<p>Hello everyone! I am a rising hs junior who is getting ready for the SAT. Just took an offical CB SAT practice test and scored a 2040.<br>
CR 760
W 760
M 520 </p>
<p>My number one school is Columbia and I will most likely apply ED. </p>
<p>However, my math NEEDS to go up. I really would like a 650. </p>
<p>I bought the Gruber's Complete Math SAT Workbook and have started working on it. Are there any other excellent books that can help me? I most likely won't take the SAT until November at the very earliest. </p>
<p>I also plan on actually studying for CR and W. I was pleased with my scores as I have never opened a CR and W book or prepped for those sections. I guess my obsession with reading as a child really helped!</p>
<p>So math tips anyone? I already read Silverturtle's extremely helpful guide but there is not much math advice.</p>
<p>Forgot to ask, does Columbia look at the writing score? If not, that’s a bummer for me. :(</p>
<p>^ Yes, colleges see everything.</p>
<p>Barron’s is good in math too…get BB as well.</p>
<p>Yes, I have the blue book! I will have to look at Barron’s. </p>
<p>I read on another thread that “most east coast colleges don’t look at the writing score”. Not sure if there is any truth to that.</p>
<p>Barron’s is great for math, but it’s not necessary if you have Gruber’s already.</p>
<p>Sounds like Barron’s could be helpful. After I complete the Gruber’s I will see where my score falls and then see about another book. I know I’ll never have a perfect score but I would be absolutely thrilled if I scored a 680.</p>
<p>Gruber’s is good for math. Really good review. It’s pretty hardcore but effective.</p>
<p>Columbia ED will help you kinda negate your low score in Math if its like 670 +</p>
<p>Oh wow, I can’t believe your CR and writing scores. Tell me how you achieved them? :3
I raised my Math score 180pts (500–>680) by taking practice tests, and getting used to the questions. My obstruction from hitting 700+ is careless mistakes, I have no problem understanding and solving every question. This, is why I’m aiming to finish 8-10min before and check and re-do the problems with different methods. How did you study for your CR and Writing sections?</p>
<p>People say Grueber tends to be way harder than the actual SAT ones. I’ve gone through barrons and the normal grueber workbook. But for some reason, I would finish the math sections for the grueber ones on the 15th minute. But on the actual collegeboard SATs, I have to use the whole 25 minute. For me, while it seems that Collegeboard “appear” easier, they’re trickier. Whereas Gruebers seem harder, but not as tricky.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses. It seems like I’m on the right track.</p>
<p>simplybigrole, I did NO studying for the CR and W sections. They come very naturally for me. I can just tell when something is wrong. Most of the time I don’t even read the passages. I just look at the line number, read those lines, and answer the question. I think my success comes from my love of reading. </p>
<p>I started reading when I was three and was obsessed with it. All I would do is read. I would read at school during classes, at home, I would stay up late reading, etc… If my parents wanted to punish me, they took away my books. No joke. I believe my reading when I was younger helped me enormously. I plan on studying for these sections to try to increase my chances to 800. But, I really don’t have any tips. Sorry!</p>
<p>Yeah, you really have to get the math up, you’re right. 
The key will be practice, practice, practice. Do as many practice math sets as you can, and make sure to study your errors so that you understand how and why you’re missing problems. Gruber’s is a good, effective math guide: if you master it, and then do a ton of practice problems, you should be in good shape.</p>
<p>Man, you’re so lucky you had a natural inclination to read as a child. CR and Writing literally kills me. 
One thing I learned about the math section is that there really is no magical formula you have to memorize (except for the basic ones) that will get your score up. Your brain will subconsciously recognize the certain type of problems on the SATs as you do the practice test over and over again. When I was in the 500’s range, I could not solve about 4-5 of the last “hard” questions on each section. Once you master the several diff types of problems, and have absolutely no trouble solving all of them, like I’ve said before, time is so crucial on the math part if you want a high score. You just have to solve it really quickly and go back and check the problems so that you actually answered what the question was asking, in case you missed a tiny detail. I still have trouble catching all of my mistakes too. 
Anyway, I hope your math score goes up soon!!</p>
<p>Thanks Simplybigrole! And I hope your CR and W scores go up as well! It’s not time that’s the issue for me ( I finish each section with at least 5 minutes, more like 10, to spare) it’s just knowing how to solve them.</p>
<p>Plug in plug in plug in :d</p>
<p>I’m sorry Jack2011 “Plug in, plug in, plug in”. I don’t understand what that means.</p>
<p>He means plug in the answer choices. But that’s not a fool proof strategy…</p>
<p>Oh, well I do plug in the answers if I don’t know how to solve it. That doesn’t work all the time though.</p>