04%2F04%2F2016&page=1&len=15&dow=127&m=3&pg=30&pt=408&r=25&t=SAT&v=list&z=
Enter your zipcode and choose “free” for instruction type and “in person” for online/in person. That should bring up free practice tests. It does look like it’s changed a bit. It used to be simply a practice test – now it is being promoted as “SAT Honors Challenge” - described as “Are you ready for the SAT Honors challenge? Take a free practice test to find out if you qualify for our most elite program,SAT Honors,a prep course designed for exceptional students looking to gain admission into the most selective colleges.” But it doesn’t say you have to have any pre-qualifications to do so, so it’s still a free practice test.
Also, my kids high school PTSA offered low cost testing (usually about $15) through Princeton Review at the school and our local library also offered one. (I’m guessing the sponsoring program used it as a fundraiser and Princeton Review used it as a way to get their name out there.)
@ClaremontMom ok! so tell me what they did before, during, and after the practice tests?
I got a 2340, but I didn’t really do any practices. I think what’s best is just reading a good test-prep book (I used Applerouth’s Fab guide and it was great!) and maybe taking one practice exam.
@ronin24 I’m not sure what you are looking for as an answer to “what they did before, during and after”. My point is that they didn’t do much…but what little they did was as follows: Before, they attended some free workshops (provided at their school) that gave some test strategies. During - they implemented these strategies, I assume. After, they looked at the results and tried to learn from that.
But here is the thing — I just looked at your original post again. You are at 1730. Both my kids started much higher than where you are at, so you might need more practice or study than they did. Also, you might try a practice ACT and see how you do. I forget what the difference is (I’m sure you can find it online somewhere), but certain academic strengths do better on ACT than SAT.
2310 (one sitting, first time)
I took a summer course that met every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for about 32 times. They made us take an exam in the morning, and we would go over everything in the afternoon. I hated it, but it was worth it in the end when I got into the colleges I wanted to.
You just got to take those practice tests, but you have to do it knowing what you’re doing right and wrong. If you’re getting simple questions right by guessing, learn how to get it right without guessing next time (after all, 100% is better than 20%).
Writing is by far the easiest to improve. If you can nail the essay (11/12), you can get a decent score. You can even get one or two wrong on the MC with a 12 and still get an 800. The essay should be a short intro, two body paragraphs (only 2), and a conclusion (that is basically your intro again). Use historical elements, such as the Civil Rights movement, etc. You can even use quotes and falsely identify them (they don’t care about facts, just about how you form your arguments).
Writing MC is all about knowing the rules to grammar. Say the sentences to Identifying Sentence Errors part out loud. Know simple rules such as Subject-Verb and know which pronouns are singular (everyone, anyone) and which are plural. Know harder rules such as Idioms, Relative Pronouns, etc. For example, if you have a sentence that is “Developed during the 17th century, Benjamin Franklin is known for the development of electricity” (just completely made up, not factual). This sentence is incorrect because the first phrase is talking about electricity, so the word after the comma should be electricity, not Ben Franklin (know that even if the sentence sounds weird after this correction, it is still grammatically correct, which is what matters).
Math is the next easiest to improve. Know your geometry, because that’s what is really confusing to a lot of students and what appears pretty frequently on the test. If you know the material, then it’s all about knowing what the question is asking. CollegeBoard is known for tricking test takers, so read the question carefully.