<p>I'm an international student. For the first time, I took a practice test in Kaplan's and I got 700 in Math, 510 in CR, and 530 in Writing. Is this a bad score? I'm aiming for at least 1800. Any ways that I can improve on certain parts?</p>
<p>First of all, I would like to state that I am an international student as well but I did not prepare with Kaplan. I have heard that Kaplan is easier than the real thing. I would highly recommend that you use the Official SAT Study Guide (It was all I used to get my 2280 CR:800 W:720 M:760). Your Math looks solid but, as with most of us international students, English is your area of weakness. Word Smart i.e. vocabulary is a sure fire way to raise your CR score (I did 900 words and that raised my score by 180). For the comprehension part of CR, all I can say is practice and try to find an approach to attempting the section that works best for you. I only practiced for W and did not actually prepare for it using any techniques but a friend of mine who got 2330 told me that the sparknotes writing tips are ideal. In case you want to work on Math as well, Baron’s math is perfect preparation though it is tougher than the real thing. I hope this helped.</p>
<p>@AltoLime</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply! I’ve been using WordSmart for about a month now, and I keep forgetting the words I memorize. Any tips on that?</p>
<p>Taking on Word Smart is always a challenge that everyone has their own way of approaching. However, there are a few tried and tested methods:-
i) If you have lots of time on hand: First try and memorize the word through the Word Smart sentences and meanings. Then on a separate sheet of paper, write the word down with its meaning and make a sentence of your own. Keep doing this with each word and revise the all the words that you have done regularly. If you seem to be forgetting a word, make another sentence. This is the technique that I used and it works wonders.
ii) Accelerated technique: Same as above but we do not make sentences. We do write the words and meanings on a separate sheet of paper though.
iii) Flash Cards work well for many but yet again the key is regularly going over the words.
One final message: There is no need to do Word Smart II. You are much better off doing just Word Smart I but doing it well. Quality over quantity. Also, regularly use the words you learn. I know that this might make you seem kind of stupid but the little bit of embarrassment is a small price to pay because this really helps one remember.
I hope this helped.</p>
<p>mnemonicsuse. very effective</p>
<p>Thanks, AltoLime! I’ll try your ideas! Will be taking SAT on May, so wish me luck!</p>
<p>Good luck. I hope you do exceptionally well!</p>