<p>hey, what people dont seem to understand is that colleges WANT good scores... lol... Its not like we WANT to study for the SAT... its just something we have to do... and kudos to the people who dont have to study to get a good score.. but all of us are not like that... Yes, extra curriculars and all that stuff do matter, but what matters more is managing your time to do everything involved in college admissions... </p>
<p>btw, i dont know, but grammatix's critical reading strategies really helped me a lot... you just gotta really dig into it... I also bought the barrons 2400 book today and was skimming through it... the writing portion of it looks really good... I came to the conclusion that the SAT is a repetitive game and that once you understand that its the same stuff over and over again, you can truly conquer it... and the grammatix book really puts that into perspective nicely</p>
<p>Who's to say that I deserve to get into a college more than someone else? I think it's really mean to other people who don't have the same opportunities as me to study and kick them out.</p>
<p>Why not get a job? Why not do something to help the world? Studying is greedy.</p>
<p>To the top colleges, a hundred points of SAT more is a lot more valuable than a mediocre EC. Unless you are like the national tennis champion or are on the international chemistry olympiad team, ECs dont matter much.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Who's to say that I deserve to get into a college more than someone else? I think it's really mean to other people who don't have the same opportunities as me to study and kick them out.</p>
<p>Why not get a job? Why not do something to help the world? Studying is greedy.
[/quote]
Greed is the essence of being a human being. Especially in a capitalistic nation like America. If you go out in the real world with that attitude, you will be exploited and work a 9-5 with no bonuses and promotions until you die.</p>
<p>I applaud your work ethic, but I agree with some other posters that a full 6 sections per day is a bit much. You will find yourself running out of practice tests to work soon at this rate. Try doing 2 or 3 sections per day instead, but do the following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>For the first section, do NOT time yourself (or give yourself at most 40 minutes per section). Your goal is to go slowly and answer every question correctly. Take as much time as you need to be absolutely sure that you get a perfect or nearly perfect score.</p></li>
<li><p>Analyze this section fully afterwards, whether you had a perfect score or not. Review even questions you answered correctly if you had any doubts on those or did not understand those fully. Consult the explanations that come with the questions (you should have these if you have the right test or book). Look up and learn any vocab words you did not know, whether or not they are on questions you answered correctly.</p></li>
<li><p>Do another section, this time with the regular time limit. Note your score, and review as above.</p></li>
<li><p>Do a third section, again timed. See if your score improves. Again, review the section fully afterwards.</p></li>
<li><p>Learn about 40-50 new vocab words from a good word list (I would recommend starting with the word list in RocketReview).</p></li>
<li><p>Allow yourself at least 30-45 minutes per day to read more challenging periodicals such as New York Times, Scientific American, Economist, New Yorker, etc.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>do you guys think that its frowned upon by colleges if one were to take the sat ii subject exam[s] while already enrolled at a 4 year (im planning to transfer)?</p>
<p>i haven't taken science my senior year of high school, and the only subject tests i've taken have been math 1 (700) and math 2 (740). i have been self-studying for physics and i was wondering if i could still take it during my first semester of college as a freshman (as i still won't be taking a science course my first year). i am planning to get around a 700 for physics. do you think its worth it?</p>
<p>most of the selective colleges require at least 2 sat iis and mine have been both math. some of the most selective universities on my prospective college transfer list include columbia u.-columbia college, cornell, and nyu-stern.</p>
<p>6 sections and a full practice test are WAYY too much. It makes it so you aren't doing anything else.</p>
<p>I'm taking a practice test a week (in one sitting). I spend the rest of the week going over my test and doing additional problems similar to ones that i missed. My score has improved from ~2050 to 2300.</p>
<p>As long as you score 2300+ (less for URMS), colleges won't care too much about your score. Look at the ivy league boards' Decisions threads. You will find that the SATs have very little to do with acceptance.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I applaud your work ethic, but I agree with some other posters that a full 6 sections per day is a bit much. You will find yourself running out of practice tests to work soon at this rate. Try doing 2 or 3 sections per day instead, but do the following:
[/quote]
Its pretty much impossible to run out of tests. If you go to B&N, you will see at least a dozen different prep books with a total of over 70 practice tests. Unless you plan to do one test a day for two and a half months straight, you will not run out</p>
<p>
[quote]
6 sections and a full practice test are WAYY too much. It makes it so you aren't doing anything else.</p>
<p>I'm taking a practice test a week (in one sitting). I spend the rest of the week going over my test and doing additional problems similar to ones that i missed. My score has improved from ~2050 to 2300.</p>
<p>As long as you score 2300+ (less for URMS), colleges won't care too much about your score. Look at the ivy league boards' Decisions threads. You will find that the SATs have very little to do with acceptance.
[/quote]
a practice test takes less than 4 hours and review takes less than 1 hour. Since I sleep about 8 hours a night, that still leaves me with 11 hours of free time, more than enough 4 me. Also, just by getting 2300 on practice doesnt mean you will get 2300 on the real thing, For example, for sat physics, I took ap physics C and got a 5, and I got 790-800 on the practice tests, but I only got 710 on the real thing. Finally, how can you say SATs aren't important with acceptance? If not Sats, then what really counts?</p>
<p>well i wouldnt trust the OTHER tests...you get 8 from the Official SAT book.... 6 from the college board online course and tons of practice drills on that same online course... I feel that thats more than enough to practice</p>
<p>
[quote]
Who's to say that I deserve to get into a college more than someone else? I think it's really mean to other people who don't have the same opportunities as me to study and kick them out.</p>
<p>Why not get a job? Why not do something to help the world? Studying is greedy.
<p>Scores and grades get you into schools. Period. SAT scores are an imperative part of the college app. For those applying to top schools, good SAT scores are a GIVEN. You gotta have it. If you don't, sorry to tell you, but you prolly won't get in unless you're a URM or legacy with amazing EC's and grades. Otherwise, for the rest of us who are fighting to get into top schools, we need to study for the SATs as much as possible to get as high a score as possible. Those people who have 2400s and 4.0s, congratulations, you'll porbably get into a good school. You realize that the only part of your app that could possibly be weak is your EC's and/or essays. But stop trying to deter those who don't have such scores from studying for the SAT and to focus on EC's. Stop trying to tell us we don't have a life. We would love to party if we could and we were guaranteed admission to wherever we wanted. This is merely one phase of life. We are students. We study. Later in life, we may be spending even more time per day studying for other tests, such as the GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, or GRE. And after that, we will be spending more time per day working our jobs. Sure, there's always time to get cruunk and party hard, but doesn't it feel better to party hard AFTER you know you've worked hard to earn the right to party? We work hard now, enjoy life later. This world is not in need of "well-rounded" individuals. Sooner or later, everybody has to specialize in something. College is the place to find out what that specialty is for most people. The richest people in the world don't get rich for being "well-rounded". Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods aren't famous for being caring, loving, gentlemen who also happen to be good musicians and had 4.0s at UNC and Stanford. Basketball and golf are what they are known for, what they are good at. It is their primary, most significant contributions to this world. The only way they got good was incessant practice and unrelenting determination. They don't roll in the $$$ for doing community service. Sure, it's a great thing to be a giving person, but an unquestionable motive for doing community service among most college-bound students is to simply get a bigger number on the "community service hours" than their competition. So stop worrying that studying will negatively affect you as a person. It will only make you more knowledgable and smarter. Thus, making you more competitive in a world that depends solely on competition in order to progress.</p>
<p>Nicely summed up, Dat Dude.
I think it's ridiculous to portray studying as a selfish greedy thing to do. Knowing these things, I don't provide risky assistance for others without first securing my position.
I don't believe a right-minded person would see a dangling opportunity and not take it before others do, especially if that opportunity is one like this and could bring so many great things.</p>
<p>I would only consider it studying "too much" if it detracted from other portions of your college application (ECs, grades, etc.). If it takes away from your social life, who am I to judge you? I have no right to act superior and tell you to get a life, and you have no right to tell me that I'm lazy for having a social life. Nuff said! Let's not judge each other.</p>
<p>I did not read this whole thread and have no intention to do so. But after reading the last 5 or so posts, I have realized that the general tone here is negative for some reason. Although the original quesiton, which I suppose was referring to overstudying for the SAT, was neutral some people have found a way to blow it out of proportions. Do what mallomar said at the end of his post (which i have copied and pasted in my post). Also keep in mind that some of the people here who might say they have 2400/4.0 might be lying. Just be aware of that and don't get your hopes up. The people who work the hardest win in the end. Keep studying and good luck.</p>