I am a junior and I just got my PSAT score today and I got a 1120. It’s pretty bad for me since I usually do well in school, but at least I improved 90 points since last year. I’m planning on taking the SATs for the first time in March and then a second time in May but I’m not sure if it’s possible to improve my score significantly with only 3 months of preparation while studying for AP exams at the same time. Are there any study plans or study guides that I should use? Please help!
It certainly is possible to improve your score by 200+ points. I don’t have any study guides or study plans to offer but I suggest to first start by examining yourself. Have you taken the SAT yet? The PSAT is not the best representative of the SAT. I would suggest by taking a couple of practice exams - perhaps an old released one from College Board - and then examining what you need to improve on.
Your study plan will differ depending on whether you need improvement in knowing the actual content vs. understanding question wording/test strategies. If content knowledge is where you’re lacking, I suggest reading through the SAT prep books. Otherwise, take as many practice exams you can get your hands on.
Definitely possible. I’ll once again make the unpopular suggestion that you study SAT vocab. If you learn ~3000 words you’ll see a major score increase.
Yes … very possible IF you focus and prepare and learn test-taking strategies. Knowledge of subject matter is very important … and learning how to take this test is very important as well. My child increased by 200 points in over a year’s period of taking the test (a few times sadly …), and that was attributable to his focus on the material AND how to take the test. He would have increased by about 300 points if College Board didn’t apply unpredictable curves.
What review books do you suggest?
I think it’s not a matter of what books to use, it’s more of a “how to” take the test that will get your improvement. The only prep my kid ever did was to take a few whole tests in a quiet, timed environment. Just to get a feel on how much time you have to spend on questions. And when to skip and come back to questions.
Everyone’s different. The best strategy really depends on whether you feel comfortable with the content. If you do, then lots of practice tests might be enough to see a significant increase. My score increased 90 points after doing 5 practice tests in the week before my test (taken in August). If you don’t know how to solve all the typical math problems, that’s a good place to start. Reading is less straightforward to be systematic about. However for Writing, you can take note of the grammar rules you are unsure of and practice drills on Khan Academy until you feel comfortable.
Yeah but if I don’t even have a guide or anything I’m not gonna know “how to” take the test. Everyone’s different and some people can score really high if they only do practice tests, but I personally need a lot of practice, which is why I’m asking about review books.
One daughter attended a class at the local community center, and then used a few sessions with a tutor. We were very happy with a very small outfit that is near our home – I think that the entire company had a total of three employees. There might be a similar outfit near you. Some advantages of the tutor is that they can give you a practice test to see where your strengths and weaknesses are, and then focus immediately on the areas that need help.
I do understand that tutors can be expensive, and that unfortunately this supports the theory that the SAT test is at least partly a measure of the parent’s ability to pay for a tutor.
DadTwoGirls I mean I have a math tutor that does give some SAT practice but also focuses on school work so idk if that counts as a tutor.
I currently own Princeton Review 2019 Edition and Barron’s New SAT 500 flashcards. I ordered the SAT Black Book, Dr. Jang’s SAT Math Workbook, 28 New SAT Math Lessons to Improve Your Score in One Month, and The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar Workbook by Erica L Meltzer which they will be arriving in January. How should I use these books effectively and are these books good for self-studying? I just started studying and I’m using Khan Academy and the two I own so far but midterms are coming up pretty soon so I only have one month of studying before the March SAT. Is this enough?
A tutor may be helpful in identifying and then teaching a math concept you may not have learned in school or have trouble with. Sometimes, it’s hard to correct this kind of (repetitive) mistake because it’s hard to identify - you think you know something but you don’t really. If you already have a math tutor, go over problems you get wrong and ask if they see a common error/pattern in those. (And make sure you understand what you did wrong!) If you did worse on math, you may want to try the ACT. Lots of kids find it to be easier, but you have to work faster.
Agree that focusing on vocabulary should bear fruit.
Vocabulary used to be very important for the SAT and students generally needed to study and memorize thousands of challenging vocabulary words to do well. The new SAT which was rolled out in 2017 no longer tests vocabulary the same way. Studying advanced vocabulary words is no longer necessary and it is now a very low value way of spending limited SAT prep time. I still recommend that my students underline vocabulary words that they encounter on the SAT that they are not familiar with and that they maintain a list of those words and study them, but I do not think it’s very efficient for them to just memorize vocabulary words. Most vocabulary words tested on the SAT now are “multiple meaning words” – fairly common words that have multiple meanings. If a student were to create vocabulary flash cards with one or two definitions on them, they could very likely miss the definition the SAT is testing. So … if you have a limited amount of prep time, I do not recommend spending that time on vocabulary. If you are starting your prep early, I do indeed recommend spending some time on vocabulary. Vocabulary.com is an amazing, high quality, ad-free and no-charge website for studying vocabulary. They have also created 4 specialty vocabulary lists for the new SAT. I recommend that students sign up for a free account (which they can access by smart phone), use it from time to time when they have a few minutes to kill, and also use it to maintain an on-going vocabulary list of new words they’ve encountered.
If you’re motivated, you can self study and improve a ton. Use the following: Khan Academy, College Panda math book, Erika Meltzer grammar. Use the 8 official practice test judiciously and realistically (9 am on a Saturday morning, timed, no extra breaks, etc.). Review your mistakes carefully by watching George from ■■■■■■■ and understand why you got each one wrong. Good luck.
Also - read the articles on PrepScholar about how to improve SAT scores. They have great tips, too.
The maximum score on the SAT is 1600. Out of the 1.7 million students who take the test every year, only about 300 get the highest possible SAT score. That’s less than 0.0002%. If you start to feel anxious, take a few deep breaths and remember that the SAT is testing you on things you already know. I’ve an article on improving SAT score. Surely that will be a great help for you. You can have a look from here: https://www.onlinebooksreview.com/articles/how-to-improve-your-low-sat-mark-scores
It might be possible, but it’s not likely, to be honest.
Get the SAT Black Book and use it in conjunction with the first revised official College Board SAT study guide for the 2016 version of the new SAT. That is the single best study guide for someone doing it on their own. Practice, practice, practice. After you do a test, ask someone else to correct it, then you will make corrections. Then you can check your answers.
Get a new copy of the official SAT study guide so you can retake the tests at some point and will have forgotten some of the material. It also includes a couple of newer tests not found in the first study guide.
Just realized this post is from January, but the info is still relevant to other readers.