<p>I got a 530 on both math and verbal on the SAT. i want to increase both by 50 or more points. for instance, 580 on one and 600 on the other something like that. i was thinking for the questions i am not directly sure about skip them instead of risk losing unnecessary points. any ideas??</p>
<p>Well, math is generally considered pretty straightforward to prep for. If you put in a little time with it, possibly but certainly not necessarily taking a class, it should not be hard for you to raise your score to the 600 level. </p>
<p>Verbal is tougher to prep for, because lifelong readers and/or kids with large vocabularies (usually formed by lots and lots of reading!) are at a huge advantage, while all others fight an uphill battle. Still, I have two suggestions:
1) Try to practice reading faster and better. More practice with this section will go along way towards getting a higher score, and I know time is a big issue for a lot of people.
2) If you don't feel like you can improve your skills with this section, your strategy to simply not answer the questions that you are not sure about is a sound one. In every test prep book that I have read, there is a table that shows how many questions that you can answer and receive a certain score. Remember, though, that statistically, you should guess if you can eliminate even one answer. You might not feel comfortable with such a cavalier strategy, but if you can eliminate one or more, I would strongly suggest guessing still, since you <em>should</em> come out ahead (provided you didn't eliminate the correct answer!!).</p>
<p>I strongly agree with above. I hear there are some good math prep books (I think Barron's has a really good one) Verbal is tougher but not indomitable. Also, dont worry if you're not a lifelong reader- however you should try to become a better reader/ just cram vocab. With a little work I think most average students can get 650 in both sections by pretty much not answering certain questions they aren't sure about/ not making dumb mistakes. Good luck!</p>
<p>for math, i think the only way to improve is to practice, practice, and do more practice.</p>
<p>1) I strongly agree with everything advantagious said.</p>
<p>2) For students in the 600s-700s, too much memorization of vocabulary is likely to be a waste of time. Those students should spend much or most of their time reading. However, in your case (with a score in the low 500s), it's likely that your vocabulary is actually hurting your score at least a little. Consider taking a look at the Barrons High-Frequency SAT list.</p>
<p>3) If you are currently answering every single question, you could conceivably raise your score by nearly 50 pts simply by skipping questions. </p>
<p>4) Given that you are asking about question-skipping, I'm going to guess that you don't know a whole lot about tactics and strategies for the SAT, because that is one of the first questions answered in many prep books. Tactics and strategies can get you 50 pts easy. </p>
<p>5) Many people see a test improvement of 50 pts per section the next time they take the test, even if they don't study. </p>
<p>In summary, the gains you are looking for are relatively modest. Buy and read any decent prep book (I prefer Barrons or Princeton Review), try to read an hour a day over the summer, put in a little vocabulary memorization <em>using flash cards</em> if you feel that your vocabulary is weak, and take three to five practice tests from the College Board blue book. I predict that this approach will raise your score anywhere from 50-100 pts per section (given where you're at right now).</p>
<p>One more thing--make sure your essay is long enough!</p>