How to go from a 1680 to a 1800.

Test Preparation
1

<p>Hello everyone, </p>

<p>I took my SATs for the first time in May with the score of 1530. I was not happy with that score since it was low for the school I want to get into (Binghamton University). My parents enrolled me into SAT prep in NYC. After two weeks of classes, I got a score of 1680 on my stimulated SAT (from the blue book). Two weeks later, I took another stimulated SAT and I got a 1680. Nothing has changed! I really need help and advice from everyone. I've been studying so hard (more than 6 hours a day) so I was a little confused on why I was not seeing the same results as the first test. I have been memorizing 30 words per day, and I usually receive a perfect score on daily quizzes (if not, I usually get two wrong). with If anyone could give me any tips and helpful advice, that would be great.
For the 1st test, my scores were:
Reading-560
Correct- 46
Wrong-13</p>

<p>Math-620
Correct----(Didn't write the scores for the grid ins)
Wrong-2</p>

<p>Writing-500
Correct-30
Wrong-17
Essay- 3.5/6</p>

<p>For the last test, my scores were:
Math-600
Correct-37
Wrong-4</p>

<p>Critical Reading-560
Corect- 41
Wrong-12</p>

<p>Writing-520
Correct- 29
Wrong-9
Essay-4/6</p>

<p>Thank you all so much. I will study and look into any suggestions provided. I am not afraid of hard work. Thank you all so much. I cannot say this enough, Thank you. </p>

2

<p>First off, the number of questions correct plus incorrect doesn’t quite match the number of questions on the actual SAT. Did you take full length tests from the Blue Book or were these tests created by your tutor?</p>

<p>Secondly, 6 hours of prep per day is actually kind of ridiculous. Keeping in mind you are looking for only a 120 point improvement from the practice tests (although I think that you could probably even improve up to 300 points), 6 hours can be even counterproductive.</p>

<p>Thirdly, try this out for a study routine:
-Start the day off with one practice section (vary subject everyday) - 25 minutes
-Review incorrect answers - 35 minutes
-Daily vocab practice - 15-20 minutes (an app like Mindsnacks is really nice for this, otherwise try Quizlet flashcards or a book like Direct Hits)
-1 untimed section (same section as before) - 45-60 minutes
-Full-length SAT every 2 weeks on Saturday morning (so as to stimulate test conditions) - don’t do anything else for the rest of the day on these days; you can spend Sunday reviewing mistakes (and then not do anything else for the rest of the day on Sunday).</p>

<p>If you buy some of the other subject-specific books like Erica Meltzer’s CR Guide, Erica Meltzer’s Grammar Guide, or PWN the SAT Math, you could add in another 15-20 minutes of exercises/reading. </p>

<p>See? You will have cut your studying time in half and can easily sprinkle in frequent breaks so as not to exhaust yourself.</p>

<p>As for specific tips by section, here goes:
CR - Know your vocab; daily practice can help with this. For passage-based questions, the untimed practice should really help, since you will be able to read the passage in great detail and ensure that the answer choice is correct. Gradually, your speed will improve, too, and you will become better as far as accuracy goes.</p>

<p>Math - Know your concepts; use Khan Academy/PWN the SAT Math for additional practice with this. Untimed practice coupled with looking up unfamiliar concepts will help you improve. Speed will come naturally as you learn new strategies for the problems.</p>

<p>Writing - Multiple choice scores should improve with grammar practice. And as a general rule, trust your instincts. If you practice proper grammar in daily writing/conversation, you should be able to pick the correct answer at least 80% of the time. For the essay, create a list of canned examples, organized by literature, history, people and current events (optional but helpful if you’re into watching the news). Write down attributes/themes for each example and learn your list. On test day, picking from this list of examples will help in avoiding writer’s block. Try to write ~2 pages, develop a good formula, and you should be able to easily score at least a 10/12 on the essay.</p>

<p>Hope this helps! Good Luck! :)</p>

3

<p>Alright. This is probably just my opinion, but writing is the easiest portion of the sat, even though you scored the poorest on it. this is actually going to be in your favor because it’ll let you increase more points, allowing you to get closer to, or pass the 1800 mark. </p>

<p>This may contradict with many other methods of studying for the writing section, but it worked for me. went from a 550 to 740 on the actual test. It went from being my worst section to my best section, much like in your case. You should do 2 or 3 tests by looking at the sat writing answers, with explanations, reading each and every explanation, and you will see a trend in the answer choices. The trend goes something like this: shortest answer = best answer most of the time if you are stuck between answer choices, etc. Remember that it is important to reason out why the wrong answer choices are wrong, in addition to figuring out why the right answer choices are right, through the explanations they offer. It is very hard at first, but if you go about it, you will notice some sort of indescribable pattern. It’s the best feeling ever, once you reach that stage, so it’s worth the hard work! </p>

<p>CHEAT SHEET:
here are a few patterns and tricks i noticed/heard from others that will definitely boost you at least a question are 2 on the test.
-try to sound it out in your head. if it doesn’t sound like something you will find in a book, then it is mot likely wrong. IMPORTANT: for this tip, try to avoid sounding this out in a head and imagining a scenario wherein a person talks in such a manner because people can say anything, and make it sound right. so please, try to see if the answer choice is something you could possibly see in a book.</p>

<p>-process of elimination. you’ll get to a point wherein you’ll know that something is wrong just by sounding it out. however, there are sometimes very tricky ones that may sound wrong, but are actually right. that’s why i suggested looking at the answers first and reasoning out which choices will and won’t work, and why(emphasis on the why <– extremely important)</p>

<p>-know the difference between, and pay attention to similar sounding words like: affect, and effect. Sometimes, they’ll try to trick you by switching them up.</p>

<p>-almost always, any answer choice with the word “being” in it is going to be wrong–just about 98% of the time for me. out of the 25 or so practice tests i have done, only 2 times has an option with the word “being” been right. its worth it to take your chances on this if you are unsure. </p>

<p>-shortest answer choice is usually the best. just using common sense, most people can reason this out. first off, eliminate ones that don’t sound like things you would see in books, then look at the remaining ones, and use grammar rules. </p>

<p>-grammar rules: this is perhaps the hardest, but most important part of this whole “cheat sheet” simply because all the other “cheats” are simple, 1 or 2 step processes, while this requires you to extensively practice. After all, this is what the whole test is about. There are many rules such as parallelism, subject-verb agreement, proper punctuation usage, syntax, passive and active tense, and many more. the ones i just listed make up the bulk of the questions, so study up! </p>

<p>This stuff in’t easy at first, but you gotta study up, and do your best! I know you asked for overall help, and I just gave you help on writing, but it is very hard to help on critical reading, as i myself am not so great at it, and as for math, i for some reason naturally answer them correctly. its hard to explain. :P</p>

<p>However, here is a reading comprehension guide by noitaraprep that might be useful to you: <a href=“How to Attack the SAT Critical Reading Section Effectively - SAT Preparation - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/750399-how-to-attack-the-sat-critical-reading-section-effectively.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Math: you can literally look up people solving sat math problems on YouTube, and try to follow along. i suggest pausing the video for each problem, trying to solve them by yourself and then seeing the person in the video solve it, and repeat the process for all necessary questions. </p>

<p>SUMMARY: Overall, I’m sorry that I was only able to semi-help you on the writing section, but i hope you could draw upon it, and i wish you the best of luck on your future endeavors. lastly, i would appreciate it if you could chance me at my thread! thanks!
<a href=“http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1657077-what-colleges-do-you-think-i-am-qualified-for.html#latest”>http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1657077-what-colleges-do-you-think-i-am-qualified-for.html#latest&lt;/a&gt; </p>

4

<p>Thank you SOO SOO much! I am so grateful for your answer! And yes I skipped quite a lot too! I just didn’t include the number in my post! Thank you again! I will most definitely look into this! =) </p>

5

<p>I wrote about improving my SAT it might be helpful to you :slight_smile:
Let me know if you have any questions!</p>

<p><a href=“http://howiraisedmysatscorealmost400points.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/”>http://howiraisedmysatscorealmost400points.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;