<p>just wondering are you going to help us with these "patterns" =]</p>
<p>Whatever I did previously got me a 2100 - which was a respectable score, but will probably place me in the lower 25th-40th percentile for ivy colleges and other top schools. As you can see, it was a very muddled process.</p>
<p>There was about 8 good months between my first SAT test and my second. Obviously I had other work to do during the eight-month period, but I did have about one month during the summer especially set aside just preparing for the SAT. That one month turned out to be really crucial, because it was during that period that I discovered the CC forum.</p>
<h1>1:</h1>
<p>The first thing you guys should read is that long Xiggi sticky thread. I can't say how much that has helped me - there are valuable posts in this thread written by people who have previously done well in the SAT - who are now giving very specific advice on how to do well in each section. Most people probably consider CR as the most difficult section - some are unable to break 600, many are unable to break 700, still others find it hard to reach 800. Whatever stage you are at, Xiggi's long thread will have something for you.</p>
<h1>2:</h1>
<p>Grammatix. I have absolutely no connection with this company at all, and if you look back at some of my posts from two years ago, I have mentioned that Grammatix is the single most important reason why I could jump 160 points. In fact, I completely disagree with some of its strategies (such as no-guessing, the happy-sad test, and some of its math problem solving solutions are ridiculously simplified), but its CR and WR sections ARE PURE GOLD. </p>
<p>Without revealing the whole guide, this is probably the max I can reveal about the book without getting sued or without the moderators removing them away:</p>
<p>1) Grammatix is also the book that first told me that there is an SAT "code" - there is a pattern that repeats from test to test; for example, since the score one receives on a December test is COMPARABLE to the score one receives on a January test, it must mean that at some level, the SAME "THINGS" are being tested again and again on each test. Grammatix explains much better what these "things" and in much more detail.</p>
<p>2) For CR, Grammatix tells us that there is only ONE and only ONE fully correct answer for the critical reading passages. All other answers have something in them which makes them COMPLETELY wrong. I can't overemphasise how this little reminder has helped so much in my CR score.</p>
<p>3) Grammatix also says that all correct answers in CR reading passages are COMPLETELY supported by the text. I mean, this, like the second point, is like DUH?!? But you'll be surprised how difficult it actually is to employ this principle in practice. Grammatix will help you out.</p>
<p>4) Grammatix's tips on WR essay was also pretty ridiculous (I highly recommend you read RocketReview's guide on WR instead), but the Grammatix guide was right in one thing - length does matter on your essay score, although you can't write crap just to fill space. On those two occasions where I got a 12 for essay, I literally wrote to the end of the last available line.</p>
<h1>3</h1>
<p>RocketReview. I also have no connection with this company at all. You will find Rocketreview and Grammatix mentioned many times in some of the older posts dated around two years ago. I haven't had time to see if they are still available for sale, but if they're not, too bad haha.</p>
<p>1) RocketReview is great on WR MC questions, but they're not too different from Barrons 2400 or Kaplan. But RR alone is sufficient, I think. I actually thought the Writing MC was the most difficult section on the SAT. Anyone felt that way too? I find it hard to spot grammatical errors, especially on the identifying errors part. This was one section where I felt no guide books was able to help me, and trust me, I have read many many guide books. </p>
<p>2) RocketReview's WR essay section was quite adequate, and in fact much better than Grammatix's. If you combine the tips of both RR and Grammatix, you will do very well on the essay section.</p>
<p>---Ignore previous post ----</p>
<p>Whatever I did previously got me a 2100 - which was a respectable score, but will probably only place me in the lower 25th-40th percentile of all applicants to ivy colleges and other top schools. As you can see, the way I prepared for my first SAT was a very muddled process, which was why my score was respectable but not spectacular.</p>
<p>There were about 8 good months between my first SAT test and my second. Obviously I had other work to do during the eight-month period, but I did have about one full month during the summer especially set aside just preparing for the SAT. That one month turned out to be really crucial, because it was during that period that I discovered the CC forum.</p>
<h1>1:</h1>
<p>The first thing you guys should read is that long Xiggi sticky thread. I can't say how much that has helped me - there are valuable posts in this thread written by people who have previously done well in the SAT - who are now giving very specific advice on how to do well in each section. Most people probably consider CR as the most difficult section - some are unable to break 600, many are unable to break 700, still others find it hard to reach 800. Whatever stage you are at, Xiggi's long thread will have something for you.</p>
<h1>2:</h1>
<p>Grammatix. I have absolutely no connection with this company at all, and if you look back at some of my posts from two years ago, I have mentioned that Grammatix is the single most important reason why I could jump 160 points from my first test. In fact, I completely disagree with some of its strategies (such as no-guessing, the happy-sad test, and some of its math problem solving solutions are ridiculously simplified), but its CR is PURE GOLD, and its WR section is pretty useful though not the best.</p>
<p>Without revealing the whole guide, this is probably the max I can reveal about the book without getting sued or without the moderators removing them away:</p>
<p>1) Grammatix is also the book that first told me that there is an SAT "code" - there is a pattern that repeats from test to test; for example, since the score one receives on a December test is COMPARABLE to the score one receives on a January test, it must mean that at some level, the SAME "THINGS" are being tested again and again on each test. Grammatix explains much better what these "things" are and in much more detail.</p>
<p>2) For CR, Grammatix tells us that there is only ONE and only ONE fully correct answer for the critical reading passages. All other answers have something in them which makes them COMPLETELY wrong. I can't overemphasise how this little reminder has helped so much in my CR score.</p>
<p>3) Grammatix also says that all correct answers in CR reading passages are COMPLETELY supported by the text. I mean, this, like the second point, is like DUH?!? But you'll be surprised how difficult it actually is to employ this principle in practice. Grammatix will help you out.</p>
<p>4) Grammatix's tips on WR essay was also pretty ridiculous (I highly recommend you read RocketReview's guide on WR instead), but the Grammatix guide was right in one thing - length does matter on your essay score, although you can't write crap just to fill space. On those two occasions where I got a 12 for essay, I literally wrote to the end of the last available line.</p>
<h1>3</h1>
<p>RocketReview. I also have no connection with this company at all. You will find Rocketreview and Grammatix mentioned many times in some of the older posts dated around two years ago. I haven't had time to see if they are still available for sale, but if they're not, too bad haha.</p>
<p>1) RocketReview is great on WR MC questions, but they're not too different from Barrons 2400 or Kaplan. But RR alone is sufficient, I think. I actually thought the Writing MC was the most difficult section on the SAT. Anyone felt that way too? I find it hard to spot grammatical errors, especially on the identifying errors part. I don't even agree with some of the correct answers in the blue book. This was one section where I felt no guide books was able to help me, and trust me, I have read many many guide books. </p>
<p>2) RocketReview's WR essay section was quite adequate, and in fact much better than Grammatix's. If you combine the tips of both RR and Grammatix, you will do very well on the essay section.</p>
<p>3) If you're already a good calculus student, the RR's section on Math will probably be next to useless to you, but they have one important tip: in the Math section, it is important to KEEP GOING. There are about 18 - 20 questions per math section, but again, remind yourself that they are ONLY roughly ordered in ascending difficulty. When I do a math section, I always skip any question that stumbles me even in the least. The purpose of that is to build momentum and confidence when ploughing through in the math sections - I find that a greater speed in solving math questions also ironically helps in my accuracy. In math, more so than in CR or WR, it is very very easy to get engrossed in a question and spend 5 mins on a single question, if you're not careful and if you're not disciplined. Keep going, and return to the questions you have skipped on the next round.</p>
<h1>4</h1>
<p>Work only from the blue book, or from the old red book, or from the tests from the official online course. Grammatix teaches you how to tear apart each section and analyse them carefully.</p>
<hr>
<p>I realise that the tips in Grammatix are so basic and elementary, there is nothing special in them at all. In fact, I stopped referring to it COMPLETELY after my second test. But because the tips in Grammatix are so basic and elementary, they are SO CRUCIAL, and you'll be in a severe disadvantage if you have not already figured them out yourself. </p>
<p>In fact, any good test-taker could have written a book like Grammatix. But I realised that there are people, such as myself, who are NOT natural test takers and who cannot figure out those tips by ourselves. Grammatix really works, but again the tips inside are so simple and elementary - they can be found ALL OVER THE CC FORUM because the advice and principles behind the Grammatix guide are universal and apparant to all good test-takers. I'm not sure if you need to spend money on them - reading the Xiggi post might be sufficient, but Grammatix will give you a crystallised version of all the important tips you need to know.</p>
<p>It is important to spend at least some time practicing on the blue SAT book. Just reading Grammatix will not help your score much at all.</p>
<p>I have Grammatix guide and the tips are indeed basic but because they're so basic I find it hard to understand.</p>