My Story:
The first time I took the SAT in January of my junior year, I went into it blind. I decided to rely on my knowledge at the time, see how I did, and take it again in June. I did okay and got a 1760 (600M 580CR 550W). Being the perfectionist I am, I was pretty disappointed and wanted better. So, I signed up for the June test and bought a book from College Board. I looked at my score report and took note of where my weaknesses and strengths were, but payed little attention to that. I skipped around the book randomly and scored myself at the end, typically getting 2-3 wrong per section. I probably did about 15 sections total before going into the test a second time. For the essay, I looked up some current events and famous figures the night before that I hoped would apply to the prompt (they didn’t). This time around, I got a 1910 (680M 620CW 610W). I was content with this score, and planned on leaving it. After all, it placed me in the 90th percentile, which would get me into most colleges.
However, College Board messed up the 6-6-15 test (the one I took) and put in the fine print that whoever took that SAT could take it again in October for free. I remember thinking “Eh, might as well” and signed up for a third time. This was the last test whose score reports would make the EA deadline for 3/5 of my schools. For this one, I delved into some vocabulary Quizlets and did a few more practice sections. Honestly, I barely did anything— senioritis had me by the throat. The morning of the test, I slept through my alarm. I still cringe a bit as I type the words; it was so unlike me to just not wake up. My mom came in my room at 9AM and gasped, “Don’t you have your test today?!” which made me immediately spring up in disbelief. And yes, I cried a little. I slumped around the house for the rest of the day and feigned laughter when I explained to my friends why I never showed up. My mom, who felt like it was partly her fault that I didn’t wake up, sat down and tried to convince me that everything happens for a reason.I planned on leaving it at that and just keeping my score, but then I added one more school to my list— the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As an out-of-stater with a decent GPA, I had about a .01% chance of getting in. So, on a sleepless night I determined that I would try one more time, and that’s exactly what I did.
I went hard this time. I took my barely used book and did pretty much every exercise left. For every question I got wrong, I wrote a sentence on why I got it wrong, and why the correct answer was right. For the vocabulary questions, I looked up and wrote down the definition to every word I didn’t know. I read countless forums such as this one written by people who raised their scores by hundreds of points. Most importantly, I learned that the SAT isn’t a test; it’s a game. Through doing practice problems you realize things the SAT almost always does (like try to confuse us with “I” vs “me”) and things it never does (like having the answer to a sentence improving question begin with “being”). I walked into the test confident and well-versed in the language of College Board, and walked out with a 2160 (750M 720CR 690W). And that’s my slightly dramatic story of how I rose my score by 400 points.
Takeaways:
- PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE
There’s no better way to do well than to be comfortable and confident with the test itself. If you walk I on test day and everything feels familiar, it will do nothing but benefit you.
- Study beyond the surface!! For math, make sure you know the bare bones, like Pythagorean theorem. For critical reading passages, find a marking strategy that works for YOU. Personally, I liked skimming the whole article and then going through question by question, but everyone's different. For vocabulary questions (******THIS IS MY FAVORITE), look into prefixes, suffixes, and Latin roots. It really does wonders— I used to get about 7 vocabulary questions wrong a test because I couldn't remember 1000 word lists, and I only got 1 wrong on my last test. For grammar, look up common SAT grammar mistakes; there are tons of articles about this.
- Don't dread the test What's the point of chiming in to your friends' complaints with an "ugh I have to take the SAT tomorrow" accompanied by a dramatic eye roll? Keep your attitude positive. It's only 10-25 minutes at a time, and afterwards you can look forward to hanging out and eating Chipotle or something (whatever floats your boat). I honestly feel like this gave me an edge over my peers, whose negative feelings toward the SAT undoubtedly clouded their brain when they should have been coming up with another point for their essays.
- (Don't hate me) Believe! No matter how good or how bad you've done prior to the next time you take the test, know that you can do better. My guidance counselor told me I wouldn't be able to raise my score more than 30-40 points, if that— I raised it by 400. Let yourself buy into every gimmicky miracle that could happen. It's the placebo effect.
- Make the SAT your Monopoly The SAT is such a mental game and hardly requires any deep thinking, so as you would any game, learn the rules. The more familiarized you are with the rules, the better you'll play. Even if you start studying relatively late, there's still plenty of small things you can do to raise your score significantly. The internet knows pretty much everything there is to know about the SAT.
I realize that the ~redesigned~ SAT comes out soon, so hopefully I picked tips that will apply! Feel free to ask any questions, and I’ll try my best to answer them. Thanks for reading!