<p>I've been consistently getting around 1960 and today, my score dropped to 1860. However, when I graded my test and reviewed the answers, most of them were either simple mistakes or the questions I narrowed down to two answers but chose the other one. I understand what I did wrong, and when I look back at it, I realized I could easily go over 2000. Do you think my score is going to stay stagnant and I'm just getting worse?</p>
<p>Keep the focus of your practicing on the questions you get incorrect. You will do better when you take it next time. Get plenty of sleep and have a good breakfast. Bring a snack for the breaks. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Practice, practice, practice. Do many tests, imposing strict test conditions (time limits, etc.) on yourself. Use a kitchen timer or something like that if you need to.</p>
<p>If you don’t have it already, get one of those prep books that give you 10 or more practice tests (Kaplan has a 12 test book, available on Amazon for under $15). Keep doing tests until you’re at your max and staying there consistently.</p>
<p>How do I know this works? The two kids I know who followed this approach improved from their initial practice tests by about 200, achieving 2350 and 2400 in their actual tests. (No repeats needed!)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>hey my scores went from the 1800s to 2200s
i had the exact same problem as you: careless mistakes + doubting myself in reading (i would narrow down to 2 choices, and pick wrong one)
heres what you do:
First for careless mistakes: mine usually occurred in math, and occasionally in writing. (reading takes more focus= harder to make “careless” mistakes)
read EXTREMELY carefully. as you take more tests, you start to realize what kinds of careless mistakes you make, and to avoid them
SAT repeats types of questions, such as
“blah blah consecutive EVEN integers”
“three DISTINCT integers”
“find the value of <em>4x</em> (im used to finding x)”
Sometimes for roman numeral problems, dont forget to try out fractions, and negative numbers, and zero.
pay attention to INTEGERS
etc,
Whenever you make a careless mistake, just remember it, and next time you take a test, check yourself on the question, “does it say the numbers are DIFFERENT?” “does it say MUST be or COULD be?” etc</p>
<p>and finally: knowing which to pick out of 2 answer choices (reading)
this is very difficult. But what ive been doing recently is
look at every word in the answer choice. a lot of times, the best answer is better than the “2nd best” because of 1-2 words.
always rule out absolutes such as (most, always, never, comprehensive etc)
and rule out answers with words that are extreme (disgusting, abhor, horrible indignation)
the author never wants to seem as if he’s terribly jaded and mean</p>