<p>Im a sophmore and I made a 156 on the PSAT and I am going to take the sat in may. I've talked to a sat prep instructor and they said at most I will achieve a 1770 on the sat. I am currently working in an Kaplan sat prep book, sat question of the day, vocab, and trying to read hour a day. Is it possible for me to reach above 2000 on sat?</p>
<p>Yes it is absolutely possible. I will speak for the mathematics. I’m going to work under the assumption that you have approximately a 500 in math. I have had several SAT students that went from about a 400 to about a 750 during 3 months of tutoring, so this shows that it is certainly possible. Of course these students are exceptions to the general rule. Most of my students starting at about a 500 will go up between 100 and 150 points. This range is just about what you are asking for. So with a normal 3 months of preparation (done correctly), you should be able to “almost” attain your goal.</p>
<p>The previous paragraph is based upon my experience, and the average student’s maximimum potential. This varies from student to student. </p>
<p>Now, what do I mean by maximum potential. What I mean is that every student has a “fixed” level of mathematical maturity. This level will determine your maximum SAT math score. If you don’t do anything to increase your mathematical maturity, then you will not be able to attain a score higher than that.</p>
<p>The good news is that mathematical maturity can be increased. Mine has gone through at least 10 significant jumps in my mathematical career. But increasing mathematical maturity is a more long term process. Make sure that you don’t sacrifice time spent on “ordinary” SAT prep to increase mathematical maturity. Increasing your potential score is independent of increasing your actual score.</p>
<p>An example of one way to increase your mathematical maturity would be to check out my thread “Dr. Steve’s Challenge Problems.” Struggle with the questions I’ve been posting there without looking at the answers - try not to give up too soon. Getting the answers is not that important. The process of trying different strategies is what will help your mind grow.</p>
<p>Again, DO NOT let this type of thing interfere with regular SAT prep. Working on these types of problems will only increase your potential score - not your actual score!</p>
<p>Ditch the Kaplan book. </p>
<p>If I were you, I’d probably wait until junior year to take the SAT if you want to score above a 2000. But if you’re dead set on taking it in May, buy the blue book, pay for college board’s online course, and taking a practice test every Saturday from now until your actual SAT date in May. It’s good that you’re practicing vocab and reading- make sure you do both of those every day.
Math and writing are probably the easiest to improve on; I hear Gruber’s math workbook is excellent, although I’ve never personally used it. Also, get the Barron’s workbook for writing.</p>
<p>I think if you study assiduously from now until May, then you might have a chance of getting over a 2000. But you’re going to have to put in a lot of work. </p>
<p>1770 sounds kind of like just an arbitrary number to me, though.</p>