October was my first time taking the SAT, and I’m a junior. I performed worse than I expected - 730 R/W (-7 R, -2 W) and 790 M (-2). I’m aiming perfect score, but 1570 or above is my realistic goal. Do people usually score higher on their second try? Any advice for next time? Any links, etc?
Also, when should I take the next test - December or March? I don’t want to forget material.
P.S. I took the Saturday PSAT this year (a week after the SAT), and I felt much better after it than the SAT, so hopefully I qualify for National Merit.
1520 is a very good score. Most students increase their SAT score somewhat between first and second attempt. However, I would expect that the 80 points between 1520 and 1600 are probably the most difficult 80 points to improve by, if only because you are missing so few questions that there isn’t that much to do better.
I would think that SAT preparation classes would have the problem that most of what they teach will be things that you already do well. An advantage of a tutor is that they can focus in on the areas where you need help. If you can afford it then IMHO a few sessions with a tutor would probably be the best bet. We used a tutor from a very small local organization – as far as I could tell the entire company was two tutors plus a receptionist. We liked them a lot. There is probably a similar group where ever you live.
Without an analysis of the specific questions you missed and what you have done to prep for the test so far, one can only guess about what you might do to improve your score. I suspect you have performed well on the parts of the verbal section that involve following rules and that require literal comprehension. You need to take two or three verbal tests and look very closely at what you missed, what your wrong answers were and why you chose them, what the correct answers were and what reasoning led to that answer. There may be common elements that indicate one or two areas that require improvement. I don’t want to minimize what that means. Those one or two areas may require abstract skills that could take some serious focused practice to develop. Whether you take the test in December or March could be determined by the outcome of those practice tests.