<p>Let me introduce myself briefly. I'm 17-year-old boy from Mongolia who's been learning English for the last 4 years.
Recently, I took SAT diagnostic test and got 1800. On math, I took 800 and the rest sucked, cuz I faced lots of vocabulary problems there. It was much harder than TOEFL.
So guys, what do you think? Is it a good start for a foreigner? I'm planning to take SAT next year, in June. Do I have a chance of getting 800?</p>
<p>Ha, you are better the majority of native english speakers.</p>
<p>The writing would probably be easier for you to master, because most of it is just memorization of grammar rules.</p>
<p>The Vocab on the Critical reading section is killer, but you can usually make up for it by good comprehension. Just take some practice tests and review the questions you miss.</p>
<p>I presume you're on a smooth track..</p>
<p>Let me just say that you speak VERY good english, even better than most people here.</p>
<p>Read some English-language magazines and newspapers to improve your vocab, if you're not already doing so. Also read some short stories so you can get used to the format of English-language literature, which will help you on the comprehension questions.</p>
<p>Don't worry. If you've only been studying English for 4 years, there is no way you'd be held to the same standard on the SAT-CR and SAT-W sections. Colleges will expect (require) you to take the TOEFL, and you should be fine. You are already getting scores that show you know enough English to manage college-level work without any problems.</p>
<p>Hey, guys? My plan has changed today. Now I have to take both TOEFL IBT and SATI in October and if I don't score well enough, re-take again in November.
Luckily, now I don't have to take SATII.
But, just a few months left till the EXAM. I've just seen SAT percentile rank and it says that only raw score of 99 gets 800, which seems really hard for me.
What should I do? Please gimme some tips!!!</p>
<p>I'm also like you : PSAT 183 with perfect math (foreign student too).
Since then, I have progressed dramatically in English by setting up an ENORMOUS vocab list through reading magazines like the New Yorker, National Geographic, Times...(learn them after having learnt the vocab in traditional testprep books)
Buy a test prep book (I have borrowed 6 of them from the library)
If you like science, I would advise reading Nature, Natural history...
Also learn to skim examples and concentrate on the topic sentences, thesis... Paraphrase each paragraph with a terse statement in you head.
Your math part is fine, but be CAREFUL not to make careless mistakes (that could make a difference between 730 points and 800 points in math)
For the Essay, practice a lot with them: that way, you will INTERNALIZE the method of essay writing, and you will end up organizing well without even thinking about it (so far, I have written 20 SAT essays)
For a foreign student, I think that improving your vocabulary is the key, and learning how to read fastly and PURPOSEFULLY (know when to skim, when to concentrate, what to remember) is also crucial (again this comes with a LOT of practice)
You could of course learn all those strategies in a testprep book.</p>
<p>Final advice: Practice, practice, practice and practice some more...</p>
<p>Just so you know, you can't retake an October test in November because it takes about 3 weeks to get test results back, and you must register for the test 4 weeks before. That means you have to register around the same time as the October test.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your replies, guys. Here in Mongolia, SAT isn't that popular, cuz not many people take this test. Even SATII isn't taken here. If we want to take SATII, we'll have to go to China or somewhere else.
Also prep books aren't sold in bookstores and library doesn't have that kind of books.
Come to think of it, the ones they have are 2001 versions, which are for the old SAT.
So I need to find a pdf version of previous tests or sth. But I've got enough TOEFL IBT books and cd's, cuz I can find load of them on them easily, but no SAT-related materials.</p>
<p>Almost forgot. I have to score 2100+ in SATI and 100+ in IBT to get a scholarship.</p>
<p>We speak english well enough on this board, we just choose to abbreviate it to get msgs out faster.</p>
<p>wat u mean??</p>
<p>buy the College Board Online course! it's very useful!</p>
<p>
[quote]
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<p>please stop with the blatant advertising. </p>
<p>the best way to increase your verbal score is to read various types of literatures whether it be magazines or novels. And while reading, look up words that you don't know the meaning of.</p>
<p>Wow, to learn english in four years is a great feat. I think with the right preparation you could immensly improve your score within the year!</p>
<p>Plus, what a math score! Awesome job!</p>
<p>Two-and-a-half year old thread. Looks like the OP is at Cornell.</p>
<p>Yeah, mean bump by latutors on this one but it is nice to see the OP succeeding at Cornell after expressing concern over his SAT scores.</p>
<p>Wow pretty interesting to see a 2 year old thread, and an accomplished OP. Makes my heart swell with boundless joy and warm chicken noodle soup.</p>
<p>It really depends on where you want to go to school…</p>
<p>whoops didn’t realize this was old. looks like a cornell acceptance!</p>