<p>Since I want my question to be answer by international students, I made this seemingly irrelevant(?) thread in this category. I need some advice about SAT from international students who got more than 2300 in SAT. My last score in SAT was 2200 (M 800, R 690, W 710.) I usually lose questions which require deep knowledge in English vocabulary and idiom. Could you tell me how you studied them and how you got more than 2300?</p>
<p>Frankly it’s pointless. Any international student who has 2000+ has the test results that the colleges want. At that point, what will matter isn’t how many more points you get but whether you are working on your passion and achieve something at the national level (it can be piano, science, skateboarding…)</p>
<p>I think you are ok with the math. I’ve never taken the SAT but i’ve talked with many who had 800 in C.R and also got experience through extensive reading. Concerning the C.R,you’ve got to learn as many vocabularies as you can. I think many make mistakes by learning the vocabs they find only in their SAT books. But no,you should pick every vocab you come across,even in movies.Try to learn at least 40 vocabs a day. And revise them as often as you can.Don’t miss a word,it’s costly. And with the reading,try annalising situations.Get the main idea of what you READ,not what you KNOW. And read a lot. The writing section is getting harder.They are not the English we used to know and speak nowadays.You learn from what you are surrounded by.Don’t mingle with poor English speakers if you want to be “John Bull”. Especially when you’re prepping for the SAT. And I’ll recommend Elizabeth King for you for the writing. Moreover don’t think getting 2000 is enough IF you have the chance to better it. I guess you’re targeting a very high grade school. Elite and ivy schools don’t care about where you are from.They don’t consider.But they care about your score and who you are. Do not settle for the less,build your brand.</p>
<p>Thanks for your pertinent remark, Danmarth. After identifying the sort of words which are considered to trouble me in SAT, I decided to memorize as many such words as possible. As you said, they do not only include SAT words but also other important words.</p>
<p>It depends from what country you come from, but with a 2200 SAT score you should not worry. The higher the better, sure, but there are other more important components to your application. I’ve know international students gotten accepted to Harvard and other Ivy’s with less than 2100 SAT, and like 600 Reading. You have to stand out in other ways.</p>
<p>Lol, I know quite a few people with 2300+'s on their SAT’s and the simple fact of the matter is that they simply understood the test and knew how to avoid silly mistakes.</p>
<p>My suggestion: do as many practice tests as possible. I mean lots. I’ve seen with my 2 kids (yes international) that this really helps increase your score.</p>
<p>for CR, learn all the words on the Direct Hits and read classics as much as possible.</p>
<p>Most international students seem to do well on the Math section,and it’s the Critical Reading that causes the most problems. So yes, with that, definitely learn as many words as possible. SparkNotes has a list of the 1000 Most Common SAT words. MajorTests.com has one as well. Remember, though, that these words are not as important as they used to be (before they changed the SAT), so only learning vocab won’t get you that far. Also, do practice tests, buy the CollegeBoard book, the Princeton Review one, and subscribe to the Online Course. That’s a little expensive, but they score your essays, so it is definitely worth it. </p>
<p>I can’t give special advice when it comes to writing. With the essay, pick a side and stick to it, and give two examples. Focus on the structure and clarity, perhaps use a few SAT words from the lists. However, most universities tend to find the Math and Critical Reading the most important, so if you don’t score that well on the Writing Section, it isn’t a huge problem.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Oh, and to MYOS: I don’t think it’s pointless at all. Those people who want to receive merit scholarships need about 2300, and since very few schools have financial aid for internationals, quite a lot of them resort to scholarships. I think 2000-2100 is pretty average when it comes to well-ranked colleges anyway, though 2200 is a much better score.</p>
<p>Its not easier for domestics to get 2400 than int’l unless ur english is terrible. Try studying</p>
<p>I don’t mean that you shouldn’t try to get a high score. But ultimately, unless you are going for schools with merit aid for stats (like UA for example - and that is a worthy goal), most highly competitive colleges are “holistic” in their admission process. That means admission depends on much, much more than a high score. A high score guarantees nothing - your odds of getting admitted if you have 2000 and an international award, or 2100 and impressive ECs are much better than if you score 2370 and haven’t shown passion for something that has allowed you to win awards. In fact, many top colleges will <em>look down</em> on an applicant who’s taken the SAT 4 or 5 times to go from 2100 to 2300; at these colleges, it doesn’t indicate diligence, it looks like overkill, and a focus on the wrong aspects of your application, thus perhaps of a wrong understanding of what education is.
Some students focus on test scores too much and forget that American schools look for a diverse class.
Read <em>the gatekeepers</em> or <em>the class</em> to understand how it works - or, if you want a funny take on this, watch or read <em>Admission</em>.</p>