<p>Go over the problems you missed and understand why you got them wrong, and just keep on practicing.</p>
<p>Most importantly, get plenty of sleep and stay focused.</p>
<p>The best move I ever did: take some tylenol PM half an hour before you want to fall asleep the night before the SATs. I woke up with 8 hours of sleep (more than I ever get during schoolnights lol).. and I felt GREAT. Helped me a lot. Try doing this a week before, on the weekends to see how you react in the morning to the tylenol though.</p>
<p>Don't forget to eat power food during your breaks!</p>
<p>Once you have mastered the concepts of algebra and have taken algII and precal with fairly good grades, i think you can score 700+. Before Alg II I scored less than 700, but after ALGII and PreCal, i could seriously look at ALL of the problems on the test and know how to do them (without a calculator too :))</p>
<p>I got a 770 on the SAT I and 790 on math level 2. I didn't prep since I'm way too lazy. Here's what I did. Once you're finished with a section, assume that you got every question wrong and go through the whole process of doing the questions again. That usually helps me with catching any stupid mistakes.</p>
<p>I'm in precalc this year, and got 760 without studying. I don't know if I should retake it after completing precalc, though</p>
<p>If you're not much into sleep pills, do what I did and stay up really late two nights before the SAT. Then you'll fall asleep on time the night before and come to the test well-rested.</p>
<p>Myarmin, that might've worked out ok for you but in general it's not a good idea to sleep deprive yourself at all before the test. Even though you got a good night's sleep the night before, you would still have less sleep than you need.</p>
<p>Do more calculations in your head. Calculators slow things down (you have to reach for them). There are a number of techniques -- for instance, if you want to multiply 12 by 16, multiply 12 by 4 which is 48, then multiply 48 by 2 = 96, then multiply 96 by 2 which is 192. Or just multiply 12X4 = 48 then to multiply 48 by 4, you could multiply 50 by 4 and subtract 8 (since 48X4 = (50-2)X4). Once you start doing a lot of these you can do lots of problems really fast.</p>
<p>Sometimes you should look for "trick" ways to solve a problem. For instance if they ask you to find the product of a, b, and c given the system of equations ab=4, ac=6, bc=8, just multiply 4X6X8 and take the square root rather than solving for a, b, and c. Often these things can make the math section a lot faster. If these trick ways do not come easily to you you can read the test prep book religiously, which probably contains a large number of these tricks. But of course it's more satisfying to figure it out by yourself, and a test prep book might not show you all the tricks. (especially for, say, the Math IIC).</p>
<p>Just remember, speed is a huge part of the equation here.</p>
<p>I got a 790, by the way, and didn't really read the book.</p>
<p>=D.</p>
<p>My parents didn't let me start using a -real- calculator until 9th grade (Ti 8anything, that is). Actually, they didn't like giving me a scientific calculator either, now that I come to think of it. Anyhow, I've always been awkward with calculators.</p>
<p>Dagny:
I too am bad with calculators. Not so much with scientific ones as with my TI-89, though. I've owned one for a year and still don't know what half the buttons do...</p>
<p>Yeah. My Calc teacher loves working with calculators, and she takes it for granted we know how to use it and that we know where everything is. It's a shame, really. I used to be good at math.</p>
<p>Even the best math students will sometimes make careless mistakes. In fact, a large portion of mistakes in the math section are a result of such carelessness. Some tips:
1. Circle exactly what the question is asking (is it the number of apples, or the total number of fruits in the basket?)
2. Make sure you make your work neat, so you can always go back to it later and check for mistakes.
3. If you ever have time, go back and redo every problem if you can. Try to do every problem a different way, perhaps using a different method, etc. Usually, a large number of your mistakes can be found this way.</p>
<p>math section is stupid and I hate it. The math itself is not bad, but it has traps.</p>
<p>The math section is easy, but making even one mistake can pull your score down to 780.</p>
<p>760-no prep...
730 Writing
CR was 650 though O_o </p>
<p>But I am Japanese so maybe that CR score is kinda normal.. </p>
<p>800 is not as easy as it looks--there's always some question in there you made a stupid mistake on (in my case, I wanted to pi** so bad during the test that I couldn't concentrate on the last 2 math questions and didn't do them... or was it one? When I saw my score report I had exactly those two questions wrong... argh! )</p>
<p>My son would recommend: a) don't study the night before; b) play computer games til 9 pm; c) get a good night's sleep; d) bring a can of Jolt cola to the test and consume same.</p>
<p>Eat Now-and-Laters during the test. I got a 790; maybe that's why. (Not really; I'm just good at taking tests.)</p>
<p>Seriously, though, if you're not a great test-taker to begin with, I think repetition is probably best. Get used to the type of questions asked; they're probably very different from those you would be asked in a math class in school. Also, don't get caught up in using your calculator; I know I've had problems with that before, and it's always led to me complicating things for myself unnecessarily.</p>
<p>I tried using the Barron's book, but the questions are ridiculously hard. I'm not really seeing how thats helping me prepare but at least its a challenge.</p>
<p>
[quote]
3. If you ever have time, go back and redo every problem if you can. Try to do every problem a different way, perhaps using a different method, etc. Usually, a large number of your mistakes can be found this way.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I second this one. Also, where possible plug whatever you got into the question.</p>