<p>I'm planning to take the SAT I in May, and I have the Official Study Guide and the Barron's SAT 2400 book, which I covered about six months ago. At that time, I also did the 2007-08 test paper, and I got 720, 780, and 680 on CR, Math and Writing. However, I've since forgotten most of the material; what's the best way to prepare so I can get a 2400? I generally have difficulty with the more complicated words on the CR part. I'm also having trouble with the essay, especially coming up with real-life/fictional examples.</p>
<p>Be absolutely sure that you will not miss a single math problem. Missing one math problem can drop you down to 780 or 770, whereas you can still get 800s on CR and W while making a mistake or two.</p>
<p>The essay…you’re having trouble making stuff up? Practice BSing then; I really don’t know what else to say.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice on the Math section, but with regard to the essay - making stuff up? I think you may have misconstrued my meaning. In the essay, as you know, you often have to cite examples from real life or fiction - that’s what I meant by “coming up with” - and I often find it hard to think of any that pertain to the essay question.</p>
<p>Oh…my point was that you’re allowed to lie. Thus, if you can’t think of anything, spin a nice story. For example, on my SAT (last June), the prompt was something along the lines of “Is it better to conform to society or be independent?” I took the independent side and had an example about Gandhi, and then I made up an example about how I had started a recycling program in my community and helped to make people become more environmentally conscious.</p>
<p>One other thing that might help you on the essay is to study a literary classic. If you know the plot of some book well enough, you can find some instance in the book that will help you to support your thesis no matter what the prompt is. Another option is to become an expert on a particular historical time period.</p>
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<p>I have some more advice, this time regarding the rest of the Writing section. There are a few grammatical items and idioms that show up all over this section; they should be in any good prep book. Memorize these, and you’ve pretty much got it made.</p>
<p>For CR, don’t read the passages. Immediately get to the questions, and refer to the passage as needed. This cuts down on a lot of time wastage, as you’ll have to look back at the passage anyways even if you’ve read it. If you really want to, give yourself 30 seconds to skim through so that you can have a slight idea of what the passage is about, but don’t waste anymore time than that.</p>
<p>Well you must get a 12 on your essay. That’s the easiest to improve. That way you can make a considerable number of mistakes and still have an 800. The 800 on math u should be able to do with ease. Just be more careful than usual. CR is going to be the hardest. There are some times when u just don’t know a word and you cannot help that. Try to study as many words as you can, although that will only get you so far. There is a lot of luck involved, and careless mistakes will screw you over.</p>
<p>Since your score is already decently high, only you can know exactly what you need to improve on. And remember that the last 100 are always the hardest. I know many people that got around your score initially and could never break the 2350 barrier.</p>
<p>I have a score of 2230 personally and I know for a fact that there is no way i can get a 2400. But that is probably because I refuse to put any time into studying. If you are motivated enough it may be possible.</p>
<p>for sumzup’s suggestion about not reading the passage, i think it depends on your reading speed. if you are having trouble finishing the sections, then listen to him. if you read quickly, read the passage, it will make very simple questions about tone or the passage as a whole or blah blah…nd since u said the hard part for u is vocab i guess this is kinda irrelevant neway</p>
<p>You needn’t get a 12 on the essay for the 24k–I got an 11 and still got 800 writing. Just know the grammar really well.</p>
<p>For CR, read the passages. I read them carefully and had plenty of time (800 here too)</p>
<p>For math, just dont miss any.</p>
<p>In a word, practice. Take a practice test once or twice a week and ANALYZE EVERY MISTAKE. Try to never repeat your mistakes. Eventually you will run out of mistakes to make and if you have a good day you will get 2400.</p>
<p>You need to remember that a percentage of your right answers were guesses (two obvious wrong choices, 2 left, 50-50 chance, blah, blah, blah). If you are a “good guesser” and get 75% of your guesses right you still will miss 25% of them (no 800 for you). The trick is to not have to guess. For that you need to know all the answers, and that’s easier said than done.</p>
<p>Juanmarco, 24k is not possible on the SAT. Are you sure you scored that high?</p>
<p>A 12 is not necessary, sometimes a 9 is high enough for an 800. But it is possibly the easiest way to improve the writing section. The higher the essay score, the more mistakes you can make on the MC.</p>
<p>J’adoube, luck is involved, but that doesn’t mean that he needs to be able to guess the right answer. I means taht he has to get lucky and not have a question with too many difficult vocab words. Its unreasonable to learn them all, so if he happens to get a section with many that he doesn’t know, he will be unable to get the 800, not matter how well he has prepared.</p>
<p>On the March exam last year I got a 2400. I studied a lot, got lucky, relaxed the day before the exam, and remained calm and focused during it. Think like the CollegBoard while you’re taking it, not like a test-taker. Or you can just hang out with me and I will radiate some 2400-diation.</p>
<p>I don’t mean that you have to guess at all of the answers. It’s just that you do for some of the questions and you are likely to miss some. My point is that if you were to take the same test months later and you have to guess at the same number of questions, you’ll still miss some, and not necessarily the same ones you missed the first time.</p>
<p>As someone who has just finished up the horrid college app process, I’d like to tell you something… it doesn’t matter if you get a 2200 or a 2400. My friend got a likely letter from Dartmouth with a 1900. No lie. Just do the best you can; you’ll get an ivy league status score no matter what, judging by your practice scores. Just don’t stress out about it. It’s not worth it, and I’m not kidding.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to be very clear on your financial aspects. Look up the FAFSA application and start gathering your info if you intend to apply for FA.</p>
<p>Search for a few universal “big” words and people to throw in your essay. Hell, I used Martha Stewart in mine. And I made up a whole bunch of BS about fairness and equality. Just fluff it up, make it sound nice. They won’t know any different.</p>