<p>I got a 1910 my first time (June 2012). Here are my scores for each part.</p>
<p>Math- 710
CR- 620
Writing- 580- 61mc 7 essay</p>
<p>So I was wondering what would be the best way to improve these scores. Keep in mind that I got these scores without any kind of studying, and it was my first time taking the sections back to back.</p>
<p>Bump
!!!</p>
<p>In my opinion, you did pretty well in recognition of your circumstances.
But since you want to improve:
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html</a></p>
<p>Hopefully with that your writing score will go up by a lot
2) I also recommend getting Gruber’s Complete SAT Guide since i think its amazing</p>
<p>With that alone your score will definitely increase. I tried tutoring before and I thought it was okay but I didnt improve as much as I wanted to. But now Im trying this method for myself this summer and so far Im improving so much more. </p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Try Direct Hits for CR</p>
<p>Thanks for the info so far!
Bump!</p>
<p>I think for Math (if you’re willing to spend some money), you can improve your score with Dr. Chung’s SAT Math. This book should be used for those who are getting above a 700 yet not as high as they hope to be. It’s a little challenging but in order to get something like an 800 of course it would be so. </p>
<p>For CR, I suggest you read some classics book. Three or four is good for a few months depending on your schedule. For vocab, Direct Hits sounds to be very helpful. I memorized like 3000 words but it wasn’t very helpful because I barely remember half those definitions. However, I rarely miss vocab sections because of context which can be conditioned by reading challenging books that test your vocab-context skills. Also, just take a lot of practice tests and see exactly why you got something wrong. Like everyone else says, the answers are in the text. If a choice is not supported by the passage, it is not the right answer. Use this as a big tip in your next SAT practice test :)</p>
<p>For writing, the link posted above is very helpful for high essay score. Writing was easiest for me because I have a list of the common errors found in SAT writing section (I think it’s like 34 or something like that) so I can just find those errors and mark my answers. But I don’t see it in any of the prep books so I really can’t help you there. I think just going over the Official SAT Study Guide would be a great help for you.</p>
<p>What realistic score are you reaching?</p>
<p>Fill up all of the space given on the essay - that should guarantee you 11-12 on the essay. With that on the essay, you can usually miss 6 or 7 and still get 700+. Going from a 710 to an 800 in Math is usually just avoiding careless mistakes, and that comes with practice. That alone should increase your score significantly. CR is, in my opinion, the most difficult section on the SAT and requires a lot of attention and getting a sense of what the test expects you to be able to do. This also should come through practice.</p>
<p>This is what I did, although you may not afford to do so.
I went to South Korea for 2 months and took SAT Prep Courses at The Princeton Review.
CR & Writing Classes started from 8AM and ended at around 4PM; then, we had Math Class from 5PM to 8PM.
During class time, we took practice tests and went over the questions & strategies in great depth.
For CR Class, we were given ~80 to 100 SAT vocabulary words to memorize every day and were given a vocab quiz (w/ ~60 questions) the very next day.
Students were forced to memorize all of the words because if they didn’t get over a 90% on the quiz, they would not be allowed to go to lunch. Instead, they would be sent to “study period”.
For Writing Class, we were assigned to read 2 books (Fahrenheit 451, Frankenstein) that would be applicable in almost any essay prompts.
In both Writing & Math Class, we had a manual with problems we had to solve for homework.</p>
<p>Before taking this course at TPR, I got a 1910.
CR - 600
Math - 640
Writing - 670</p>
<p>After taking it, I got:
CR - 740
Math - 800
Writing - 790</p>
<p>@flower161
Really? You thought Gruber was a good review book?
The questions in general were horrible and didn’t really model the actual SAT questions.
I threw the book away after taking like 3 tests from there.</p>
<p>Hmm… My approach (as far as CR, I suck at M and am totally clueless… Sorry!) is pretty much the exact opposite of most. I’ll tell you what I tell everyone struggling with SAT CR & W…</p>
<p>Don’t read the passage until you HAVE TO! This sounds nutty as can be, but trust me, I got a 750 on CR (I missed 2 vocab questions and made two bubbling errors, circled the right answer and bubbled the wrong one, curse my thoughtlessness!) without ANY prep… Anyway, in a lot of cases, you don’t need to read the passage until the last 2 questions about it (they usually ask about mood, tone, author purpose, style… Things that require you to read the whole passage); if a question gives you a designated line number that you need to read, read it, answer the question, and move on! When you havvvvvve to read the passage to answer a question, go ahead and read it. This saves time, which can be especially beneficial if you’re a slow reader. I’m not a slow reader, but I like to have time to check my answers, and it also just keeps things simpler… It makes a lot of trick questions untricky. </p>
<p>This is a very general and overly-simplistic piece of advice (it goes with the tricky bit earlier) but answer the question… Make sure to answer strictly what it’s asking for, don’t try to “interpret” it or anything… It’s not subjective. The SAT is tricky, they want you to mess up, so keep your cool and keep it simple. Look at the concrete… Find something concrete in the question, the answer, and the passage. If all pieces are in agreement, and relevant to each other, you have the answer. You’ll never have to analyze anything on the CR section… Just find things! </p>
<p>Also, (more of a writing tip I guess, but still) learn how to recognize passive voice if you aren’t already able to. If you didn’t know, Passive voice is a more advanced kind of grammatical “error” in the English language… </p>
<p>Active voice: David plants a tree.
Passive voice: A tree is planted by David. </p>
<p>A few incorrect answer choices on a bunch of questions are likely to be passive voice, so if you can recognize passive voice and eliminate those answer choices quickly, you can save lots of time stressing over answer choices. While these answer choices are gramatically correct by conventional grammar rules, if they’re in passive voice, that means they aren’t the <em>best</em> answer.</p>
<p>For essays, avoid writing in passive voice, avoid convoluted personal anecdotes, and avoid stretching things to get examples… You can make up facts and figures though, if you’re certain the area’s obscure enough for the fabrication not to be discovered. These essays are all about your opinions, and how you can back them up with facts… With that being said, you can’t not have an opinion… If you don’t care about the topic (my AP Lang persuasive topic was “certainty v. doubt” and my SAT essay topic was about whether or not society remembers and emphasizes the good or the bad, so you can see that the College Board’s topics are generally thought provoking, but abstract), you’d better learn to care pretty fast, as you only have about ~2 minutes to pick which side you’re on (if they have sides – when I took the SAT in 7th grade, it merely asked something like “Why is it better to create new things than imitate the works of others?”). After that, come up with 3+ things that support your opinion… These can be anything – books, movies, personal experiences, historical events, etc… I like to use historical events, as I have a good memory and a love of history… Supreme Court decisions can also provide an interesting sourse of support for your opinion, at times. Books are great sources of support – I find that The Fountainhead (a personal favorite of mine) and Lord Of The Flies are fairly easy to tie into anything. I tend to steer away from personal examples because in most cases, they don’t fit the topic well… But if it fits, go with it! Now, grammatically your essay should be as perfect as it can be… No passive voice, no comma splices, no run ons, no errors in subject-verb agreement, no substituting adjectives for adverbs… You should try to use a variety of sentence structures, and throw in a couple impressive words (my personal favorites are alacrity, opprobrium, desideratum, and lexicon – if you’re being funny, you may find use for “inebriated”). Make sure you have a good opening paragraph and good material throughout the body of the essay… The conclusion is less important. </p>
<p>Anyway, you should also read a lot, and look up words you don’t know… As a testament, I read a lot, and for about two years straight (before I became broke from it, and sort of got a life) I used to read a new book (of ~400 pages) every day. I was reading Jane Austen in 3rd grade, so yes, reading definitely helps [with vocabulary and with getting a feel for different sentence structures]. If you really, REALLY hate reading, at least try to memorize some vocabulary… I’ve heard “Direct Hits” is pretty good for that, but I wouldn’t know, as I’ve never really prepped for CR. I still side with reading though, because unlike memorizing words, it helps you become a better writer too!</p>
<p>Take practice tests too, of course… At the end of the day, taking the SAT is a skill, practice tests help you test your skill level. Try these strategies, if they work for you, you’ll be astounded how much simpler the test seems, and hopefully with how high your score rises! If they don’t, there are still some helpful bits throughout this post. Anyway, best of luck to all, and remember… You can do it!</p>
<p>^^ thats some good advice right there!</p>
<p>But @GraceTone I’m not the biggest fan of the questions but I thought it was good at explaining topics that I didnt get in all three topics.</p>