<p>Pretty much did mediocre at first on the practices and managed to do well in the end? This is ****ing me off like you have no idea. I don't understand how I'm not doing well throughout...how many do you guys generally skip? (Math is the most frustrating of all).</p>
<p>This is all just a matter of personal preferences.</p>
<p>I decided not to do a course or get a tutor. Personally, I feel that I am more efficient studying on my own and setting my own pace than having to follow a class with tons of students at all levels. From what I've heard, most people said the classes were no real help in terms of learning things they wouldn't have learned otherwise. The good thing about courses: if you're someone who will not pick up the books and study by yourself, at least they force you to take practice tests under realistic conditions.</p>
<p>In terms of skipping - this may sound odd, but I NEVER leave questions blank. The only type of questions someone should leave blank is a multiple choice math question; you may just not know where to even begin. But on reading and writing, you can always narrow it down to 2 or 3, so you know what, just go for it.</p>
<p>You should take a lot of practice tests and see what strategies work for you. That's the only way to decide.</p>
<p>All right I'll try that, but I have been bombing and I am wondering why. I'm thinking.......I'm in AP English I'm breezing through this.....hell no that backfires.</p>
<p>In terms of preparation, I think a lot of people approach the test the wrong way. The bottom line is that the SAT, as much as people study for it, as not designed as something you can "study" for. This is not AP Bio or something where you just memorize information. I took the April 1st test - and anyone who took math will tell you that you cannot "prepare" for some of those questions. It's not about knowing a formula or having studied, you just have to see things.</p>
<p>Having said that, this is what I reccomend:
-The one thing I do think you can "study" for is critical reading - sentence completions. Don't go nuts and try to memorize every word in the dictionary. Instead, get about 2 or 3 good SAT lists and go through them - don't do so many words; instead, pick a few lists and know them cold. On yesterday's test I was able to breeze through the sentence completions.
-Most important thing: do practice tests. Familiarize yourself with the test, understand the types of questions asked, and don't be afraid to try new strategies in practice.</p>
<p>I hope that I was helpful.</p>
<p>I'll take another practice tomorrow or the day after because I have a book with 11 of them in there and see what happens. I need to work on my time management....part of my problem is spending too much time on the questions. Thanks for the feed back.</p>