Hello everybody.
I am an 8th grader taking the SAT on June 3rd, which is this up coming Saturday, and what I’m wondering about are my chances of scoring an upward of 490 on the math section of the test so I can be eligible for the various courses offered at JHU’s CTY (I’m almost certain the minimum requirement for math/science courses is 490 on the math section for an 8th grade student, it might be higher). It can be noted that I have not taken geometry as of yet, and have recently taken the algebra final exam and did somewhat terrible on it (80%), ending the year off with a 97 average.
Also, how should I go on to prepare for the SAT as of now. I began studying 2 months ago and I think I got a fairly good understanding of the grammar rules and the reading stuff, but what I’m really bothered with is the math. I mean, after all, I’m trying to get a decent score (for my age/grade) so I can be qualified to take my desired courses and it’s really frustrating that I fail to understand a good portion of the SAT math section, even after all the preparation. It’s supposedly algebra, but I don’t get any of it, it’s like the stuff I learned in class can’t be applied to the problems at all. So should I just quit working on the math section, and attempt to get a 490 on the RW section so I can qualify for humanities/writing courses offered (which isn’t preferable, but it’ll make do), with the short amount of time I have left for studying (I’m taking school off this week, my counselor is aware of this).
And one final thing… Am I supposed to write on SAT prep book? There are a lot of practice questions, and I’m tempted to just write on the book.
I’m not sure which prep book you are using, but you can write in your test booklet on the day of the exam.
Do you know about the free website satpractice.org?
Yes, I am well aware of satpractice.org, never came to use it though. Also, I’m using IvyGlobal’s practice tests book thing, alongside with the official SAT study guide, and printed practice tests from collegeboard.com @AroundHere
It’s impossible for us to tell you your chances of receiving a given score. Have you had the opportunity to take any of the eight official practice tests? You can complete each one for free on Khan Academy.
It should not be difficult to score 490+ on M if you have a good understanding of the concepts you’ve already learned; I received a 560 in 7th grade having not even completed Algebra I (and believe me, I am NOT a math whiz). Keep in mind that a decent portion of the math section pertains to statistics and your ability to analyze data.
I just completed one of CollegeBoard’s official SAT practice tests (Practice test #2) and I think I did somewhat bad.
Reading: 5 wrong answers
Writing and Language: 9 wrong answers
Math - No Calculator: 9 wrong answers
Math - Calculator: 19 wrong answers
I had timed all of them, but ran out of time while doing math (calculator). I don’t know what my score would be based on the amount of questions I got correct.
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/scoring-sat-practice-test-2.pdf
That would come out to 550M/680V. It looks like a 490M is well within reach. 
If you have additional time, take practice tests 5-8. Practice tests 1-4 were never actually used in a testing run, while the latter four were.
Slightly off topic (sorry) but I am surprised that CTY continues to use the new SAT to identify talented students. The old SAT had enough middle school math and general creative/insightful questions that I can see how it would identify precocious students. The new test has less of that feel and more of the traditional do-you-know-the-math type questions.
But in any case, you do sound on track to leap this hurdle. Good luck!
Are the old SATs even being administered anymore? I’m not very informed at all.
Nope. (That’s why my response was not really relevant for your current situation.)
there isn’t a lot of geometry on the sat math sections so i wouldn’t worry much about that. I personally feel that there is a lot of algebra 1 and 2 on there.
Also,what calculator are you using? It may be part of the reason you’re running out of time. TI-84’s are pretty helpful graphing calcs (and yes, they are allowed on the sat). Just make sure you know how to use them before test day
Hey, it’s been almost a week since I took the SAT, but I felt like I did pretty well. Surprisingly, I didn’t really have to use the calculator that much. I have to tell you though, I really struggled on the test, not just on the math, but on the other sections as well, time-wise at least. I had to fill in 6-10 bubbles randomly on the critical reading section, 5-10 on writing, and I pretty much filled in random stuff for half the grid-ins on math. I was also kind of nervous due to the fact that everybody in the testing room were like 11/12th graders. Overall, the questions I actually did do, I think I got most of them correct.
Take actual practice tests and see. There are tests online that are free.