<p>I don't know if this is something everyone feels, or if it is just me. I am significantly better at the ACT than the SAT. I took an ACT and SAT within a month of each other. Here are my scores:</p>
<p>As you can see those are pretty different scores. Since I got the ACT scores before I took the SAT I felt pretty confident while doing the SAT but those scores do not reflect that. Using an ACT/SAT conversion chart (I know they aren't accurate) I should be around ~2200. I did not prep at all for either of these tests.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any advice that is SAT specific. Something that makes the SAT harder for some people compared to the ACT.</p>
<p>The main reason I am asking this is because I am a junior this fall and that means I will take the PSAT which is similar to the SAT. I want to be scoring like my ACT instead of my SAT on that exam. I will be doing intensive studying the next two months but other than that what else could I try.</p>
<p>What is your practice score range on SAT? It is not unusual that you get a score much lower than expected (or practice scores). It may just happen that you had a bad day for SAT. My D got 2300+ in practice consistently before taking her first SAT but scored ~200 points lower than expected. Anyway, you should just do more practice tests. Indeed, you should work hard and practice very thoroughly for SAT this Summer as you are likely to get commended or even qualify as National Merit semifinalist. You are in that range, so don’t give up that opportunity as you only have once chance for PSAT.</p>
<p>i’m not sure why you would want to care so much about the SATs since most colleges are just fine with taking ACT scores. the only reason i can think of is that you want to do well on the PSATs to qualify for a scholarship, but that’s only possibly for really high scores like almost perfect score.
if you really need to improve your SAT scores, I personally took a summer course and it really boosted my score. books are always good to study at your own pace and time. one on one tutoring could help you get more of a personal experience. for math and critical reading, it’s all about avoiding those traps. they want you to think something is the right answer, but it’s not. for writing, the essay follows a simple set of rules and the multiple choice questions are testing your knowledge on grammar rules. very few of the questions have to do with “sounding right”</p>
<p>Just to clarify with rsye94, you do NOT need to get a perfect score on PSAT to get NM. Depending on which state, anything from 211-225 could be the cut off.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies guys, I guess I just need some more practice with the SAT and focus on the day of the test. Also for the PSAT the cutoff in my state is 211 so it shouldn’t be too hard.</p>