<p>Hi everyone, i really need advice from people that have taken the SAT 1 exam and finished, best if it be someone who started bad and got a very good score in the end. My current score is terrible, i got 490 critical, 510 writing and 620 math - total 1620. I have heard from many people that lots of people start like me and ended up getting 2100+. My dream is to enter oxford and i really need to start improving! Please i really need advice on what i should start doing!</p>
<p>I think the biggest thing on the SAT is practice. I’ve never even heard of the SAT before the beginning of my junior year (immigrant), so I had to quickly prepare for the PSAT and the real test. I started out getting 180-190 on the PSAT, but then spent about a week continuously taking practice tests over and over again, and also read some books about the strategies - I’d suggest Princeton Review. Still, the biggest thing is to take practice tests, look over all of your mistakes, and track your improvement.
For math and writing, you may need to learn some strategies beforehand, such as formulas and general grammar rules - you can find all of those in the Princeton book. For the reading, you definitely need to put some time into vocab - that was the only thing that tripped me up on the real SAT. I’d suggest Direct Hits books. I would’ve used them myself, but I only left myself a week before the real SAT to study vocab, which is obviously not enough. And once you do all of that studying, you just need to practice over and over - the blue Collegeboard book is a must-have.</p>
<p>Hi, so this is what I did to raise up my score. I started out at sophomore year with a 1760 PSAT Score. For me, my weakest parts were vocabulary and writing. This year, as a junior, I took the SAT for the first time. I got 2310 with a 800 math, 780 writing, and 730 reading. </p>
<p>What I did:</p>
<p>-Use the blue book. I did a practice test almost every week from that book a month before the test. If you don’t understand anything, look at khan academy because they work through the answers. It’s good to do this so you get comfortable with pacing. (Time yourself)</p>
<p>-Get a grammar book. Understand all the rules and test yourself on them. It’s essential to do so because the writing multiple choice part is the best way to boost up your score. Do tons of essays (timed) to get a feel about how fast you should write them. It’s a good idea to come up with an idea bank about what to write about- I only give myself one to two minutes to come up with examples.</p>
<p>-Get a vocabulary book. This probably the most important thing you should start doing. Vocabulary isn’t built up in a day- I know this now and that’s what hurt me the most on the SAT. The reading passages were always a breeze but my vocabulary was horrible. I recommend the insiders essential 500 words for the sat. Memorization is key to getting a good score here for the vocabulary section.</p>
<p>-I have no idea what you should do for the passages. My only advice is to read everything and to choose material that pushes your reading level. I have done this all my life, and so the reading passages for me were really easy. (Again it’s the vocabulary that brought me down)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>