I feel like I’m living in two realities. I’m taking the Kaplan course for the SAT, and their practice tests really are tough. In particular, I keep running out of time on the math sections. But when I talk to my friends who took the real SAT (who are all about as smart as I am, and some who’ve done no prep) they all say it was the easiest thing in the world. Do Kaplan and/or other test prep companies make their practice tests harder than the real thing? I honestly don’t know what to do; I keep scoring well below my target on these practice tests and I’m consistently running out of time on the math.
I am not sure how you measure the “smartness” between you and your friends. I am not sure how it is relevant in terms of SAT testing. All of you may be equally “smart” but may have different strengths… I think I read somewhere that the practice SAT #5 and #6 were the actual tests. if you were to take the timed tests, you probably know how you would do.
If Kaplan’s tests (which it created itself) seem harder, then there are two plausible reasons:
- Kaplan wants you to work harder, learn more than is necessary, so you will do even better than expected when you take the real test.
Or
- Kaplan has no idea what it was doing when it created its tests, so you’re learning material that will not be on the test nor represented in the same manner as the SAT intended. Almost like preparing to take a test on algebra by doing a lot of calculus.
Try taking real tests - several are available online to download.
If SAT was the easiest thing in the world like your friends told you - every one would have 1600, but we all kow that is not the case!