I’m taking the August test in two weeks, and am getting around a 1500, aiming for a 1550. Unfortunetely, I’ve been prepping (and yes, I took I prep course) for 4 months, and my score hasn’t improved barely 20 points. I’m getting a 34-36 in sat reading, 38-39 writing, and 38-40 math. Writing is generally one or 2 mistakes, math is easy but I keep making 1-3 silly mistakes (any tips on not making silly mistakes?) but reading is the problem:
for some reason, i really struggle with sat reading, especially inferance and purpose problems. This is especially true with literature, because I just intepret many of it differently- I also overthink sometimes :(. Any tips to improve reading (and generally sat score) in 1.5 weeks?
@lovescookies I don’t know where to begin? You have nearly a perfect score. You should be so proud of your efforts. You are only getting 1-2 incorrect on the reading and 1-3 incorrect on the math. At this point you have studied and prepped as much as you can. Just go back and go over the mistakes. Analyze exactly why you answered them incorrectly. Seems like silly errors not struggling. Other than that, just hope the material on the August test hits your sweet spot. Good luck to you! I’m sure you will do great!!
I’ve found that silly errors happen more when 1) you’re trying to rush and you assume the question is asking for one thing when it’s really asking for another and 2) you put a lot of pressure on yourself to where you stumble on a problem you know you can do. You’ve already stated how you constantly do prep so at this point I don’t think it’s a studying issue, I think you just need to take a deep breathe and not put so much pressure on yourself. Double check your answers and don’t rush a problem because it’s “easy” because that could cause you to make a simple mistake
Thank you- I do want to mention that I get 5-8 wrong in reading, and they definitely aren’t silly mistakes, but I’ll take your advice and relax a bit as well 
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My son has exactly the same problem and exactly the same scores after studying all summer. At this point, we are just hoping for a perfect writing score and a reading test where he can do the best he can. If it’s 5-6 wrong, that will be ok with a 39 or 40 on writing.
I keep hearing that some reading tests are easier than others. S19 asked me to go ahead and sign him up for the October test just in case the August one has a tricky reading section.
My advice to him (and to you) is to try to relax at the test. You’re ready. Reading section is first. Do what you can. If it doesn’t feel like it went well, let it go and move on to the parts of the test that seem easier for you. Worse case scenario is that you get the math score you want and go back and take a later test to try for a better reading score. Who knows? It might be that the August reading is easier for you…but it also might be October or even one in the spring. In S19’s case, all of the colleges on his list superscore so his highest EW score doesn’t have to be the same test as his math score.
Good luck!!