How to improve?

So I just took the PSAT 10 and I thought I did really well but I got only an 1170. 570 english and 600 in math. If you had a similar score, what was it and what did you end up getting on your sat? How did you study? What do you think I can get on my sat? I’m really worried because I did poorly on this test. Thanks.

I have this similar question and I really want someone to answer for me…

Huntington Learning says that you should subtract 50-100 points from PSAT score to ballpark an equivalent SAT score. Take as many practice tests as you can. Kahn Academy has freebies, College Board has freebies. Practice, Practice Practice

i do better on khan academys sat tests than i did on the psat and huntington never really said that besides its not true bc the psat is harder than the sat and everyone does better on sats than psats. i just wanted to know how others did if they got a similr score to mine

@Ahmeds @tomli1225

Speaking as a private SAT tutor, here is my advice. If you have a score like that and are still in 10th grade, you should not be doing practice tests yet. You need to work on skill-building.

  1. There is probably a lot of SAT math you don’t know yet (I don’t know your academic background). You may learn a lot of this math next year in school. That being said, I would recommend watching the Khan Academy videos on various subjects. They aren’t perfect, but they will be a useful refresher on some skills you already know (or think you know). I would recommend watching the videos even on subjects you think you know. Students often benefit a lot from relearning things.

  2. You need to learn grammar rules. There are a number of resources that go over the grammar rules tested on the SAT. Learn these rules through and through.

  3. In my experience, students with scores like yours need to beef up their vocab. There are plenty of good lists online. Prepscholar is a good place to start. Building your vocab will help your comprehension of more difficult reading passages and will help you on a few vocab questions on the reading and writing sections.

  4. Practice reading a lot. Read. Fiction. Nonfiction. Things that challenge you. Read articles online daily (the Atlantic has good articles and they are free unlike many other good publications). Your goal is not just to move your eyes over the words or to go quickly. Your goal is to understand what you read. If you don’t understand something, slow-down and reread it until you do. If you don;t understand a work, look it up. There really is no substitute for practicing reading.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions, let me know.

@TheSATTeacher

thank you for the help! I struggle with Vocabulary a lot. I got a 600 on math and a 570 in english. I took algebra 2 this year. I normally do well in school math. I actually excell but this may be due to several other reasons.

@Ahmeds

Then you should have a pretty good idea of what you need to work on. You need to learn vocab–Prepscholar has a list that should be a good start. You almost certainly need to learn the grammar rules on the test. There are resources out there for this. You will probably need to strengthen your algebra. Algebra II can mean many different things. I would recommend the Khan Academy videos as a good starting place to improve your algebraic skills. You will also probably need to work on your skills on some more precalculus oriented subjects. Khan isn’t perfect, but it is a good starting place. Its main benefit is that it can help you get a clearer view on things you already know. You should also spend plenty of time reading, with a focus on comprehending what you are reading (not merely moving your eyes over the words).