<p>It seems like everyone on this sight is incredilby hard working and gifted and have amazing SAT scores. I on the other did absolutely awful on my PSAT this year. I'm a junior.
My scores were </p>
<p>CR: 59
M:45
W:56 </p>
<p>I honestly started crying when I saw this. I was not expecting to do so badly at all. When my parents saw this they immediately signed me up for SAT prep classes so I'm hoping those work well but I want to study on my own and do all I can to bring up my score. Please suggest strategies that worked for you! I usually do well on standardized testing and I was blown away by my terrible scores. None of the colleges I am looking at will even consider me with these types of scores. Please help me save myself from getting rejected from all of the schools I apply to! </p>
<p>p.s. I hope that none of you get the impression that I'm a slacker or stupid because of my score. I have a respectable GPA and work really hard in school. Maybe I was just having a bad day? </p>
<p>You very well may have been having a bad day. In addition, because the PSAT is relatively short (compared to the SAT), it is not a great predictor of future scores. I’ve had students do much, much better on their first SATs following the PSAT, before even working through one of my programs.</p>
<p>As far as your SAT prep course, just remember this: Despite what prep companies may tell you, nothing happens automatically. Plan to work hard. Don’t just *finish *your HW. Really *understand *it. Think about why you’re learning or using a given technique, how this technique will help you on the SAT, and how you will be able to *remember *to use it when you take the test. I think it’s easy to be passive, especially if you’re taking a class (instead of 1-on-1), but you need to be proactive if you want to significantly raise your score. My best students are always the ones who take it to this next level–beyond simply completing the HW.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Erik Klass is the author of The Ultimate SAT Tutorial</p>
<p>Go to Wal-Mart and you can buy an electronic dictionary for $10. Carry this around with you everywhere and just look every new word you don’t know up in it. </p>
<p>Personally, I know where you are coming from with that last name because of the expectations. :)</p>
<p>Math: Should be easy once you get the hang of the style of the questions. It’s the style, not the comprehension, of the problem that makes the problems hard. </p>
<p>W: Get the book called Princeton Review, Cracking the Writing (or something like that)</p>
<p>CR: Might be the toughest to improve but remember this because it is the single most important factor in making choices in that section: Every answer is in the passage, whether it is implicitly or explicitly stated. Remember that.</p>
<p>Those scores really aren’t that bad… I saw somebody in an Honors Chemistry class with lower scores (well slightly higher in Math but lower in Reading and a 39 in Writing…)
and its just the PSAT which doesn’t count for anything… Just look at your score report and see what you need to improve on.
If you’re on a regular math track (taking Algebra II as a Junior) that might explain the slightly low Math score… reading is just learning vocab and recognizing etymoligcal patterns, writing is just learning grammar; yet none of these things seem to be taught effectively in high schools…</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call it a fluke. It’s probably real, and yes it’s shocking. I come from a similar background, so I’d understand. You’re probably considered pretty smart and hard working by others, and so you expect an at least “decent” score. </p>
<p>but the truth is, is that the SAT only measures your natural math reasoning and reading comprehension skill; it’s something you’re mostly born with. Study hard, and don’t call this a “fluke,” that’s what I thought it was when I took my first PSAT.</p>
<p>thanks for all of your advice and input guys! gosh, i really hope it is a fluke cuz there’s no way i’ll get into any schools i want to go to unless i bring up my scores a lot. so far it seems like i will have to pay attention and comprehend everything that my instructors teach in class, take practice tests on my own, and memorize vocab words.</p>
<p>Of course there are always going to be those who can just take the test without preparing and score phenomenal. Yet there are still those who can score just as high with a lot of preparation. You can let faith take you where it wants or grab the ***** by the horns and steer her around.</p>
<p>What schools do you have in mind? And the best way to prepare, the only way I’m preparing, is to do official practice tests from Collegeboard. Buy the 2nd edition College Board Official SAT Guide (The Blue Book), and start taking tests. The more you familiarize yourself with the test style, they better you’ll do.</p>
<p>@fresh101 i’m glad u know where i’m coming from with expectations and stuff. having desi parents can be so stressful sometimes lol</p>
<p>thanks everyone who contributed to this. its been a major confidence booster to know that i can bring up my score if i put some major effort into it :)</p>
<p>The thing that helped me was practice and going over the answers to fully understand how to do the problems.
Helped me from 1900->2300 after half a year.
Just keep practicing</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call that score abysmal! When I took it last year I got a 199 but most of my classmates got around your score! And my best friend got a 145. Remember, the average is 147, I believe, for the PSATs. You got above average! </p>
<p>I suggest taking a Kaplan class because it helped me with the SATs. My SAT score from last month was 2220 but when I started the Kaplan class my diagnostic score was 1790. See the improvement? </p>
<p>Good luck! I know you’ll do well because you sound like an industrious student.</p>
<p>I also made a much higher score on my actual SAT’s than the PSAT.</p>
<p>I went from 179–>196–>199–>2200 </p>
<p>so hang in there… your PSAT doesn’t determine anything (except national merit)</p>
<p>And going with a previous poster’s suggestion about the Princeton Review, it is a good book. I used the 2003 one though, so a lot probably changed since that particular version.</p>
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