Need some suggestions on quickly improving my SAT score.

<p>As suggested,I need some help.I took the SAT on November and got a pretty bad score(1530).I got a 520 on math,530 on reading,and 480 on writing.I think I mainly performed poorly on writing because I didn't do too well on the essay.I think I didn't do so well due to lack of preparation.
I've been reading around these forums for a while now,and I noticed that many of you guys easily earn high scores.Can you guys share some tips?Maybe it's because my school is not so good.</p>

<p>Don’t be discouraged by reading these forums. The posters here tend to skew toward very high scores, and they’re not at all representative of how most students perform. Your scores may seem comparatively low, but they’re right at average when compared to everyone taking the test. </p>

<p>But, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t prepare for taking the test again! Practice really pays off on test day, so put in some time on SAT prep and you should see an improvement in your scores. You can certainly get lots of good ideas from reading these forums, but everyone here will tell you to go get the college board blue book and get to work!</p>

<p>Math:do all of the cb practice tests you can get your hands on.
Writing: use one of the prep books that actually discusses the sentence rules. they usually give you practice within each section. this is a good thing to do BEFORE you use the cb practice tests (which you should do)
Reading: do the practice readings from cb. and study a lot of vocab. make flashcards out of the lists, or use vocabulary podcasts (you can find these online or for free on itunes if you have it)</p>

<p>Well, for reading, if you have time, one thing I found really useful was to go online, find SAT-style articles, and write questions like those you would see on the SAT. It helps you think like the test makers and learn all the tricks that they use.</p>

<p>Vocab.</p>

<p>Writing–on the essay, make an example bank, know pretty much what you introduction is going to be like before you see the prompt. Practice by giving yourself only 20 minutes so the 25 minutes on the real test will seem easy.</p>

<p>Thanks guys,I will try those strategies out.</p>

<p>For the CR reading section, if they give you two blanks for sentence completion, put a positive or negative sign for an indicator of the words needed to fill in. Eliminate the answer choices that do not pertain to the +/- words they are looking for. Do each blank at a time before doing the next one.</p>

<p>If a sentence has one blank, and a meaning to wrap up the sentence after a comma, look for the definitive term in the answer choices.</p>

<p>For the Reading passages (long and short ones), skim the questions first so you can get an idea of what the articles will be about and then speed read the passages since time is condensed. Most of the questions with line references will just have to be read lines before and after the answer in order to answer the question. Remember to do process of elimination!! (Some people said skimming the passages worked for them, but it may not work for others).</p>

<p>For the Math, omit questions you do not know how to do unless you can eliminate some choices for a guess. DO the ones that you only know. Cause if you get the ones you don’t know wrong, it’s a loss of 1/4 points over there already. Hence, 5 omits is still a 700+, which means 10 omits can still get you a 630+.</p>

<p>Writing is very easy, I do not know how you were able to score below average compared to the average score that most people get, which is a 580. I got a 580 on my November one and now I’m looking for a 630-650 this time hopefully. My friend barely got prep and he attained a 600+.</p>

<p>Need to establish a strong vocabulary structure? Try these: </p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Direct Hits Core Vocabulary of the SAT: Volume 1 2010 Edition (9780981818436): Larry Krieger, Ted Griffith: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Hits-Core-Vocabulary-SAT/dp/0981818439]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Hits-Core-Vocabulary-SAT/dp/0981818439)</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Direct Hits Toughest Vocabulary of the SAT: Volume 2 2010 Edition (9780981818443): Larry Krieger, Ted Griffith: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Hits-Toughest-Vocabulary-SAT/dp/0981818447]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Hits-Toughest-Vocabulary-SAT/dp/0981818447)</p>

<p>Volume 1 has simpler words to study.
Volume 2 words are tougher. (Recommended)</p>

<p>“Writing is very easy, I do not know how you were able to score below average compared to the average score that most people get, which is a 580.”
I scored so poorly because I did a horrible job on the essay.I never knew 25 minutes could go by so quickly!</p>