Ok my sat is in a couple of days, and I’ve been grinding out tests after tests. I finished two sat books barons and princeton review. Both of which I got around 1150-1220. However this morning I took the khan academy practice test and I was pleasantly surprised that I got a 1260. What score should I believe and is 1260 a good score.??
I think your increased score is simply a by product of increased practice.
Barrons tests tend to be less realistic because the level of difficulty is higher than real tests. A 1260 is closer to how you’ll do on the actual test. Good luck.
Don’t do Khan academy. The questions are far too easy and different even though it says “officially partnered with college board” and won’t help you on the real SAT that’s much harder
You got a 70 point swing on Barrons. You were only 40 points from there with Khan Academy.
I’m not a Khan Academy fan. But I think you just had a good day today. Kind of like those days when you step on the scale and are happily surprised.
No one can say for sure how you will do on actual test day, but your practice tests give you an idea of the range you will score in. Good for you for putting in so much effort. Just relax on test day knowing you have studied hard. Get a good nights sleep, eat a good breakfast and good luck!
Thanks to all of you guys who answered it really helps a lot
The later practice tests on Khan Academy are actually real released tests that were given to real test takers so “Khan Academy is easier than the SAT” is B.S… Individual tests are curved to match the difficulty and can be easier or harder than the average. Barrons is generally harder but you probably improved somewhat too. Good luck!
Do both.
Research has shown that 20 hrs on Khan Academy SAT Prep increases your score. https://www.collegeboard.org/releases/2017/average-score-gains-on-redesigned-sat
like @panamera said, Khan academy tests are just way too easy, but if you took the august 26 sat, you were in luck, because writing and math sections were stupendously easy, which is why most people today should’ve been impeccable in those sections. This might actually be bad news, because since the test was easy, the curve will be lower since many people did well. To find out what score you might get, I recommend taking previous college board tests, not Khan academy (too easy) or Barron’s (too hard). Although Khan academy is working with college board now, I believe that the tests college board makes for Khan academy are actually for beginners that have just started on the sat. I hope this helps!
@Sejoonjpppp The khan tests ARE the college board tests.
I only used Khan Academy and got 1560…
Their practice isn’t “too easy” compared to the real thing, I thought it was pretty accurate.
Those practice tests are also very valuable for practice. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a prep program or use textbooks such as Barron’s which don’t even have accurate practice tests.
I believe that there is an anti Khan movement out there that will do anything they can to undermine Khan utilization for test prep. Think about all of the parties that stand to lose to Khan: Barrons, Princeton, Kaplan and the many many other tutors and services out there and there are 1000s! I am not saying that Khan is the best because I have no way of knowing that. However, my kid has had private prep sessions (mainly reading comp and writing due to deficiencies there) and has used (with and without those private test companies) Kaplan, Princeton and Barrons as well as an online system that is far far less sophisticated version of Khan. (Mainly sections with immediate scoring but no teaching, examples, review or increased difficulty unless chosen by the student). He thought Khans problems were typical test questions that seemed comparable to those everywhere else. Why is this even relevent?–Because at the top of the score bands the increased difficulty is part of the practice strategy and really what is at issue. My high scoring kid did Khan for about 3 weeks after doing another practice service first. BUT what was/is different is the real time scoring and ability to immediately review with examples both easier and harder. The other really revolutionary part of Khan is the essay instruction–for someone who is not a very good writer, my kid thought it made a huge difference in helping him organize his thoughts and a template. I think that the only weakness to Khan is for a student who truly needs one-on-one instruction on some specific content areas but that is the deficit of all internet instruction. Khan Academy test prep is a truly revolutionary service in that it is free. If it turns out, over time to show weakness or inferiority then something will change. Beware of the Khan naysayers on here who say that it is too easy etc. Many of them have only a few comments (they are new to the site) and there is really no basis for their comments. I believe that Khan appeals to motivated students who dont need hand holding. My kid is a very good test taker and he thought that the stuff on Khan was progressively harder. The only suggestion I would give to Khan (LOL) is that after the student maxes out the skill levels offer a super skill suite of examples. You can keep practicing over and over on the hardest questions but it is less organized and you dont know if it is migrating into the algorithm tracking your performance on various skills. This may be by design as they are targeting the typical students and not worried about kids who are close to 1600. I am just a parent who has seen my kid take many standardized tests over the years ERB, ISEE, SSAT, PSAT and now SAT/ACT. The score will be interesting…
Thanks Again guys this stuff really helps 
I think it depends on how you learn. If you learn well via a computer, then go ahead and do online prep. However, if you need a hands-on type of study guide, and you need to write stuff down to learn, then I would use a physical prep book.
Barron’s and Princeton Review have reps for being tougher than the actual test. Khan uses real SAT questions because they have a contract with the College Board. Keep practicing the Khan questions to keep your timing right. Get a good night sleep before the test, have a hearty breakfast. You will score over 1300.
yeah thanks you were right I scored 1340
Congrats, so was Khan the most accurate then or did you do a later practice test with barrons/princeton review that had you over 1300?
Although I did use 1 Princeton Review book, I mostly used Khan and got a 1600. There’s also the small fact to consider that Khan is free…