<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>Did you take the SAT this October? If yes, please help us November test takers out with any tips or suggestions you have! Especially if you took it for the first time, do you have any recommendations or things we should do to practice? If you have received your score, was it what you expected or higher/lower?</p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
<p>Bring adequate snack foods! I recommend finger sandwiches. </p>
<p>Also a juice of some sort. Expected 20-30 higher on CR and W but 20-30 lower on M so it balanced out. </p>
<p>Practice practice practice! My daughter increased her math score by 70 points this time due to a lot of practice. Her CR score stayed the same. I’d recommend you study a lot of vocab (more than you think you need to!) and take some practice tests to increase CR score. I have heard it is the most difficult score to improve and it played out that way for her. Good luck!</p>
<p>Be confident. Don’t freak out. Don’t leave any questions blank, guess if needed to. Go with first instinct. Focus only on the test, don’t get distracted. Reread questions. The breaks are short. Whatever food you have must be consumed quickly. Go outside for the breaks. It really helps. Good luck!</p>
<p>Make sure that on test day you eat well, slept well, and are just feeling ok. Don’t drink too much (sounds stupid, but I spent the last 3 sections of my SAT wanting to take a pee, but held out cause I wanted more time to check my answers). If you’re practicing at home, time yourself. I made the mistake of just doing sets without paying attention to the amount of time I was taking. The sheer panic you feel when you realize that you’ve spent too much time on a question is awful. </p>
<p>Have fun. Critical reading for me this time around wasn’t half bad. I was able to read the passages properly because I wasn’t bored and tried to have a good attitude. </p>
<p>Don’t study vocab. Total waste of time. Memorizing trivial vocab words might help you on one single question one question does not a test score make.
When you finish the sections don’t close the book and rest, check your answers. They give you the time on each section that they do so that you can answer each question to the best of your ability, not look at each once and move on.
Don’t panic!!! I always do better on tests when I am relaxed. Being on edge usually results in wrong answers because of self-doubt.
I took it for the first (and last) time in October and got a really good score.
GOOD LUCK!</p>
<p>Use the blue book</p>
<p>study vocab man like seriously people underestimate it, practice math like crazy it should become inherent, know all types of grammar questions like the back of your hand, and don’t stress</p>
<ul>
<li>Take advantage of the breaks you get. </li>
<li>Don’t sit in your seat during all the breaks - go outside, breathe in some fresh air, and get your blood flowing. </li>
<li>Don’t drink a lot of water before the test. </li>
<li>Spend around half an hour reviewing the day/night before the test, but don’t spend any more time than that.</li>
<li>Check your answers. If you’re done doing so, and you have more time, check them again. </li>
<li>Eat a filling breakfast and take hearty, easy-to-eat snacks with you. </li>
<li>Take a few deep breaths before each section and don’t forget to relax. </li>
</ul>
<p>-I studied 4000 vocab words. Yes, you need to study ALL of them. You never know what’s gonna show up.</p>
<p>-You really need to concentrate for math and not freak out. Time runs out a lot quicker in the test room - focusing is going to help your score be that much higher.</p>
<p>-The most important thing for essays is to have a clear thesis and topic sentences. You need at least 4-5 “big” words to sprinkle here and there (remember to know how to use them properly though). Also, just make up examples. You don’t need to memorize literary works or anything 
</p>
<p>-Spend no more than 15-30 minutes prepping the day before. Just relax, seriously. Watch some shows, take a lot of naps, stuff yourself with dorito chips! </p>