Back in March, I took a practice SAT to see where I fell and what kind of score I could get. I wound up with a 1270 (620 Reading, 650 Math). Now that the summer has begun, I’ve started to study for the SAT, albeit, with a little less rigor than I hoped.
I will be taking the official exam in December and I really hope to get 1500+ (1550+ ideally). With the time between now and December, do you think that landing a 1500 or higher would be feasible?
Also, how much studying would be recommended if it is possible to improve that drastically?
So far, I’ve just been chipping away at Khan Academy and have been using Princeton Guide’s SAT book amounting to around a couple hours per day so far, but I still feel like that’s not enough.
How about taking a practice test and grade it? It’ll give you a better idea of the answer to your question than our blindly guessing.
I have already taken one and scored a 1270
230-280 point improvement seems like an aggressive goal, but we have no idea how prepared you were on the practice test. Had you never seen an SAT test before and spent a lot of time trying to figure out how the test worked, what the questions meant, etc? Or had you already prepped and were very familiar with the format?
For what it’s worth, College Board reports on changes on actual SAT tests for repeats:
“The average score improvement for all students retaking the SAT was 40 points. About 4 percent of retakes resulted in critical reading or mathematics score increases of 100 points or more. Score drops on subsequent test attempts occurred for 35 percent of students, while 10 percent experienced no change in their scores.”
But that’s for students who presumably prepped for the first test.
While I think a 200 point improvement is achievable, the amount of prep time needed is going to vary by person and by how efficiently that time is used. Will you have enough quality time to devote to test prep once school begins and homework and ECs kick in again? Probably not, so it is a good idea to make use of your spare time in the summer.
I would take another practice test. Your updated scores will tell you whether your study methods since March have been effective (if not, consider a new method of preparing such as taking a prep class or hiring a tutor). Pay attention to what you get wrong and what kind of problems need skills-polishing.