<p>Port, I’ve been in deep thought for like 3 months. I’m not confident. I’m scared as well. Missing 6 isn’t too bad. At least you aren’t missing 7-8 like me. I mean, I understand that our goals are towards scores of perfection, but I don’t know. I’m going to do the two sections of math in Dr. Chung’s in about 20 min. I’ll post the results in around 2 hours. I still have most of my school work to finish. </p>
<p>Jokejoke, I understand the concepts, but I cannot apply them while taking a test. It’s frustrating. I’ve tried a lot, but nothing seems to be working. I’ve even read through Gruber’s math guide, but I still haven’t improved. Similarly, CR will be the death of me. I narrow the choices down to two for about every question but I either choose the wrong answer or, run out of time.</p>
<p>Haphazard, I’m going through the same thing in the math section! I have no problem with the individual concepts but simply can’t apply them when I need to. Guess practice will solve that problem! </p>
<p>By the way, I have yet to try the Dr.Chung Math book. I have heard great things about it and would appreciate it if someone who has used it could give some insight of how helpful it actually is!</p>
<p>Dr. Chung’s has 50 tips that are concise and clear and it has 20 tests with about 3 sections each (practice makes perfect!). It contains probably the most challenging math out of the usual SAT prep books (i.e. Barron’s, the blue book, Princeton’s, etc.) and I haven’t completed it yet, but so far it’s worked quite well for me. Also, try ********. It’s a daily little quiz that works with your skill level.</p>
<p>EDIT: I don’t know what caused the asterisk signs, but it’s called sat habit.</p>
<p>Hap, I have the opposite problem. I’ve always been good at improvising and applying what I know in unusual ways under pressure (this is how I passed math and math-based science tests for years) but I can’t remember those core ideas! That’s why I’m so enthusiastic and committed to working on this because I KNOW if I can relearn the basic material I can meet and surpass my expectations. But as of right now the chances of learning all that on my own are looking pretty slim, hence the fear. Let’s try to turn our fear into courage (or one of those bravery sayings haha)<br>
I think I’m going to go hunting for my old 2nd year algebra notes… Fingers crossed I wrote clearly enough to understand. Would you recommend the Dr. Chung book? Does it devote a lot of space to explaining the concepts?</p>
<p>Tomorrow I’m going to do a little CR. I want to accurately gage where I am (I accidentally skipped two pages of Qs on my test in May. I know, dumb. I sat there with around 10 minutes left, grinning because I thought it was insanely easy. Little did I know…) Just goes to show you need to practice filling in the bubbles and using a booklet. Anyway, I’m hoping if I do a complete CR my score will be somewhere in the high 600s low 700s. </p>
<p>Anyway, I’m really tired from doing coursework all day, so I think I’ll just look for more math resources tonight. I think I’ve exhausted all my “completely re-teach myself using just the Qs” options. I did remember a few things, so it was marginally worth it.</p>
<p>All right guys, well I nearly just threw my Dr. Chung’s SAT Math book out of the window. I missed like 11 problems. I definitely think I should go back and relearn the concepts or something. I have the Gruber’s SAT Math Guide, which many CCers have said has helped boost their scores from 500s to low 700s. Gruber’s has 14 tips or whatever, which I do not understand how I should utilize, but I guess it’s back to Gruber’s for a bit. I really want to go through the Gruber’s guide thoroughly this week, and attack Dr. Chung’s after I build some confidence. Dr. Chung’s is definitely for those in the 680-800 range. Also port, this may sound really bizarre, but I lost my CR skills over time. When I first took the PSAT, I had no clue what that test was at the time, I scored a 65. After realizing what the SAT is, I took a diagnostic in which I scored a 620. As of recent though, it’s hard for me to get above a 570ish. I used to be an avid reader, but stopped for a while. I read biographies and stuff in elementary/middle school(crazy, I know), but I overanalyze everything on CR sections. Any advice on how I can reach the 650-700+ range? I understand vocab is crucial, but how do you attack passage based questions?</p>
<p>Side note: I tried this “s a t h a b I t” thing over the summer for 33 days(the thing allows you to take a small 10 question quiz every 12 hours. I timed myself and took 2 everyday because I usually pulled all nighters during summer, and this did not help with math whatsoever. The questions repeat after a while, and few are too easy for the SAT.</p>
<p>I’m going to finish up AP Lit, AP Bio, and AP Calc. Then I’ll probably review the CR mistakes from the 2 Barron’s guide sections. I’ll be on/off CC. Tomorrow will be better, hopefully. Stay confident guys! We will conquer this obstacle that stands between our path to the school(s) that we hope to matriculate in!</p>
<p>Just saw this thread and really like it - see what other people are doing and possibly it will work for me. In the same position as you Haphazard as far as math is concerned. I really like math; it’s my favorite subject so I know the easiest way for me to increase my overall score is to greatly improve my math score. And, if you didn’t see my thread about [Chung’s</a> difficulty](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1381329-dr-chungs-difficulty.html"]Chung’s”>Dr. Chung's Difficulty - SAT Preparation - College Confidential Forums) I’ll just give a brief run down - it is HARD! I scored 630 taking practice tests from the BB and PR book but with the Chung’s book I scored 460. Does anyone know where I can find explanations cause some of the questions I have no idea how to answer and the answer explanation basically shows nothing. It’s almost as if he just pulled the answer out of thin air.</p>
<p>Also, plan on starting studying for CR and W tomorrow. Just in case if you’re wondering, I am aiming for a 2100+ and I am at a 1600 currently. My final shot is in October so if anyone has more CR and W tips that would be great!</p>
<p>Master2018, I can help you out with Writing. Just tell me what’s troubling you, and I’ll definitely try to give you some tips. I improved my Writing score from 560 to 760-800 in about a week. I haven’t focused too much on writing, but I’m fairly confident that I can score in the 700s.</p>
<p>Hap, I’ll pay close attention to my CR when I’m checking my answers tomorrow and see if I can explain how I approach the harder Qs. I mostly rely on instinct (which I know they say not to do, but as a fellow lifelong reader, it just happens), but I can try to verbalize my reasoning. I also stopped reading in HS… So sad, but sports and homework just left me so tired that all I wanted to do was lay down and watch TV. Definitely going back to books!</p>
<p>Hey Master, nice to meet you! I share your goals and am working from and 1800, so we’re relatively on the same page!</p>
<p>It looks like we all struggle with math… Hmmm. Maybe that’s a good thing thing to talk/colab on in depth. How? Not sure, but we can figure it out.</p>
<p>Are you guys applying EA/ED? I’m just doing regular, hence why I’m taking it at the beginning of Nov. Just curious because everyone but me is taking it in Oct.</p>
<p>Port, did you find out about the whole copyright thing? I’m pretty sure we can do it without being penalized. I want to go with instinct, which is usually correct, but I have a fear that my instinct might be wrong. It’s a bit hard to explain, but I’ll just wait for your explanations tomorrow. I think we could look over similar practice sections if we have similar materials. I have: blue book, Gruber’s SAT Math Guide, Dr. Chung’s Math, direct hits, Barron’s CR workbook, and a few others. </p>
<p>I’m planning to apply EA/ED to a few schools, but everything is dependent on how well I do on the SAT. I also have to take two SAT 2 tests, which I plan on taking in Nov. hahaha.</p>
<p>Hap, thanks for the help! I’ll let you know what I’m struggling with when I’m done taking a couple of practice W tests. Usually, I get a 8 on the essay and I mess up on the last couple of questions in the section. They all seem right to me, but I feel like W is something that I can really improve once I learn the rules.</p>
<p>Port, pleasure to meet you! It’s great to find someone that has the same goals as me. As far as math is concerned, like I mentioned before, I just take more pride in math since it’s my favorite subject. However, I didn’t take any math class last year in school so I got a little rusty on the some concepts but I’m getting back on track. I just need to get the last couple of questions right in each section and I would be in good shape.</p>
<p>I’d love to go ED but I can’t since I still have to take the subject tests and I really want to give myself a good shot at my main school so I’m going to have to hold out but I most likely will apply ED to some other schools.</p>
<p>As for today:
Take a Gruber’s Math practice test [learn mistakes after]
Study CR and W from PR [learn mistakes after]
If I do good on Gruber’s then on to Chung’s to understand what I got wrong
<p>Since I have to take PSAT’s in October, I’m gonna try taking one right after I come back from a run. Really don’t know what to expect…definitely will struggle with writing and CR but hopefully math will be a bit better than before</p>
<p>I only have done a 24 Question CR section today. I got 23 correct so I was happy (but i need to learn not to second guess my self and change my answer to a wrong one ).</p>
<p>Haphazard, I would love to hear how you improved your writing score so much in so little time. I myself enjoy the writing section English grammar, but have not been able to break low 700.</p>
<p>Update: well guys, I just got home from school. I’m incredibly tired due to running on 3 hours of sleep. Today, I found out that I have three tests tomorrow: AP Calculus, AP Physics, and AP Bio. I plan on looking over Gruber’s and Barron’s later on today if I have time after I finish studying for these tests. I’m pretty exhausted and I want to sleep, but I think it’s best if I finish homework and try to get some SAT prep done.</p>
<p>OK, I know I said I would do CR today and post some of my tips/approaches, but a bunch of stuff came up this morning and it looks like I won’t be able to. I will try tonight but I may be too exhausted. I will definitely do that some time this week if it doesn’t work out today. Sorry guys. :/. Happy studying! I might be back later tonight but prob not.
TTYL</p>
<p>Just as a little motivation: It’s very possible to raise your SAT scores hundreds of points with not too much prep. Last December I took my SATs for the first time without any preparation and got a 1930. I was happy with this score, but my dad wanted me to take it again so I did. I took them again this past June. I basically did prep for about 5 or 6 hours a week. And my score went up to a 2240. The time I spent studying really did not interfere with my school work at all, and I was very satisfied with the results. It’ll all be worth it in the end :)</p>
<p>Worked on a lot of Sentence Completion parts today from different tests and only got a couple wrong! About 2 or 3 out of the 40 or more I tried…so I’m very, very happy! I didn’t know a lot of the words, however, so luck played a big factor but I’m also getting used to understanding how to eliminate options and how to get through the questions quicker so the SAT prep so far has been working very well! </p>
<p>Tomorrow I’ll attempt about 10 passages and all the questions and see how well I do. Passages have always been one of my major weaknesses so I have to work on it a lot!</p>
<p>Update: just got home. I’m barely functioning due to 1.25 hours of sleep, and a long day at school. Disappointed due to simple, stupid error on a question on AP Calc test. I’ll be back around 7:30ish after some needed sleep.</p>
<p>Update: I didn’t do a whole lot today, but I looked over the writing section chapters in the blue book, and read some of silverturtle’s guide. I’m planning on doing a mach essay tomorrow, along with 2 sections of CR and math.</p>
).</p>