<p>I'm taking the SAT on June 2nd and I haven't begun preparing at all. I'd like to try to start sometime this week. What course of action would you recommend I take? Which book? How should I spread my time studying?</p>
<p>I received a 29 on my ACT score after a second try. I know it isn't amazing but I'm only a junior and I plan to take it until I receive a 33, preferably.</p>
<p>I realize there are a lot of links and resources out there, but I'd like a personal opinion on what helped you guys prepare the most.</p>
<p>The Blue Book - The Official SAT Study Guide - is by far the ultimate resource for you. Do the tests in that book (timing the sections strictly) and do your best to learn from your mistakes as you see what questions you get wrong or leave blank. There are 10 tests in there, which would keep you PLENTY busy between now and June 2.</p>
<p>As for additional resources, if you are an app person (iPhone/iPod touch) you can try The Daily Word for vocabulary review and SATLadder for general SAT review - it has 2,000 practice questions (math, reading, writing) - also plenty to keep you busy.</p>
<p>If you are a book person when it comes to vocab review, you can try some of the cartoon based story books that use SAT words in context in an attempt to entertain you. There is Barron’s hit list of the top 250 words.</p>
<p>Lot’s of options out there really!</p>
<p>One last thing to keep in mind as you attack the tests in the blue book - keep your goal score in mind. If you are targeting the equivalent of a 30 on the June SAT (650 - 670 on each section), then you will want to leave about 10-15 % of each section blank and really focus in on the easier 85-90% of the questions with your time.</p>
<p>I second the blue book recommendation, but if you’ve spent any time on CC, that should come as no surprise! I just want to add that since you’ve only got a couple of weeks before the test that I wouldn’t spend any time on vocabulary, and relatively little time on Critical Reading in general. In that time frame, you’ll get more bang for your buck with focusing on Math and Writing, both of which respond to prep more quickly. The chances you’ll learn just the right words in a couple of weeks is slim to none.</p>
<p>But the better question is why are you bothering with the SAT at all? That 29 on the ACT is a fantastic start, and you may be better served spending your time on it rather than shifting focus to the SAT. They’re very different tests. Have you taken a timed full length practice SAT? If you did and the results were better than your ACT score, great. If your results were about the same or worse than your ACT, then I’d suggest forgetting about the SAT. You’ve got better things to spend your time on than test prep right? :)</p>
<p>I agree with everyone else about focusing on the Blue Book. I also agree that you are likely to get more out of your study time by focusing on writing and math, as the rules you need to learn to do well on those sections are much more concrete than they are for reading. Nonetheless, I work as a SAT/ACT tutor, and I frequently have students who simply did not initially understand what the reading section was all about (for example, you’re not supposed to know all of the vocabulary – by design; many times, you’re supposed to be able to infer the most logical meaning from the other contextual information, and there are very specific keywords you can use to help you do this). </p>
<p>I put a collection of instructional videos together that I use with my students which you can find here: </p>
<p>They review content and strategies for all three sections and are an excellent resource. </p>
<p>I’m also in the process of adding free quizzes with built-in hints and currently have ones up for Units 1, 5, and 8. (Feedback from you guys would be awesome btw if you have 10-15min to do one). You can try the quiz for unit 1 if you go to SuperiorPrep.net and click on SAT Prep/Resources/Unit 1, or you can use the link below. </p>
<p>Finally, I organized the math questions in the BB practice tests by topic, arranged them in order of difficulty, and linked each problem to the A&E video from Khan Academy. I call them Guided Practice Problems, since you can practice on your own and then watch Khan to review the ones you miss. Each math unit has a section of practice problems like this.</p>