<p>I'm in the 750 range and have hit 800 several times on my practice gets from CB. Please don't tell me to refer to the blue book as I have already exhausted every single problem in there AND all of the known released exams.</p>
<p>Is there a prep book you guys suggest I get/read?</p>
<p>If you already understand all of the questions and concepts tested, then tbh it’s really about getting lucky with the problems on the test… I’d try Gruber’s SAT book for math if you really need the additional practice</p>
<p>It’s really more about not making silly mistakes during the test.</p>
<p>Double check your work with extra time.</p>
<p>But how? For example on this sat there was a question that read:</p>
<p>Aging Amy wants to retire at poop co. whose policy is that one is eligible for retirement if the years of employment and the age of an employee add up to 70 Amy is 45 and has worked 9 years. How many more years must she work to be eligible?
^it went something like that iirc, and I put 16… The answer was 8 because both age and years worked increase at the same time 
so really she only needs 8 more years to get +16 to her 70 req.</p>
<p>But I didn’t even think of that!!! If I had checked my work 10x over I don’t think I would have caught a mistake like that! The problem was inherent in my logic, not something that I could check my work and fix. </p>
<p>Anyway, anybody got a good review book? I’m canceling January’s score. Probably will retake in May or so.</p>
<p>First of all ask yourself why you want an 800. Colleges do not distinguish between a 750 and 800. </p>
<p>Now if the answer is that you want an 800 for your own personal satisfaction, then that’s fine. The first question is “when you get a question wrong what level is it?” If you are getting only level 5 questions wrong, then just keep practicing level 5 problems. You want to be exposed to as many different level 5 problems as possible, especially the “extra-weird” types that show up every now and then. I do still recommend “quality over quantity” meaning make sure that you can get every problem you have attempted correct on your own before moving on to new problems. Every problem that you get wrong one day, and can get right a week later increases your chances of getting an 800.</p>
<p>If you are getting the occasional question wrong because you are getting tricked, read my article on “Eliminating careless errors in SAT math.” It’s on this forum somewhere.</p>
<p>That could’ve been checked pretty easily. In 16 years, Amy would be 61 and would have worked 25 years. 61+25 is greater than 70, so the answer is less than 16.</p>
<p>Also, DrSteve is right; even at top colleges, an 800 won’t give you a decisive advantage over 750.</p>
<p>Won’t it make combined score higher and possible open doors to scholarship? IDK how they really work.</p>
<p>It is hard to maintain a sane approach. On the one hand, there are the “higher must be better” sirens, calling you to do more prep. And only the people in the room when they hand out admissions and scholarship decisions really know whether a 750 is as good as an 800 and they only know it for their specific institution. So no one can tell you that the sirens are wrong. </p>
<p>But on the other hand, there is surely a law of diminishing returns and an opportunity cost for the time you spend. It is a personal decision, but here’s my vote: if you have already truly mastered every math problem in the blue book and every math problem on all of the released exams (to the point where you can now teach someone else how to do them), then you have made a worthy effort, one that may still land you on an 800. Keep reviewing those old tests just to stay sharp and then go take this thing. Then move on.</p>