<p>@Carolina97tima Yes! The barons book is good for some general reviewing of concepts or some neat tricks that you may not have thought of but the blue book is essential since it provides actual ETS questions. The more you practice with those questions the higher you will score.</p>
<p>kool. scored 2090 in a practice. gon try this to raise it a little</p>
<p>Wow. Your dedication and hard work. You truly deserve to have success in life and the colleges you were accepted to! And being wait listed at top tier schools is an accomplishment too 
I hope to have your determination when I am preparing for the Oct SAT, which is my last shot.</p>
<p>@spuding102 would you recommend to buy all of those books?</p>
<p>I raised my PSAT score by 420 points on the real SAT last month; 1580 to 2000. I used a lot of the tips here, they were very helpful! Thank you, OP! :)</p>
<p>A great read that I came upon I took the PSAT freshmen year with a 151 >_> and now I’m an upcoming Junior this August. I am planning to take the December 6th, with the ultimate goal of breaking 2000. It’s a huge 500 point jump, but I JUST recently added 2 books to my Amazon purchases as you had suggested them (Ultimate Guide to SAT Writing) and the Direct Hits vol2. </p>
<p>With these books: Blue book, Ultimate Guide to SAT Writing, Both Direct Hits volumes (edition 5), and my self-motivation, I will break this score, and I will post back my scores to CC no matter what. I will show great improvements like you, as a life goal.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for inspiring others and myself; I hope you the best at Duke and your future! :)) </p>
<pre><code> Hey, congrats on the acceptances! All the hard work payed off and you definitely deserved it! I am in a similar situation, I recently took the SAT for the first time this past June without any preparation (including taking practice tests) and scored a 1450 with a 510 in reading, a 500 in math, and a 440 in writing. I would also like to mention that I was very sick (I had a fever and I was that “one obnoxious kid” who had to keep blowing her nose, quietly of course.) I would like to increase my score the way you did and i am willing to put in the time and effort it takes. I plan on taking the October SAT test and perhaps November as well if I think I can still increase my score or if I am not satisfied with my score. I was also wondering if you took the ACT, what score you received, how many times you took it and if you studied just as hard for it as you did for the SAT. I’ve taken the ACT once and received a score of 22. To be honest, I am Asian and other Asians intimidate me because we’re all suppose to be “so smart,” or so says the stereotype, when I am just an average student. This one girl who sit diagonal from me the day of the test was so intimidating! I always scored a 32 or higher on the math section on all the practice tests that I took. During the actual test I was doing fine but this girl finished about 25-30 minutes before time and she kept staring at me as though I was a worthless piece of ■■■■ and she was going to score better than me. I become so intimidated that I felt as if I was going to have an anxiety attack! I was always ahead by at least 5-10 min on all practice tests but at that moment during the actual test, I had 29 minutes to do 32 questions. Although I could have caught up, I only become more freaked out. I guessed on more questions than I can remember because I had such a hard time focusing and on many questions I would think, “This question is going to take at least 30 seconds to a minute so I should just guess and move on.” After the section was over I was so sad that I could cry. I ended up messing up on the last two sections (reading and science) because I was so worried about my score being low due to that math section. I ended up scoring the lowest on math, a 20, when I was supposed to score a 31 or higher. I don’t tell others my score or I lie because I am embarrassed and I don’t want to tell this story because they will most likely think of it as an excuse. I have starting studying again as of yesterday and my goal is to get a 34 or 35 which I think I can with my motivation and studying (and not letting myself feel inferior to others.) I also aspire to get at least a 2100-2200 on my SAT to get into UChicago or Duke.
My dream schools are the University of Chicago and Duke University. I live in Ohio and if I don't get accepted to my dream schools I will most likely be attending Ohio State University or any of the other schools that I apply to in Ohio (that is, if I can get in). I have one parent who works and makes about $85,000 a year and I have an older sibling in college. Because of this, I am hoping to receive financial aid and scholarships and I have also starting applying for outside scholarships. I have many hours of volunteering at a local hospital, habitat for humanity, red-cross and Mid-Ohio food bank and hours through interact club at school and I also had a 5 month mentorship at a well-known oncology medical center. I am continuing my volunteering throughout the summer and have started writing to several doctors and organizations for an unpaid internship or mentorship/learning opportunity. My 5-month mentorship was mainly with two prestigious oncologists of greater Columbus/central Ohio and they are both happily willing to write me excellent letters of recommendation which I hope will help, do you think that it would? I am a rising senior and my GPA was 3.3 unweighted at the end of first semester of junior year and I ended junior year with an overall GPA of 4.1 weighted. I am also in many clubs/organizations at school as well as some leadership positions and plan on starting a community service or science oriented club at my school this coming year. I am also scheduled to take 5 APs my senior year and took 4 APs my junior year. Will this help them overlook my GPA since I took very rigorous courses once I stopped procrastinating and realized that my dream school is as rigorous as it is? To be honest, I didn't start any volunteering or wasn't in any clubs or any sort of school leadership position until the beginning of my junior year. I was very lazy and I didn't try my freshman and sophomore year. But I have a tremendous upward trend starting the beginning of my junior year. Will colleges, Duke and UChicago, take that as a negative factor or will they take it as a positive factor and will I still have a chance of getting in? I am honestly trying as hard as I can and doing everything that I can think of, is there anything else you would recommend besides looking for more volunteering and interning opportunities? Oh and, I am not just volunteering to get into a nice college but because I love giving back to my community and it's honestly a fun way to meet new people and have a good time while helping others. I am also very good at writing and plan am taking AP Language and Composition this coming year (my senior year). The only teacher for that class at my school is very rough and does an excellent good job at helping students perfect their essays. My friend took that class and is now attending Yale University this coming fall. Also, last thing, UChicago is my number one choice and they have an non-binding early action choice. Would you recommend that I apply early or regular? Does applying early let them know that I am committed to them even if it's not binding like early decision? Also, I feel like if I apply regular I will have more things to show on my application that might help me get in, ie. more volunteer hours or another internship perhaps? Or my first semester GPA of senior year on my transcript?
In general, what else should or can I do to help increase my chances of getting into UChicago or Duke? And do you think I have a chance? What were some things that you did that made you stand out or helped in your acceptance to the many prestigious universities?
Also, if anyone else seeing this thread has any advice I would love to hear it!! Thanks so much, this means a lot to me.
</code></pre>
<p>^^ Write the essay of your life, and put much though and effort in to it, while having it proof-read numerous times by your counselor, parents, or anybody! You want to show yourself as somebody different from all the other people who have applied to that same school, to show that you are deserving, or “fit” for that school itself.</p>
<p>Good luck to ya :)</p>
<p>Sure to answer some of your questions I only took the ACT once and scored a 30. The reason for taking it was to send to an accelerated medical program that required both the SAT and ACT. I took maybe about 2 practice tests for the ACT so I did not really study for it since I knew my SAT score was in the range of every school. You can definitely study for both its just that I chose to study for the SAT. In terms of colleges, Uchicago and Duke are going to be very hard particularly because your GPA is low regardless of your test scores. Therefore I would recommend you look at some schools around the 30-45 ranking in USNWR. I would really use my ED to a school like BU or NYU provided you can raise your test scores and GPA by the time you apply. You can also apply EA to Chicago if you wish since it does provide somewhat of a boost. Also don’t stress about ECs. I see kids doing that all the time. As long as your ECs are normal then you have nothing to worry about. ECs cannot save bad test scores unless there is something really extraordinary in there. My advise would be to take the summer to study for either the SAT or ACT, and then to apply early to one of the aforementioned schools. </p>
<p>@spuding102 It’s so nice to have you reply, as you are now one of my motivational boosters ^-^</p>
<p>I have a question about the ‘boosts’ you talk about when applying. So say I receive a somewhat of a highish/decent score like 2050, but I have a HS gpa average of around 3.5 (showing upward trends from sophmore-senior): Along with my first-generation status and early decision, how much of a boost would it be to that particular school? (Emory in my case)</p>
<p>I have 5 months to study for the upcoming SAT this December, and with all the books you’ve used, I have been studying diligently for 3-4 hours a day! thanks</p>
<p>@medicsz Its going to be difficult with a 3.5 but not impossible. ED will definitely be a boost at almost any school besides maybe EA at say MIT or something like that. It also depends on your class rank, letters of rec, and other soft factors like the essay. You never know until you apply but the best way to offset a lower GPA is with a higher SAT score. Its not exact of course and at many elite schools you need to have both but it would only make sense to say that the lower your GPA the higher your standardized test scores better be (to a point)</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the response , once again
I shall work hard to increase my gpa as much as I can, and to score a high SAT for you and all others who seem to have no hope! Expect to hear back from me in December</p>
<p>@medicsz @spuding102 Thank you so much for replying! I know that both Duke and UChicago are very difficult to get into but I’ve read many forums online and have become very motivated. I am going to continue studying throughout the summer and school year in hopes that my scores improve. UChicago is my dream school and I am willing to work hard to get in because it means the world to me. I can’t apply ED but will definitely apply EA. Again, thanks!</p>
<p>@Tanker I don’t think you’re allowed to post links to other blogs here lol</p>
<p>@spuding102 Any other tips on raising Sat Math score? I’m currently scoring around mid 600s after studying for a few weeks and was hoping you could give any recommendations of books or tips…</p>
<p>@Ennnnn Some highly recommended books for math are Dr. Chung’s or PWN the SAT Math.
Sorry If I repeat the same books you’ve possibly head over and over, but they are just known for their progress in peoples’ grades! :)</p>
<p>@medicsz I’m really skeptical about Dr Chung’s. Have you personally used the book and can vouch that it is good? I’m just curious…</p>
<p>@Ennnnn I don’t own the book, but before I ever purchase SAT prep books, I do an extensive amount of research on them before I DO choose to purchase it. So I’m confident with my recommendations, however I have heard that Dr. Chung, in comparison to Barron books, have a higher difficulty than that of the actual SAT math level. </p>
<p>Personally, I’d recommend PWN over Chungs, but it’s preference</p>
<p>I personally did try Dr. Chungs book and found it somewhat helpful. Its much harder than the actual SAT but there is some good stuff in there. The best advise is simply to take more and more practice tests.</p>
<p>Okay I appreciate your advise @spuding102 & @medicsz </p>