May SAT Cram Time

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Aight, this is it. I gotta cram for the May SAT right now! </p>

<p>I have steadily been prepping for the last month, but my gains have been minimal. </p>

<p>I get about 2 wrong in M usually, sometimes 3...which really kills my score since it's = -4. </p>

<p>My M score is, on average, ~760.
My W MC is about -4,-5. (after deductions).
My CR is about -9 (after deductions).</p>

<p>So, my average scores are:
M=760
W=700
CR=680-700</p>

<p>Writing:
So, I NEED to get to -1 or -2 for W. How can I do this in a week or so? On the last princeton review practice test I wrote, I got 3 wrong in W = -4...which kills my score. Just a -2 puts you in great shape if you do well on the essay. So, I want to get to -1,-2 or even perfect on MC.</p>

<p>Math:
I make the 1-2 errors, but I think if I focus and buckle down, I have a shot at 800.
But if you have any tips on just nailing this section, I'll gladly listen.</p>

<p>CR:
Yea, I get -9 usually (3 wrong on SC or so...then like 4 wrong on passages = -9.). The deductions kill me. I will finish DH 1, DH2, and PR Hit Parade before the SAT, so I expect perfect or -1 in SC. So, passages.
Only the toughest passage q's get me. Like, I'll try to reason out answers and look for the wrong answer instead of the right one to get to the correct answer in the end...but i still make the mistakes. If I can get to 1 error per CR section (passages), then I'd be in awesome shape.</p>

<p>So, yea. How much can cramming help, and what can I do in 1 week to get a 60 pt. increase in CR, get that 800 M and cut down 3 errors in W? I need some serious advice, this is my first time taking the SAT too. I am so late in the process, so I want to just get a great score the first time around (haven't taken SAT II's or anything either), and I want to maybe write 2 times to get superscored to a high score.</p>

<p>Help me out guys. Any advice is appreciated!</p>

2

<p>At this point I don’t think there’s much you can do. You will end up retaking it again anyway (unless you miraculously score 2400), so you shouldn’t stress too much. Taking the test itself is good practice. Taking that into account, what I recommend is to continue studying soon after you take the test. You will likely eventually reach your goal by the summer.</p>

3

<ol>
<li><p>This is not AP’s or SAT II’s, in which actually cramming works. If you think you’re somehow going to marvelously get SAT Enlightenment, you might be disappointed.</p></li>
<li><p>I know how you feel in the Math. I was exactly like that (I used to miss 1 or 2 in practices, felt like on the real deal, with meticulousness, I could get that 800…didn’t work out (three times)). Instead, practice more and more at home. If you get the 800 consistently at home, there’s a better chance at getting it at the real deal.</p></li>
<li><p>For CR, no-one has the tips to get an 800. You have to learn how to tackle the questions by yourself (practice gives you the necessary tools).</p></li>
<li><p>I know I’m being pessimistic, and I’m sorry for that.</p></li>
<li><p>For W, review the rules in the PR Lesson Book (the one you took notes in) the day before the test. Do practice questions for about an hour the day before the test. I never got an 800 in practice, but got it in the real deal because of that last minute prep.</p></li>
<li><p>For the Essay, I would think about personal anecdotes. Whenever I didn’t use one, I got raped on the essay part. When I did use them, I got 11’s. Of course, if you are fine on the essay, don’t bother with this point.</p></li>
<li><p>You’re not that late in the process. It’s called the October 2010 SATs. You have 3 months to prepare for it, if your May 2010 doesn’t work out (I hope it does).</p></li>
</ol>

4

<p>ok, wait. I heard anecdotes are bad to use though. I use 2 examples per essay. Both are historic/contemporary issue examples. my PR prep teacher said that anecdotes are bad, but idk…</p>

<p>I currently write 9-10ish score essays</p>

<p>So, you guys mean that I couldn’t improve a 700 CR, 700 W and 750 M, to 730, 770, and 770 respectively in a week?</p>

5

<p>I think anecdotes are good. They have sentimental appeal for the graders, who are subjective. Also, they are easily forged and can show good skill in writing, in areas such as retelling events, description, characterization, expression, etc. </p>

<p>Keep practicing. Don’t give up. It pays off!</p>

6

<p>Essay doesn’t judge you on how well your content is or whether it’s factual, it’s solely based on the purpose of your ability to write and organize, which I think makes it easier.</p>

7

<p>the CR will not increase. the writing probably wont. math is a toss up.</p>

8

<p>Writing can definitely go up. Especially if you review grammar rules for the next two weeks. Taking practice tests will allow you to see the grammar errors easily. </p>

<p>For math, if you’re scoring in the 760 range, it’s gonna be up to chance if you get an 800. </p>

<p>For cr, it probably won’t go up dramatically.</p>

9

<p>what can I do to get my score in W to like 800? I keep making the 3-4 errors and its so annoying. Would you guys just recommend as many practice tests as possible before the real thing guys?</p>

10

<p>uhh, for writing i remember 2 days before the test i went through all the bb/qas hard questions (last couple of identifying sent errors and the sentence improvement but not paragraph ones since those were easy) since i usually messed up on hard ones. on the most recent practice tests i was getting like 2 - 3 wrong and i managed only 2 wrong on test day (w/ 11 essay for 780).</p>

<p>with extra time at the end go over no error sentences. on march sat the one i remmeber getting wrong was a no error one that actually had an error. </p>

<p>also, expect to get what you usually get on your most recent practice tests on the test day. it prolly won’t be much different.</p>

11

<p>ok, just wrote another QAS test.</p>

<p>I got:
690 CR
720 M (2 wrong, 2 Omit in grid in!..ran out of time)
W - scaled 72…so from 700-750 or so.
TOTAL: 2110-2160.</p>

<p>This is terrible! Do I have any hope for getting to low 2200s in a week? Math was quite awful, I usually get 750-760 (couple errors). CR, i got perfect on the sentence completion!..but the passage part…I made 8 errors and had 1 omit…terrible (-11 overall).</p>

<p>So pretty much, I need some last minute help to tune up to get low 2200s. i think i have a good shot of getting 700 CR, 750 M, 750 W on a good day, but I need to try to get really close to 800 W and 800 M.</p>

<p>Actually, on this test, I made 2 errors in the paragraph correction portion…I am terrible on that part. I made 1 error on a sentence error ID q., and 1 on a sentence completion. So, any help with the passage correction is appreciated. I usually don’t have much time (5 min.) when i get to passage correction and i struggle on the tough q’s in that section because of lack of time to analyze the passage.</p>

<p>SO, what are some tips and pointers to improve there. I woulda had a 79 scaled score if I had -2 (it was a tough W section). SO, I was so close to high 700s, until i messed up on the paragraph correction part.</p>

<p>Also, for M, i am suddenly runnig out of time. it used to be the opposite. i used to have too much time left over. now, i go slowly and make sure of no silly errors, but in the mean time, i run out of time for the tougher q;s. what are some tips and pointers here.</p>

<p>I know CR, mmy goal is 700…no way to improve to super high in a week for that section. But, M and W, there is a little sliver of hope to get to high 700s in each. So, i want to capitalize on that.</p>

12

<p>I don’t know about you, but I usually do better on the test day for math. At home I mess up a lot (-4) but on the test day I got -2. Keeeeep practicing dude… best of luck in may you’ve been working hard…</p>

13

<p>i do much worse during our princeton review diagnostic tests…and not because of the test difficulty, but because on my mindset, anxiety, timing issue, and more.</p>

<p>How can I overcome this, and has anyone else faced such problems. I can score mid 2100s at home, but at my class, I barely break 2000! </p>

<p>It’s a mental thing that I NEED to overcome. Is there anything I can do to put myself into a calm, collected, yet very, very focused mindset at the diagnostic/real test? </p>

<p>At home, I am fairly confident of getting at least 680 CR, 720 W, and 740 M…so mid-2100s. I will practice very hard to try to boost my M and W on ‘game day’ to try to get to 2200. But, I need to not let the stress and anxiety of test day get to me. I suck, literally blow it, on our diagnostic tests. I run out of time, tap my foot like crazy, and feel rattled. </p>

<p>On school tests I am never like this. I am instead calm and collected and ace them. However, the SAT tests throw me off. ANY, absolutely ANYTHING that you can do/say to help me out is great! This is such a mental/something indescribable burden to overcome…it makes a difference of 150pts. on my score!</p>

14

<p>For CR, I would recommend going through the two Direct Hits vocabulary books. They don’t have as many words as some of the longer lists but I would say they really hit the mark and usually suffice. I did this and went over both books again the day before the test and scored an 800 CR.</p>

15

<p>ok thanks^. I have both books. I need to finish 50 more in the first one, then the full 200 in the second one. I will also try to finish as much of PR Hit Parade.</p>

<p>Can anyone read post #13 and help me stop this problem? There is some mental issue or something I can;t describe that makes me do so much worse during the proctored thing that when I’m at home. At home I try to emulate as realistic of conditions as possible too. It’s just that something goes wrong.</p>

<p>Can someone help me out please? And what kind of last minute advice for W and M do you have? I wanna try to get -1 to 0 in M and -2 in W. And what are some tips to ensure at least a 10 essay? (what are some examples that i could use in essays that can be applied to a wide range of prompts?). Thank you.</p>

<p>EDIT: should i practice writing tests in a library or somehting? what would be ideal? the testing environment rattles me and i get 150pts. worse on average. (score 2000 vs. mid 2100s at home). And what can I do to NAIL Math section and get 800? I’m at 720-750 right now. sometimes time messes me up. sometimes silly error. I rarely find a truly perplexing problem.</p>