This discussion is geared to rising juniors (possibly seniors) who will be taking their tests soon.
anyway, here are my tips:
- PRACTICE TESTS! This is an obvious one, but still. I recommend Barron's and CollegeBoard. The biggest advantage that kids with tutors have is the fact that they have someone to hold them to taking a certain number of tests a week. Pretend that you have a tutor, and come up with a schedule for yourself. For example, tell yourself that by 5pm every Saturday, you will have a new practice test completed and scored. No exceptions.
- Online learning tools. My favorites are Khan Academy for verbal and DiagKNOWstics for math.
- Create a study group. If you are someone who gets easily unmotivated or procrastinates often, creating a study group with friends who are aiming for a high score too can be a good way to solve that problem. Try to have your study group meet regularly to establish some consistency.
- Develop habits early. If you're going to use a watch (which I recommend), take all of your practice tests using that watch. If you're going to use calculator programs, put them into your calculator right away and get used to using them (don't wait until the night before to put them in like I did).
Good luck!!