<p>I'm currently in the IB program and also number one in my class, needless to say, I'm smart and a fairly hard worker. However, I took the SAT in December (without hardly any prep) and surprisingly got a 1750...(embarassing)... CR 550 M 570 W 630. I wonder how kids that are not so smart in class, did better than I did....and I know I can do much better. What is the best way to raise my CR and M scores? Obviously, I'm missing techniques, strategies, etc. My mom hired this tutor that advertised on the internet said on average his students usually raised their scores 312 points in his five one hour courses plus homework, etc....Now, my CR is now anywhere from a 670-710. But, for math, I find myself forgetting a lot of the basic stuff. Should I trust the tutor? Is five hours enough? What about Princeton Review would that help? I want my math to be at a 700 for the colleges I'm looking at, is this possible?</p>
<p>Yes it’s possible. My first practice test out of a book, I scored 1500. My first real SAT (three months later) i got a 2180. </p>
<p>Math is pretty basic in terms of what you need to know. The hard part about the math section is making stupid mistakes. For example, sometimes you’ll solve for the length but it’s actually asking for the width. Of course they’ll put the length as a choice so most people who don’t read carefully, end up circling the wrong answer. And usually if you are clueless what to do, there are only four choices and you can always try the guess-and-check method</p>
<p>You should identify what you’re having trouble with. Do you know how to do the problems but you’re just getting the wrong answer? It might be careless mistakes and you’re working too fast…that should improve with practice (I would say you don’t need the 5 hr tutor, just get a book with practice tests). If you don’t understand the concepts at all then maybe you need a tutor to explain them to you.</p>
<p>Based on your current SAT Math score, you are not lacking in any mathematical knowledge - you simply need to learn some SAT specific strategies. Once you learn all the necessary strategies, practicing SAT Math problems for 10 to 20 minutes per day, and taking the occasional practice test is all you’ll need to do to substantially increase your score.</p>
<p>Thanks guys for the advice! Also, what do you guys think about the Princeton Review Ultimate Classroom for prep? Do you think I need it or will practice be enough? I don’t know if you have the College Board Study Guide book, but that’s currently what the tutor has me working in. We haven’t really covered math really, but my CR, like I said is now anywhere from a 670-710. Have any ideas why the range is so large? Test 1, I did 710 then Test 2 and 3 I scored 670 and 680. However, as for math, a lot of the “k” constant questions and geometric ones, as well as probability with red, white, blue etc…are the ones I need the most help with. So, would Princeton Review, be it a tutor or classroom help me increase my score?</p>
<p>My goal for math is 700 by the way. I hope it’s possible! What do you think? I’m doing about 3 sections of it a day, and switching between that and CR. Only thing about the College Board Study Guide is that they don’t give you explanations!</p>
<p>They do give you explanations to all of the questions. 
On page 11 it gives you the link: [Welcome</a> to the Official SAT Study Guide Book Owner’s Area](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>SAT Study Guide – SAT Suite | College Board). </p>
<p>I happen to like this book better - The Ultimate SAT Supplement by Erik Klass - it’s $25 at Amazon.</p>
<p>But both of them give through explanations of each question. (And the college board also provides explanations on why each wrong answer choice is wrong)</p>
<p>mapoch is right. it’s the small (and usually stupid) mistakes that tend to kill math scores, especially when some of the math is from such a long time ago. i used the blue book and 5 sat math practice tests–and they helped me review and stop making dumb mistakes.</p>
<p>Okay, thank you very much! I hope I can get my scores up significantly :)</p>
<p>mapoch, I’ve been using the link you gave me to view the answer explanations. However, today I sign in and it only lets me view essays, any ideas?</p>
<p>Click on “Section Two” (or whichever section you are interested in) in the upper left hand corner. The page defaults to Section 1 - the essay.</p>