SAT score and panic.

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>I won't beat around the bush... my SAT score simply isn't high enough.
I'm not trying to be a whiner here, I just need some simple tips that are not too typical.</p>

<p>On my first practice test, I scored 1820 (CR 560, M 680, W 580). Not a good score, but I thought "first time, it's okay, it's probably not too bad as a score without any preparation."
Two months passed - after some serious studying, I took another practice test. 1960 (CR 620, M 690, W 650). Mere 140 increase after two months of quite frustrating experience.
Well, it's good that it increased at least that much, right? Not really. My score fluctuates A LOT. It hasn't gone under 1800 (yet), but it's making me worried, if not panicky.
At this rate, I'm probably going to have an emotional (or more seriously, psychological) breakdown soon :(
(And... yeah. Emotional stability and academics unfortunately are quite closely related.)</p>

<p>It might sound unrealistic and even a little crazy, but I'm aiming at 2200+ (CR 700, M 800, W 700 - somewhere along that line) on my tests in November and December (yes, in 2-3 months' time.)</p>

<p>Does it look like I have any potential to increase my score up to my desired score?
Is persistent practice the only way, or is there really a strategy to increase my score (other than those tips that are in the books)?</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>I don’t know enough about you to tell you what score you are capable of getting. But there isn’t much more you can do other than read preparatory books and take practice tests, lots of them.</p>

3

<p>Does it mean that I’m SAT-stupid if I finished two books (Princeton Review & Barron’s) and my score still lies in the 1900s? :(</p>

4

<p>Nope. How many practice tests have you taken?</p>

5

<p>I did at least one a week for the past two months with timing - about 10 of them, and a bunch more without timing solely for critical reading practice purposes.</p>

6

<p>

this is where you’re going wrong. it seems you haven’t been on CC very long</p>

7

<p>so I shouldn’t have done… those two books? Is that what you mean? D:
And… yeah. You’re right. I’m new to this forum, willing to learn more and more :)</p>

8

<p>Try the ACT. All colleges will take either one and and some people score better on the ACT. It’s worth a try.</p>

9

<p>Is ACT similar to SAT? If so, in which ways? I haven’t even seen the ACT test :S</p>

10

<p>You need to take more practice tests. Just go through them slowly and check the answers.</p>

11

<p>Can one of you clarify what jubilant means by “this is where going wrong.” ?
And thank you for your advice silverturtle - hopefully two more months of practice would help me improve the score more and more :)</p>

12

<p>You can refer to PR or Barrons if they help you learn rules/strategies but DO NOT use the tests in their books. Instead use the tests in CB’s Official Guide to the SAT</p>

13

<p>oooooh thank you yettiddqq8! Yeah, those books are the ones that I used as practices without timing. Oh, can one of you tell me if the kaplan books are helpful at all?</p>

14

<p>Buy the official college board sat study guide edition 2 , and take the tests then meticulously scrutinize each answer both RIGHT and WRONG to understand why you got the former or the latter.</p>

15

<p>barrons and pr tests are only hurting you because they are nothing like the real test. the concepts on the sat are not difficult, it’s just the format that keeps people from doing poorly. their math/writing tricks are repeated over and over again and their cr passages are the only ones you should be practicing on. anything else, you’re just wasting your time.</p>

16

<p>well, now you have just a month left.
I don’t know if you can get that cr up for now I can’t as well.
I’m international. No english spoken here.
Started the very first time in march, my score was lower than 1500(a lot!)
Then I began to study harder and took the real test in June. I got almost1700(400s in cr)
Then I study harder.
And another test yesterday> I got CR570 M780 W690=2040! much better!
just try and learn from every question!</p>

17

<p>Thank you, all of you, for critical inputs :slight_smile: Now I’m going to practice harder on the college board blue books!</p>

18

<p>Don’t worry. When I started, for the whole summer, and 2 months prior, I fluctuated between 2050 to 1800. Two months before my test, my score was approximately 2100. My end result? 2270. </p>

<p>Just keep practicing, and remember, some SAT prep tests are not equal. I find that some are incredibly difficult compared to the college board ones. On the writing sections, I usually ended up with 650. On the real one, I got 800. </p>

<p>Oh and on the real one, you tend to go back and check every single detail. On practice tests, I didn’t check, and I just sped through everything because I wanted everything to be over with.</p>

19

<p>Princeton Review and Barrons books are completely bad. If anything, they’re more difficult than the actual test. If you can do 1900 on those practice tests I’d expect you to go a little higher on the actual one</p>

20

<p>Hmm, I thought the Barrons were the best in my opinion. They had harder questions, which helped me study better I thought.</p>