<p>I am an international student from China and recently I find that everything goes wrong. English is not my first language so I have to prepare SAT for a really long period of time. I have memorized butch of new words and read several books in English. I went trough the Barron, Princeton, Spark note and Official Guide but still cannot get satisfying scores. I do not know what is wrong with me. I just cannot comprehend the reading materials totally which mainly attributes to my failures. Do you guys have any ideas about my preparation for SAT next time? I think I can hardly bear another SAT failure. Thanks a lot~~~</p>
<p>The SAT measures a lifetime’s study in English for a native speaking student, testing skills at the early college level. It’s not an easy test to take for internationals. The SAT is a standardized test, not measuring learned academic content but cognitive understanding of the dynamics of the English language in its written form. There is a severe limit to how much you can “prepare” for the test. </p>
<p>I don’t think there is a real solution for your case, except to read more literature and try to grasp the nuances of the language.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot~~~ Sometimes I just cannot catch the meaning of the reading materials. I ignore a lot of details in the paragraph that are really important to solve the questions. I do not know what to do with it. thanks again for replying my thread around 3AM. Thanks~~</p>
<p>I have similar problems like you dreamwharton. I’m an international too and Math will not be a big problem for me. I’m currently studying for CR and unfortunately it doesn’t work. I’m very bad on the passages - I have problems with the comprehension and time. I just don’t know what to do? I’m taking the SAT in May and my plan is to spend March for WR and April for Practice Tests, but when my CR is not good enough it’s really hard to have some result like 1450 (CR+M) in case that I have 800 on Math.</p>
<p>You are in Bulgaria? Great~~~ I am totally confused now… and a little bit depressed…</p>
<p>dreamwharton :} are you going to apply for FA at Upenn ?
If not,1300 (cr+m) is a good score and in case you get an 800 on M,just you just need about 500-550 on CR ,which is completely possible ;] If you need full FA ,however,you are going to need at least 1450</p>
<p>thanks~~~ Actually, I wanna transfer to Wharton. One of my friends from Wharton said that the higher, the better.</p>
<p>Sure it is 
What score was your friend admitted with ?Do you know :)</p>
<p>I do not remember it clearly. Maybe 2300~~</p>
<p>It would be so hard for you …the Asian pool is the most competitive one.</p>
<p>dreamwharton, what is your goal SAT? and what are you currently scoring?
Please provide subscores too :]</p>
<p>When I was in 5th grade, I cried because I lost an English language competition in my native country on the word “bird.” In Junior High, I was reading story books when my friends were starting Jane Austen’s. But this year on my first SAT, I pulled off an 800 CR and 790 (12) W. So, work hard. Read books, take as many English electives as you can in school. It’s a gradual process; you can’t expect to improve just by reading CR passages.</p>
<p>ThankS~~ Reading 600 Writing 650 Math 780
Here are the problems:
(1) No matter how carefully I am reading, I always miss some important information to solve the question or even key words to determine the attitude.
(2) I cannot do ALL THINGS RIGHT! I wanna have a perfect Grammar section. But I always have troubles.</p>
<p>dreamwharton 600 650 780 is not enough for Wharton :)</p>
<p>Thanks! I definitely know that~~ So it is the reason I wanna resort to some help.</p>
<p>Hi dreamwharton;</p>
<p>To improve vocabulary (reading section of the SAT)learn from this two books:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Direct Hits Core Vocabulary of the SAT: Volume 1: Larry Krieger, Ted Griffith: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Hits-Core-Vocabulary-SAT/dp/0981818404/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235818886&sr=8-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Hits-Core-Vocabulary-SAT/dp/0981818404/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235818886&sr=8-1)</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Direct Hits Toughest Vocabulary of the SAT: Volume 2: Larry Krieger, Ted Griffith: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Hits-Toughest-Vocabulary-SAT/dp/0981818412/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235818886&sr=8-2]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Hits-Toughest-Vocabulary-SAT/dp/0981818412/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235818886&sr=8-2)</p>
<p>To improve grammar (writing section of the SAT) learn from this book:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Grammar in Use Intermediate With answers: Self-study Reference and Practice for Students of English: Raymond Murphy, William R. Smalzer: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Use-Intermediate-answers-Self-study/dp/052162598X/ref=pd_cp_b_2?pf_rd_p=413864201&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0521614031&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=18WC44BBVQRYMY9D45KN]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Use-Intermediate-answers-Self-study/dp/052162598X/ref=pd_cp_b_2?pf_rd_p=413864201&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0521614031&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=18WC44BBVQRYMY9D45KN)</p>
<p>(Also, there are easy and advanced versions of this book; in case intermediate is not good for your level of knowledge)</p>
<p>Your math score is good.</p>
<p>Dont rely on DH only.As an international ,whose native language is not English ,these ~450 words in DH are not enough.</p>
<p>Thank you Valleity~~ It is really inspiring! I will definitely read more books and your story is pretty funny!</p>
<p>thanks mp22~~ Actually I have never heard of these books. We only have Barron, Princeton and very limited choices. I always thought I had done a lot before I met you guys. This is so cool!</p>
<p>Thanks~~ 450 words may be teeny tiny part of the whole voca. I will word hard~~~ Do you guys have any excellent books?</p>