help me with the SAT

International Students
1

<p>it's me again. Yea, totally stressed. </p>

<p>These are my first 2 PR diagnostic test scores and 2 collegeboard test scores in between...in chronological order of when i wrote the tests:</p>

<p>Diagnostic A:
690 M
630 CR
660 W (12 essay apparently and 59 for the actual grammar score out of 80...terrible)
TOTAL: 1980</p>

<p>CB Test:
750 M
670 CR
680 W (with a 10 essay...65/80 for the grammar)
TOTAL: 2100</p>

<p>Diagnostic B:
700 M
730 CR (amazing...very proud of this, did very well)
590 W! (63/80 on grammar...so I improved from the first diagnostic a bit...but 6 essay!)
TOTAL: 2020</p>

<p>CB Test (wrote today):
710 M (made 3 errors..is this a harsh curve?)
630 CR (SC killed me, did very badly on that part, made 4-5 errors in all on the actual passages for the entire test, so if SC were better, I woulda scored high 600s again).
75/80 W! (made only 2 errors, both dumb mistakes...so I have 750 in W for this test with a 9 essay)
TOTAL: 2090...TERRIBLE!</p>

<p>So, what's going on here? My scores are fluctuating and I am frustrated with my W scores in PR diagnostics. </p>

<p>Here's the thing:
-at home, I never run out of time in W and I never feel stressed and I finish on time
-at the PR course, I feel stressed, pressured, and don't finish W or just barely do (for example...on the last section of Diagnostic B...section 10, i got all W correct because i finished on time and was relaxed)
-I make silly errors in math still, preventing me from >750
-CR is crazy. some days I nail it (730 Diag. B...some day's i bomb it...630 TODAY)</p>

<p>so, what should I do? i have one month till the may SAT and honestly kelloggs, darksoulz, etc....you guys are very helpful. I need a solid SAT score and I have no clue what my real score is around. of course, the PR score from the diag's is probably more realistic of my score...but it's the timing, pressure, and so on that I feel. I can't concentrate as much as I do at home. at home, im so relaxed and confident. At home, I KNOW 2100 is easily doable. How do I get over this? I mean, I am so tired right now and this entire day was bad...so I was fatigued during the practice test I wrote today. i'm pretty sure i could've scored higher if I were to be more refreshed. So, 2100 is a normal score for me at home right now.</p>

<p>PR diag's are a whole nother story. help me guys and girls. i desperately need help. On average, I lose 100 pts. from PR to at home. Like today, if I got 700 in CR, i'd be at 2150...and id be 100 away from my goal of at least 2250 for the may SAT. BUT, once again, i don't know if I'll choke during th real thing like i do at PR class tests. don't know what to think right now...</p>

2

<p>again, i dont wanna be harsh. just go do more practice tests…</p>

<p>if all u’ve done are 4 practice tests…u dont deserve anything over 2100…</p>

3

<p>well, ok… for the CR… believe it or not, the BEST (I really do mean BEST) advice anyone can give you is to first read… Eenglish is my second language and I came to Canada not too long ago. My CR when I started practising was around 600 but then I read like 8 or 9 books that summer and got it up in the 700 range. Plus, really try to learn some kay words that come up in the SAT over and over again… do you have the bluebook? ONLY do full practise tests from there… not Kaplan or even Princeton Review… however, you can do practise questions and practice from this red book called like rocket review… learn math techniques from Grubers… different books do different things correctly…I had all these different resources at my disposal… if you are willing to do well on the test, you have to put in the money to get good resources… My SATs at the beginning went from like 1950 to like 2100-2200s… If I practised more, it would have maybe gone higher a bit more. Once you have all these resources, I can’t stress the importance of practise. Just time yourself for two hours a day and just do practise questions. Also, math is a section you should aim to get perfect at. At the very least, you should be consistantly getting 750 + in math… and the rest, try for 700+… obviously the higher, the better. Don’t be too stressed out. I’ve been through ALL this and if there is advice I can give you, its that constant stressing does no good. Also, if you can, take the SAT twice… statistics show that people often do better a second time.</p>

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<p>Do more practice tests. </p>

<p>Time it so you’re doing 1 about every 2 days. That should get you through the blue book (Seriously. use on the blue book. version 2. then verson 1. then the red book). Between those days, study what you’re doing wrong and learn from your mistakes.</p>

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<p>^ok everyone. I’ve done, recently, those four above tests, and some hard math only sections from an resource I found on the INternet. Honestly, I agree with alam1. MATH HAS TO BE MY BACKBONE FOR THE SAT, NO MATTER WHAT. every error I make is a something I overlooked or something I realize in 2 seconds what I did wrong. For example, on the last test all my errors were not things i didn’t know to do. </p>

<p>Writing is so odd though! I don’t understand it at all! Like 2 errors yesterday…but high 500s in PR diagnostic! Should I start practicing W sections with like 5 minutes less or something? During the PR tests I keep looking at the clock and run out of time. At home, i methodically, slowly finish the section EXACTLY when time ends, but I don’t make many errors anymore…I am starting to recognize the things I’d usually miss.</p>

<p>@kelloggss, HONESTLY. in your honest opinion. Is it just more practice tests that boost your score? if I did 20-25 practice tests before the May SAT…could I expect to bring my score from upper 2000s to mid 2200s or upper 2200s?</p>

<p>and everyone…should I do online drills or just focus on more practice tests? Like, is reviewing the test after I write it enough help? Or should I do drills? I’m confused. Do just practice test + review enough?</p>

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<p>yeah, i think its really just more practice. i mean, there are probably better, more efficient ways to improve ur score (taking courses, w/e) but the most proven, most reliable way to boost ur score is more practice. just forget everything about techniques, study methods, collegeconfidential, everything. just forget everything and do 40-50 tests. after that, ur guaranteed a 2300, unless u have a mental disorder or something (which u dont)…</p>

<p>go do more practice tests!</p>

7

<p>Uhh 40-50 tests is ridiculous.</p>

<p>Look at the questions you are missing - are they a single type of question?</p>

<p>Are you only missing passage analysis questions for CR? Vocab?</p>

<p>Are you only missing trig questions for Math? Or is it Geometry?</p>

<p>Are you only missing sentence errors for Writing?</p>

<p>Try to figure out what is causing you to get ~700 in each section. Chances are, there will be a pretty clear picture of what you need to work on if you look at the questions you miss. What kelloggss is saying is correct in that practice tests help, but you should FOCUS your efforts. Try just working on passage comprehension, or just working on sentence errors. </p>

<p>P.S. About 10 practice tests will probably be enough =]</p>

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<p>I hear that those prep places are likely to give tougher tests so as to keep you longer and also better prepared…</p>

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<p>wow, that seems so…dumb that collegeboard makes such a test as the SAT. simply 30 practice tests can net you 2250 I guess then…as long as your pretty smart. </p>

<p>and tips to increase speed? should i give myself like 5 less minutes in each section? or will speed come with more practice? and I have 1 month to take ~25 practice tests…how do I space them out? also, tests with no answers…are these of any benefit at all?</p>

10

<p>^</p>

<p>Don’t let PR tests deter you. They sporadically make one section easier/harder throughout their 4 “diagnostic tests”. The 2nd Diagnostic you did ( Diagnostic B) does have an easier CR section. I scored from a 680 BB CR to a 760 CR Diagnostic B score, but my CR score did dip again. My friends have similar stories, (They also received their highest CR score on this test, and then eventually dipped). I would suggest not really relying on these scores to predict your skill level. My scores continue to sporadically increase/decrease by 50-100 points per section in PR. </p>

<p>P.S Diagnostic C has a harder CR section and much easier Writing section.</p>

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<p>First, if you want a good improvement, you should definitely do at least 10 sets, and if you have time, redo them to make sure you’ve learned the mistakes from the first time.</p>

<p>For math, material-wise, you shouldn’t have any problem solving any of the questions, as they’re all (I think) grade9/10 material at most, so aim for 800 in math. The only problem is that even if you do know everything, it’s hard not to make an arithmetic mistake or a reading error in the 50 or so questions, so I would recommend reading the questions carefully and checking your answers when you finish despite how boring it might feel. Statistically, 1 question would cost you 10-30 points (so 20 on average).</p>

<p>For CR, if you’re having trouble with SC, either your vocab is lacking or you’re having a hard time with the logic. If it’s vocab problem, I would suggest you memorize vocab lists (e.g. the Barron book has some 3000 vocabs), and this is especially helpful for first-generation immigrants despite how unnatural it is (if you had more time, reading a lot of books for years is really the solid/surefire way to go). If it’s just the questions, definitely do tests with explanation and answer key so you know why the right answer is right and the wrong answer is wrong. For the reading questions, since your test is in May, all you can do is practice. Do the practice test and do them again, and read the explanations for the questions you got wrong to get a feel of their “logic.”</p>

<p>For the writing section, you just need to write as much as you can for the essay. During that 25 minutes, spend maybe 5 min planning and just don’t stop writing. Do intro + 2 reasons/examples + conclusion (4 paragraphs) and you’re good for at least 10/12 if your essay make sense and you’ve got a good length (e.g. 350+). For the grammars, again, like SC and math, it’s pretty much a mechanical thing because there’s only so much grammar they can test just like there’s only a certain amount of vocab or math they can put in, so a good strategy is to find a book where all the most frequently tested grammar are included, absorb, and do plenty of practice tests to get the hang of it.</p>

<p>To sum it all up, do more practice tests, and try to get perfect on math, SC, grammar, and 10/12 on essay because they are pretty predictable. Under limited time, the reading in CR would need practice (e.g. reading speed, question logic) to get used to. If you got all these down, hitting 2200+ shouldn’t be a problem. In short, a good SAT score takes practice, knowing what they test, and a strong sense of logic.</p>

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<p>thanks a lot for the above 2 posts</p>

<p>@Jayxbx: So, you’re in the PR class too? What is score score approx. in BB tests and what are your approx. scores in PR? Right now, on average, I have ~2000 in PR and ~2090-2100 in BB. </p>

<p>@JakobCreutzfeldt: thanks so much! Yea, math is the backbone of my SAT (always dumb mistakes…i’m cutting down though…i used to make 4-5 silly errors, now i make 2-3…wanna cut that down to none after some more practice tests) along with grammar. Like, for W, I def. no the q’s asked…last test I wrote that was collegeboard QAS…i got -2 in total. So, I know the concepts ( 2 errors were dumb mistakes). </p>

<p>CR is the big problem. Some SC I fly through…others I barely know 2/3 of the words or even 1/2. Also, I understand the logic of figuring out which words go where (trigger words, +/- words, etc.). I just don;t know the words. </p>

<p>For the passages, I can eliminate 3 answers always. I actually do reasonably well in the passage sections (max. 2 passage errors per section, mostly 1 error)…so like about 5 errors in the entire test will be passage…if SC wasn’t such a bICtH, then I’d do way better. </p>

<p>I really, desperately need a 2250 in the MAY SAT. I have barely, if at all, a 2100. Is this 150+ pt. increase doable, considering I have a busy schedule too?</p>

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<p>^ omg, so many strategies and stuff…T-T</p>

<p>I’m just writing answers that I think are right…I flipped through the PR and Kaplan books from the library, but they have so many methods that you are supposed to use that I just gave up. = =</p>

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<p>^yea, i’m not into all the methods. the only real methods that one should use are process of elimination, and other obvious stuff. oh yea, subbing in values for unknowns in math helps a lot with tricky q’s…makes them cake. </p>

<p>Oh yea, question for everyone:
so, recently I’ve written 3 writing sections, exclusively from tests. I’ve gotten 2 wrong, 3 wrong, and 2 wrong in the MC part respectively. I will write another practice test tomorrow (full thing) to make sure that these scores aren’t a lucky streak or anything. </p>

<p>So, how do you manage to finally get PERFECT?! lol. also, on test day…how do you manage the stress/anxiety/tension during the sections that you KNOW that you should get 800 or really, really close to 800 on? Currently, I’m thinking that I would fret over every problem, trying to ensure that I got it right, thus wasting time. How do you NAIL that section?</p>

<p>I want to NAIL Math and Writing for sure. I understand all the concepts, I just don’t need dumb errors holding me back or a brain cramp holding me back. So, how do you pull it off on test day? </p>

<p>And should I consistantly be getting 800s in W and M in the BB tests to even conceive the notion of getting 800 on the real thing? Or if I get high 700s-mid 700s, hit an 800 maybe once or twice, do I have a shot?(or are my chances slim? ie. on test day, should one expect to do worse and if so, by how many points).</p>

<p>@hinderpanda, have you written the SAT yet? if not, when do you plan to write? and what are your scores around (approximately)? You can PM me if you want, I just though that if maybe you were better than me at a section, then we could help each other, if i do better in a section than you do. We could maybe give each other tips that work and stuff.</p>

<p>For me, I score low-mid 700s in math, I get high 600s in W and CR…but like I said, lately, my W has improved a lot…hoping its not a fluke.</p>

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<p>^ well, i’ve only done the CR and W of 3 tests in the blue book. Math I reeked so much in the practise test that I decide to practise with PR/Kaplan/whatever a bit first before using the BB. However, talent show’s been keeping me so busy (just got it over with on Friday xD) with rehearsals everyday for the past few weeks that I haven’t really gotten around to it…T0T I’ve registered already for May 1st so I really gotta pick up the pace…</p>

<p>ANYWAYYYS</p>

<p>CR: 4 wrong (770), 6 wrong (710), 2 wrong (800)
W (assumed a 10 for essay when scoring, but i think i can do better. xD): 16 wrong (650), 9 wrong (640), 5 wrong (700)</p>

<p>I don’t want to make excuses, but umm, I wasn’t really doing the tests in the “testing environments” you are supposed to do them in…I was talking on the phone/doing stuff on the computer while I did these, so they are probably not that accurate…only after I started reading stuff about the SAT did I realize that I’d basically wasted 3 tests…><
But since there’s kind of an increasing trend, I must have paid enough attention to subconsciously recognize trends and stuff. xDDDD I’ll do a proper one tomorrow and keep you posted, but I think it’s safe to say that the results are probably going to be atrocious, especially the math section… M<W<CR should be expected. xD</p>

<p>woah I talk too much - -|||</p>

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<p>@ ViggyRam </p>

<p>I do take the PR class unfortunately; I believe 3 hours of assiduous self study is a much better investment. My Highest PR score was 2040ish but my average is around 2000ish. My BB tests are almost always 2100+. BB is much easier in my opinion, especially in Math and CR.</p>

<p>Regarding vocab, I noticed a significant SC improved after reading just the first volume of Direct Hits. Mifune also told me to read the long passages by paragraphs and line references. Direct Hits+ This Strategy helped me improve from 6 wrong on the passages to 3 wrong (Dumb mistakes) and only 2 SC wrong.</p>

<p>Direct Hits was well worth the money in my opinion.</p>

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<p>ok, I have DH 1 and DH 2. I will hit those books after I finish up a diff. vocab. book. Also, yea, I’ve taken 2 diag’s at PR…average is 2000, highest was 2020, so my scores are almost identical to yours. I score around 2100 in BB as well. I will write a BB test today and see how it goes.</p>

<p>@hinderpanda…omg, i got a deal for you…you help me with CR, I help you with M lol. We are like opposites in that regard. What strategy do you use for CR and do you take tests in timed conditions (like the CR parts) because I always seem to be rushed and run out of time. Also, I will take a full length test today at like 5pm. So, at like 10ish (I want to eat and relax a bit before marking it) I will post my scores on here.</p>

<p>Also, it is really dumb that 3 errors on M and 3 errors on W take you from an 800 to 710! Really frustrating. It’s pretty much get 800 or take your low 700s and leave.</p>

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<p>K, I think your grading is a bit too harsh. Three mistakes usually equate to 3*20 points. I think a reasonable goal for your situation is to shoot for 800 in M and W and 700+ in CR. To get a 2250, I think a good breakdown would be M800, W750 (10/12 essay, 2-3 mistakes on multiple choice), CR 700 (6 mistakes).</p>

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<p>@ Viggy, lol, how do we tutor each other? For CR, I really think it’s more to do with reading a lot than anything else. Reading a wide variety of materials outside of classroom reading really helps with CR and Lit, supposedly.
I usually skim through the passage really fast, and then I do each question individually, going back over the passage for Qs that mention specific sentences/paragraphs. From what I see on CC, some ppl use this “method”.
Others skim Qs before reading passage (which I suppose means one less reading, but I’m kind of OC with reading…like, I read cereal boxes and chocolate bar ingredients… - -).
Others skim Qs for specific mentions of lines/paragraphs, underline them, and then read (this one sounds good too, but I find underlining really messy so I tend not to do this).</p>

<p>Oh, and I guess you have to be “interested” in the psg. I find that most of their informational passages are actually pretty fun to read, and their antique fiction ones are good too. For the duller stuff, just pretend they’re interesting, like they are a sequel to Artemis Fowl or Harry Potter or written by Neil Gaiman or Haruki Murakami or something (whatever floats your boat…xD), and read it with “gusto”. That would probably help you retain more info. xD
Ohh, and I always get the tone questions wrong. Sometimes I don’t agree with the “official” answer, but from what I read on CC and other places, the right answer is always supported. Ergo, for tonal Qs, look for cue words in the psg (but I haven’t really tested out this strategy, so I can’t say it’ll work for sure). E.g. if the Q gives you 5 choices, and you think it’s either going to be “morbid” or “depressing”, and you see words like death, tomb, Hell, grave etc…it’s probably going to be morbid, because while these words are depressing for most people, they aren’t depressing on their own. They do however, share a common theme of death.
I’m also going to start paying more attention to tone etc in general, rather than just getting the story/info (I think that 800 was more of a fluke…= =).</p>

<p>I guess it’s cuz I read fast, but I usually don’t have timing problems with CR.
Actually, I don’t have timing problems with any of the sections.
I just either don’t know how to do the math (f(x) function notations: I just learned, like literally last week in math class…= =|||) or I solve the wrong way for the solution; I also get progressively more confused with the editing part of the W…I HATE those Qs where they give you choices for how to “best” edit the psg, and then you have to like search all over thing for sentence #s xyz…T0T</p>

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<p>ic, for me the W section is just about practice. if you have the CB BB then look up the answer explanations online and you will see a big boost in your score.</p>

<p>Gonna write a practice test now…will post results later</p>