Path to the 2300+

<p>my third SAT (March 2010) again reveled not so great scores (M720CR580W580) i know i missed 3 on the math i think that was test nervousness after a reading section.</p>

<p>For some reason i can never improve my reading or writing scores im not a stupid kid and i comprehend the questions but i somehow dont arrive at the answer correctly in reality. but when im sitting there taking the test i feel like im wrecking it completely. i thought i destroyed the essay and ended up with an 8 and i think the writing was semi predictable i was hoping for at least a 600 though and reading i dont even know.</p>

<p>in short, what can i do to better those reading and writing scores to minimum of 650 each before the june SAT. any secrets to all you guys 2300+ scores? whats the best review book? ive gone through the BB maybe 3 times now doing every test. any help is much appreciated.</p>

<p>Obviously I don’t know the situation, but it seems to me like you have been trying to raise your scores through practicing (im inferring this because you said you “cannot improve them”). Additionally, if you comprehend the questions and don’t arrive at the correct answer it probably means that you aren’t comprehending the questions as well as you believe you are. I think you should strive for a slightly lower goal at first (perhaps trying to get every score to 700) instead of just rushing to 2300, especially since you’ve already taken the SATs for the 3rd time.</p>

<p>Also, doing the same test three times is not only a waste of time, but it could actually be detrimental because you may fall into habits because you know the answer beforehand.</p>

<p>If you thought you crushed the essay and ended up with an 8 of 12, it would appear that you don’t necessarily articulate what you are trying to say as well as it is in your head. Now I didn’t do amazing on the essay (10), but I left it thinking I got about a 10.</p>

<p>i understand what your saying and i totally agree i mean my ultimate goal would be 2300+ obviously but in reality i want about a 2100 (like you said avg 700 each section) </p>

<p>i guess i just have to do more practices for further understanding…</p>

<p>I think the issue isn’t more practice, because if you’ve really done the blue book 3 times then that would be a HUGE number of hours spent studying. I think that you may want to reassess your studying style. Perhaps instead of focusing on just taking the tests, get some help from an english teacher (or someone you know who is very good at the reading and writing in particular) and ask him or her to teach you new techniques for actively reading, or focusing on specific key parts of questions.</p>

<p>hmm my strategy has always been read whole passage then do questions. ive recently come across the strategy of reading each paragraph then doing the questions corresponding to that paragraph what do you think?</p>

<p>I think that is a terrible idea - but I would never say that it cannot work. My personal method is to just glance at the questions, most importantly to see if there are any “tone” or “main idea” questions at the end, and then just read the passage actively</p>