<p>I'm currently a junior who will be taking the March 12 SATs. I usually score around 550 for Critical Reading, 550 for Math, and 600 for Writing in my practice tests. Is it possible for me to raise these scores to 700 each within 6 weeks? I am willing to give up my free time and shorten my sleep in order to improve my scores.</p>
<p>Critical Reading:
-Cram as much SAT vocabulary in as you can. (There are lists of frequently used words.)
-Read as much as you can and practice close reading. Ask yourself questions about the passage during your reading. (What is the tone of this specific section? What’s the main rhetorical purpose of this phrase? etc.)</p>
<p>Math:
-Practice. Practice. Practice. There aren’t really many variances in SAT math tests. If you do enough practice tests, you’ll be able to quickly raise your score.</p>
<p>Writing:
-Get to know your grammar rules. (subject-verb agreement, comma splices, modifiers, etc) You can often eliminate 2-3 answer choices in the Fixing Sentences portion of the test just through one rule.
-Do many practice tests for Identifying Errors section. You’ll generally pick up a pattern for certain questions and be able to pick out the errors quicker.
-Get to know SOME of your idiomatic expressions. You really can’t be 100% prepared for these questions. If you can’t decide whether the idiomatic expression is used correctly, say it quietly in your mind. Does it sound right? Often times, if the expression is correct, it will sound correct as well. </p>
<p>Your goals are definitely achievable. Just make sure you set up ample time each day. (reading a novel, practice tests, etc)</p>
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<p>Yup. process of elimination basically becomes your best friend for Writing. for the essay, write at least 1.5 pages if you’re looking for a strong score. have a good introduction and conclusion. Use varied sentence structure to avoid sounding blunt. for Error ID, have a mental checklist of what to look for as soon as you see a type of underlined word. For example, whenever I see an underlined verb, I looked for subject-verb agreement, verb tense, etc. </p>
<p>For Math, if you have the Blue Book or any other prep book, I actually suggest that you read the lessons/material. Math has always been my strongest section (I usually get 770-800), but I recently looked at the Blue Book and realized there were certain things that I still didn’t know how to do. Some obscure topics may be inverse/direct proportions, permutations and combinations, related rates, etc. Make sure to look over those before test day.</p>
<p>for Critical Reading, I hear Direct Hits works wonders. I suck at CR so it’s probably better to listen to other people. However, I do suggest that you read the passage carefully before looking at any of the questions. Also, don’t spend too much time close reading. I never close read, but I read carefully and always ask myself what a paragraph is saying after I read it. This is to make myself conscious of what I’m reading and not just passively looking at words.</p>
<p>As Shirafune said, your goals are definitely achievable. I started off with roughly 680 Math, 550 Writing, and 600 Reading and I can consistently get 800ish Math, 740ish Writing, & 670ish Reading. It’s also not a matter of how much time you put in, but how well you use that time.</p>
<p>Thank you both for the helpful comments!</p>