<p>So, I recently just took a practice SAT at the end of a SAT prep course and I found that my score raised by 390 points.(it started off at 1670).<br>
My current scores are
620 CR
720 Math
720 Writing
12 Essay</p>
<p>Im planning to take the SAT in October and I have heard that raising higher scores are a lot tougher than raising it when it's low, so I was wondering what I could do to help boost my score even more. Im shooting for a 2250</p>
<p>Huh, I had almost the exact same breakdown, except with a 630 CR and a 10 essay. 2070 total (Jan 2010). Went up to a 2260 in a month. Yes, it’s possible. I didn’t need to study for the writing though, still got an 800 (11 essay though.) My starting point was like a 1950 though, rather than a 1670, so that might make a difference.</p>
<p>Jimmy, how did you manage to raise your score like that?</p>
<p>Thanks Jimmy, that really motivates me to study harder so I can raise my score. How did you manage to improve in such a short time though?</p>
<p>Well I wouldn’t say I improved. In my opinion the 2260 was what I should’ve originally gotten. I made a couple careless errors in math (careless to a point you wouldn’t believe) which denied me an 800 the first time around, and the exact same goes for the writing. I just practiced a bit for the math (BB) though I doubt it helped me much since I knew most of it, and I didn’t study at all for the writing bar some essay readings. Those 2 sections just came naturally to me.</p>
<p>I ordered the Jan. QAS and noted my mistakes - which were incredibly stupid across the 3 sections. I made note of the math errors, and was careful not to repeat similar ones later, and I checked the writing ones, and did the same. My CR was disappointing at 630, and I checked my errors. That didn’t help much. I only improved up to a 660 even with BB practice and a 400 word vocab list (DH). In my opinion (forgive me if I sound presumptuous) I should’ve gotten the 2260 in January had I been more careful.</p>
<p>In the one month I spent studying, I read some essays that scored 6’s, did around 5 math practice tests in the BB and checked my wrong answers (most were just careless errors as before) and noted where these errors kept occurring (in “how many” questions I’d answer for something not asked for), and did 6 BB CR tests and checked the explanations. I thought I was making progress. Evidently I was wrong.
I might retake to try and improve my CR up to a 700 (which is what I was scoring on my practice tests).</p>
<p>At any rate, I don’t believe I’m the typical case, nor that you should follow my methods. For you, I’d recommend checking out silverturtle’s guide for improving your writing (it’s at the top of the forum) because with a 12 essay a 720 is like, what, 5 mistakes on MC? Apply silverturtle’s guide and practice it well and you should be able to get an 800 provided you get a 10 and above essay on the test (which you should.) Out of curiosity, if it was a practice test, who graded your essay?
For math, practice usually does it, whether or not it’s careless errors that are lowering your score. A 720 is an excellent starting point at any rate.
I’m not sure if I can help you with CR, as it’s the section I myself struggle in. I still think practice helps loads - it just happened that I did it over a very short period of time, probably, and didn’t have time to really absorb why I was making the errors, despite reading the explanations. I’m hoping to improve to ~750 when I retake, but that’s probably a longshot. I average 2-3 SC’s wrong on tests, by the way (in January I had 5, no idea why). Anyway, my practice tests were good on average, with my lowest score being a 680 (despite NOT preparing in between the January test and my practice tests) and I underperformed in June and was pressed for time while usually, I wouldn’t be. I also decided spontaneously in the test to do the passages before the SCs, and I’d never done that before. Note: don’t change your strategy spontaneously in the test. That’s probably what made me get 3 SC’s wrong (I rushed through the vocab like crazy because I didn’t have time after finishing the passages) - I knew all the words I came across, so the rushing was probably it. It also negatively impacted my passage performance. The extra time I spent on the passages had me rethinking my answers pointlessly. I probably changed a couple that were right. Meh.
In the end it depends on your starting point. I’ve always been good at writing and math, and sucked at CR - which, unfortunately for me, is the most difficult section to improve on anyway. Good luck :)</p>
<p>thanks for the advice Jimmy, and my practice tests were graded by my two SAT prep teachers who grades essays for ETS sometimes so I believe they’re somewhat accurate graders.</p>
<p>^Perhaps, but you should be warned that 12’s are extremely rare on the actual tests. So even if they gave you a 12 now, there’s no guarantee you’ll get it again. However, it’s more than likely you’ll get a 10 or above, so an 800 is definitely within your grasp.</p>
<p>jhs, your annoying</p>
<p>ha, i was so annoyed that i misspelled you’re</p>