<p>I have taken the SAT's twice, once as a VERY disinterested sophomore (it was for an application to a boarding school i really didn't want to go to) and once as a junior. I took both without studying, with the exception of doing the practice test printed on newspaper-y paper (available in my college counselor's office) the night before the second time I took the test. In addition, the second time I took the test, I had to wake up extremely early, and sit at the door of the testing center for nearly two hours as I was doing standby testing.</p>
<p>Both times, I scored ~2150, and a ~2200 superscored (my math went down because a forgot algebra II stuff.)</p>
<p>I'm planning on studying as fairly rigorously as I have a lot more free time during the summer to prep.</p>
<p>I'm aiming at top 10 schools, so I'm wondering if any CCer's out there have any experience of non-prepped vs. prepped score improvements.</p>
<p>It would also be helpful if you could include what kind of preparation you did to achieve your results.</p>
<p>Sorry for the long winded post, but I just want to know whether I have any hope of getting my scores up to the ivy-acceptable range, or if i should just aim lower.</p>
<p>Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Did some preparation between a practice test and the actual test…after about 15 minutes of reviewing simple grammar rules, my writing score jumped about 100 pts. Reading was impossible for me to improve (it stuck around the 600 range) and I’ve consistently scored 800’s on math. Got a 2070 overall, which was good enough for MIT.</p>
<p>I studied for maybe five months and went from a 2150 diagnostic score to a 2360 with a 2250 real test along the way.</p>
<p>I spent the whole summer studying, and took my test in October, so it was 4 months. And I raised about 180 points, from 2050 in practice test to 2230 in real test</p>
<p>I’m not sure that “studying” really helped me, but I did a lot of practice. I have a lot of tips on my website right now…</p>
<p>but anyways, after doing a lot of practice, probably a few months worth of it, I got 2300 after getting in the 180’s on the PSAT.</p>
<p>Wow. Am I the only one who scored 1400s on her first SAT practice?</p>
<p>I started with a 1400 and now I’m hovering around 2000+ (Just finished a PSAT, got 218! 
). So studying really helped me. </p>
<p>So yes, you can definitely score in ivy league range! :D</p>
<p>No studying for either, but I went from 2240 (May of junior year) to 2340 (October of senior year).
I can’t really comment on whether you have a shot at top-10 schools because the SAT is such a small admission factor. For instance, my SAT score was 270 above rspence’s, but I got deferred/rejected from MIT and he got in. Why? Because the rest of his application was a heck of a lot better than mine! That being said, I did get into Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon, which shows that SAT scores can at least help to offset other faults (low GPA, lack of work experience, etc.), even at highly ranked schools.</p>
<p>True, I heard that some student got into MIT with a ~1600 SAT score. But he got a gold medal at the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO), which is far more impressive than a 2400 SAT.</p>
<p>My reading and writing scores were fairly low compared to MIT’s average, but I had a bunch of other things on my college application (mostly national awards, job/volunteer experience, rec letters, valedictorian) that made up for it.</p>
<p>If I may ask ameliab, how low was your gpa to get into Hopkins? I’m in the same boat; low gpa, high test scores… I’ll be applying ED to Hopkins.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your help everyone, it all seems very encouraging!</p>
<p>@Emily556, what’s your website?</p>
<p>Another question, </p>
<p>I started studying for the ACT as well because of my perceived bad luck with the SAT. On my practice tests, I’m getting much better scores on reading/english than I was on the SAT. Are th types of questions on the two tests similar enough for these results to transfer? If they did, that would be perfect!</p>
<p>@karatekid, it was a 3.5 with a strong upward trend (2.85, 3.6, 3.85, 4.0). Not really that bad when you average it all out, but I obviously should (and could) have done much better and it was below the Hopkins average. I did regular decision, so ED definitely will help your chances. May I ask what your stats are? Do you have an upward trend?</p>
<p>Am studying rigorously for my PSATs in October. Every single day I studied partially because I want to achieve a NMSQT :).</p>
<p>@ameliab I scored a 34 on the ACT, near perfects on chem, math2, and lit subject tests. Will have taken 16 AP exams by the time I graduate… </p>
<p>But my gpa is a dismal ~3.3</p>
<p>@karatekid666 grades and test scores are only a small factor in admissions (especially at the top colleges). Usually the critical factor is something else, like rec letters, EC’s/awards, and the interview.</p>
<p>For example, I was valedictorian at my HS, but my SAT/ACT scores were pretty low. I got 800 on Math II and 740 on Physics, but only had 7 AP’s (most of them 5’s and 2’s).</p>
<p>@rspence are you at Hopkins? </p>
<p>Also, I really hope that my essays turn out as well as I imagine they’ll be. Hopkins values essays pretty highly, apparently.</p>
<p>karatekid, is your freshman GPA lower than 3.3? Yes, I’m pretty sure Hopkins is really into creativity and self-expression on the essays. If there’s an optional essay, that’s your chance to take a chance and say what you didn’t get to say on the rest of the app. My mom works at Hopkins and one of her students sent in her optional essay in the form of a scarf she knit that had a few pictures and words to describe herself knitted in! I definitely didn’t do anything so extreme on my essays, but I did let them know how much I wanted to be at Hopkins and learn from professors and peers alike.</p>
<p>I’m pulling for you, karatekid! Other kids with not-so-great grades and high test scores are hard to come by on CC; we’ve got to stick together! :P</p>
<p>@ameliab actually, my freshman gpa was nearly perfect (one B). Sophomore year is when my grades really slipped; I was new to a stem magnet program. Junior year was mediocre :/. I always challenged myself though! </p>
<p>I really hope that Hopkins is a fan of me, too!! </p>
<p>This may be a lot to ask, but could you possibly, maybe, read my JHU supplement when I get it done?!</p>
<p>@karatekid666 MIT.</p>
<p>@rspence MIT was my dream school! But then I woke up… :/</p>
<p>:/</p>
<p>As a side note, MIT takes their “essays” differently…they put a lot of short-answer questions instead of one highly-polished essay. Which is kind of nice because my essay writing skills are only average…</p>