How do I sufficiently prepare for a 2300+ SAT score with these PSAT scores?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>A premature thanks to everyone who responds</p>

<p>I received my PSAT scores two weeks ago, and they're pretty mediocre:</p>

<p>Sophomore</p>

<p>Critical Reading:59
Mathematics:56
Writing Skills:53</p>

<p>Total:168</p>

<p>I had less than 5 hours of sleep the night before the test, and didn't really study. My "preparation" consisted of just looking over the test booklet I received from my advisory class to get the gist of the questions. I also didn't take the practice test since I misplaced it. Take this into account when offering advice.</p>

<p>The portion I had the least trouble on was the Math. Every math problem on the test was pretty much solvable for me (except for one counting problem where I'd have to mentally derive a concept I'd probably learned in the 6th grade). I did, however, make a lot of careless mistakes. I believe it's understandable though, if you factor in how little sleep I had.</p>

<p>In regards to the Crit. Reading portion, my biggest problem, IMO, had to do with technique. This was the first time I ever tried out the idea of reading the questions before the passage. My lack of experience with this method resulted in one instance where I spent half my total time on one section on one passage debating whether I should read it over again to get the entire feel of it (it's pretty hard to explain the steps as to how this happened, so I'll leave it at that). I also spent a good portion of time marking the passage, which, could have been better spent actually answering the questions. </p>

<p>Side note: 5 wrong, 9 omitted on the Crit. Reading. 92nd percentile. On the other hand, I usually scored over 99th percentile on my FCAT tests (state standardized test for Florida students), where I just read the passage before the questions. </p>

<p>The Writing portion is the one where I'm the most uncertain of my skills. I scored higher than 86% of sophomores, which is rather pitiful considering how teenagers write nowadays. I omitted two and had 11 wrong. Looking back, there wasn't any question that was impossible for me to do. It's just that the trouble was with having the stamina to take on the test as a whole.</p>

<p>Conclusion: What should I do to sufficiently prepare myself for getting a 2300+, maybe by Junior year? It may seem shallow, but I'm a little embarrassed with my PSAT scores. My plan is to craft a good study guide for myself, so any specific advice would be greatly appreciated. </p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

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<ol>
<li>Study/Review Guides on How to do well on areas lacking</li>
<li>Practice Tests (many many)</li>
<li>See 2</li>
<li>See 2</li>
<li>See 2</li>
</ol>

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<p>^Not necessarily. You need to understand why you’re getting things right and wrong. Flying through practice tests won’t ensure that. You could end up wasting your time prepping ineffectively. You want to use each practice test to its fullest to improve. If that means reviewing for 2 hours after each test, so be it. That’s how long I took.</p>

<p>So go ahead and write practice tests but make sure you are learning from each one. There is no reason not to improve a bit from test to test so that could be your indicator of whether you are reviewing properly.</p>

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<p>You’re a sophomore? Don’t worry about SATs and enjoy school and being a kid. I got a 180 something as a Sophomore and got a 2350 on the SAT. No one is ready for PSATs as a Sophomore, and the scores are totally meaningless.</p>

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<p>Completely agree with staller</p>

<p>187 my sophomore year, 211 on the last one. let school teach you! pay attention in math and english classes, often your teachers will review sat material without even realizing it. 10th grade math also appears on the sat’s so don’t worry about it, just keep your grades up, flip through a book before your psat’s, see what you get and then REALLY study from there</p>