I just got the result of my October SAT attempt (620 M, 680 CR, 700 W, Essay 9- 2000 composite) and will probably give my second attempt in January 2016.
1.-What is the best way to considerably increase my math and cr scores?
2.-Which of the following books would you strongly recommend and why:
a) Dr. John Chung’s SAT Math
b) Outsmarting the SAT (Elizabeth King)
c) SAT Prep BLACK BOOK (Mike Barret)
d) The Critical Reader (Erica L. Meltzer)
e) Any math book by Dr. Steve Warner
f) The Rocket Review Revolution
g) How to Write a Killer SAT Essay (Paul Clements)
3.-Are there any other good SAT books/online resources/online courses I may have missed out?
4.-Also, how did you all go about preparing for the second attempt?
Thank you so much in advance!
Never used any study material besides CB’s trademark blue book, although I did take a course called Testmasters. I ended up getting a 2170 on my second and last try - not something to be boastful about haha but good enough for me! As long as you practice, practice, practice, it should be fine. That’s what I did before taking my SAT’s the second time. The first time I got a 1960.
For CR – Meltzer is best; Black Book is (in my opinion) a close second and maybe better than Meltzer if you don’t have the patience or time for Meltzer’s in-depth analysis.
For Writing – Meltzer has a Grammar book. It’s the best.
For Essay – PWN the Essay (the author will also grade 3 of your practice essay at no charge if you buy the book).
For Math – Nothing necessary to study from, but you do need a source for reference. I like Barron’s. Khan Academy (online) is also good. The key – for math especially – is to do a practice test, marking the questions for which you were unsure of the answer or which took you a long time to solve. When you finish, don’t just see what the right answer should have been and say “Oh yeah, I get it.” For each question that you didn’t know or were unsure, write the entire question and answer in a notebook and then use your resourse (e.g. Barron’s or Khan Academy) to study up on the relevant topic (for example, exponents or special triangles). If you do that consistently for every unsure / error, and then review your notebook from time to time, you will eventually master the math section. Btw, if you find yourself often saying “oh, that was just a careless error – I knew that,” it’s time to think of them as attention-to-detail errors. Really pay attention to what you missed and how you missed it, and learn to slow down and pay attention to those kinds of things in the future. An attention-to-detail error costs just as much as a didn’t-understand-the-math error.
Some students think it’s about taking practice tests. It’s not. It’s about REVIEWING answers from the practice tests after you take them. If you’re doing it right, you’ll be spending much more time reviewing answers than taking practice tests. Much better to do fewer practice tests and really drill down on the errors/unsures than to take a lot of practice tests and do only a quick review of the errors.
If you want more in-depth guidance on how to study for the SAT, search CC for Xiggi’s test prep advice.
Good luck.
Thank you so much for your advice! It really helped. I’m planning on sitting for the January test so I have 2.5 months to study. Should I begin with practice tests and reviewing straight away or should I first go over concepts from the Black Book/Erica’s?
I completely agree with what you said about the silly error problem. I used to do that for a lot of math problems and it is probably why I got a lower score. I will start actually carefully reviewing each answer.
Thanks a lot again!