I haven’t taken the actual SAT yet, but all my diagnostic scores and Princeton review and all my scores are within the 1470 and 1530 range.
I am getting approximately 780~800 on math, because of some small mistakes I make.
My bigger problem is the evidence based reading portion.
Which prep books and methods should I use to get a 1600?
Can you afford a tutor? I think that as you get closer to perfect, it becomes more valuable to be able to zero in on the few specific areas where you still need help, which a tutor can do. We had good results with a very small local company.
Of course, it looks like you are already doing exceptionally well.
I think you are wasting your time obsessing over a very very good score. Getting a better score really wont help you. It is good enough. I assume you want HYP et al. Do you have a hook? What are your grades?
However, a low score will still handicap you if you plan on attending top schools. A 1560 equates to a 2300 on the old scale, and should be a good goal to aim for (unless you’re going NCAA or you’ve changed the world or something). It’s okay if you don’t reach it, but note that it’ll be a handicap with those top schools.
For reading, I found that daily practice helped a lot. I struggled the most with the humanities passages, so I used Khan Academy to help me figure those out. Khan Academy provided me with an excess of reading passages that I could practice on everyday, and I started figuring out the patterns that the SAT throws at you.
Are you a junior or a senior? If you’re a junior, you still have plenty of time. Just practice as frequently as you can, and maybe get a tutor if you can afford it. If you’re a senior, I would try Khan Academy and try as many reading passages as possible (and actually analyze what types of questions you got wrong too, Khan Academy helps you categorize them). And if the 62 minutes doesn’t seem to be enough, try spending no more than 13 min per passage. It helped me keep track of where I was at and how my pace was, might be useful to you too, I don’t know.
Yeah I want to go to HYP. My grades so far (it’s an IB school with a max score of 42 on all subjects) is 42 so its 4.0GPA.
What do you mean by a hook ?
your scores are good enough for HYP. If you get a 1600 you probably wont get in without a hook. A hook means you are something they want: you are a black or hispanic; you are a legacy, you are super wealthy, you are an athlete, you have a special amazing talent or skill (champion chess or published author)
A plateau practice score score is what you are looking for, which may or may not be higher than 1530 that you got. If everyone can get 1550+ after thorough practice, what is the point of the test.