***October 2015 SAT (US Only) Thread***

This SAT is going to be just like any other right? Nothing’s changed?

ugh. I think I’m suffering from Educational burnout. I can’t focus on practice tests and I have yet to write a template for the SAT essay. I’m super upset…

@collegebound11x No, not at all. This test will most likely have different questions than previous tests. Almost definitely, the essay prompt may never have been administered before either. Good Luck

hey pokemon1, speaking of essay and writing in general, the correct grammar form is “different questions FROM previous tests”, not “different questions THAN previous tests.”

@pokemon1

The fact that @collegebound11x said “just like any other” implies that he or she knows that each test has different questions. He or she is just confirming that the format of the test will not have changed, come October 3. Maybe I read your post in the wrong way, but it sounded pretty sarcastic… no need to be rude! It was a legitimate question.

thanks! @LucidGman

Oh shoot I wasn’t intending to be mean. Now that I read it over it does sound sarcastic and bitter. My bad

Hi everybody. Like the rest of you, I really want to break the 2300 barrier (ideally 2350). I’ve scored 2330-2350 on my last few practice tests. Just a few questions:

  1. I’ve gone through the direct hits books, hot words, and the essential 500, plus some of spark notes words. I don’t want to throw away points on vocab, so is there any other sources that you guys have found to really help?
  2. I’m not a fast thinker, and I have trouble coming up with 3 examples on the fly for the essay. I’m a solid writer and fill up both pages, so is it realistic to get an 11 score with only 2 examples? On a related topic, if anyone has a list of topics he/she is learning for the essay, I would appreciate him/her posting them.
    Cheers

@pokemon1 no stress buddy. it’s all good!

Yes, 2 examples (2 body paragraphs) for most sat essays and many of them do get 12’s.

My question is: is it okay to use only 1 example (1 body paragraph)?

Okay, so I didn’t realize the SAT wait list was a thing (I’ve been taking the ACT, so I thought by signing up late you just had to pay extra, but were still guaranteed a spot.) Does anyone know how likely it is that I’ll be able to take the test with wait list status? I’m signed up to take it at my high school, which I’m pretty sure never has a huge amount of people taking the test.

@oligrayeug1 – someone at your HS would be the best person to answer the WL question. I would contact your GC to start.

hey everyone, as a tip, i would like to advice: don’t contemplate on this topic too much. Just know that the questions on the real test won’t be same as those in practice tests. But yes, learn from your mistakes and believe that the you’ll do your best.

Down to 6 days before the test. Anybody nervous? Also I am continually testing in the 2040 ish range. Is there anything I can do to bring my score up to 2100 ish. I have a really low writing score which is bogging me down. My best SAT practice test scores are 720 M 680 CR (which should go up lol I did that one in a really loud house with no AC) and 640 W with 10 essay. How can I increase my writing score by like 20 or 30 points anyone!!!

I’m kind of scared because, since school has started, I have basically done no prep in the last 3 weeks or so. Now all of a sudden, one week before the test, I’m reviewing and cramming. What’s really scary is that on the writing section they could put some random idiom or just some random improving paragraph question that I will have no answer for. Same thing for CR. Like I’ve found that some questions (usually 1-2) have answers that I know for sure I would never be able to get right even if I understood everything and made no stupid mistakes. All this combined with the fact that October Sats are usually the hardest is kind of unnerving. I’m still confident I’ll do fine though.

@greeneggsandsam9 Not sure if I’m the best person to give sat advice, but I think the best thing to do with the time you have left is to take some practice writing sections and identify specifically what is causing you problems, and learn the grammar rule so that you never make that mistake again. Have a list of things to check when going through identify sentence errors, like punctuation and redundancy. There are a lot of practice tests online.

@CCswami Are you sure october SATs are harder?? Also, will our scaled scores be affected by that. So nervous, I’m retaking and I need to do well on this SAT.

I’m not absolutely sure if the October test is the hardest. It’s just what I’ve heard from friends and previous graduates.

There is no truth to that rumor. If you want to see historical curves, check out [this great .pdf by Erik the Red](http://www.erikthered.com/tutor/SAT-Released-Test-Curves.pdf).

Hi I am an international students taking the October Sats. I been doing practice test from the blue book, and I score mostly between 2150~2190 (700up writing 650up CR and 800 for math.
My target is to get a 2200 on the real test so naturally I am very worried because I’ve never breached the 2200s in practice before
Would my score on the real test be relatively higher or lower on the real test?
I’ve never taken the test before and I’m in year 12

HarvardLad don’t sweat it, really. Sometimes it’s all about luck. The best advice I have for you right now is:

  1. Do not cram for the test or study for it at all.
  2. Get more than 7 hours of sleep each night.
  3. Be optimistic

These three steps will enable your maximum performance during test day. So, don’t worry, stay optimistic, and go into the test with a 2400 mindset.