Can anyone tell me what resources I can utilize to increase my math section score. I’m pretty clueless in math so something that can actually teach me the material. This could be anything from youtube, review books, or website links thank you.
Khan academy
Well your school math text book also Khan Academy
I’m absolutely NOT a Khan Academy fan. I think Sol Khan is a brilliant man, but he’s not a math teacher. I don’t think his explanations necessarily make most of the problems easier to comprehend.
I recommend going old school: sit down with the Barrons book, keep track of what you’re getting right and wrong.
Also, find the book “Up your Score; the Insider’s Guide to the SAT.” It’s full of concrete strategies.
Khan Academy did not work for me.
For some background information, I took the SAT in March and got a 720 on the math section. I’m not great at math in school, but I did not find the SAT math difficult at all. I did not have a lot of time to prep for the March SAT, but I did skim over Khan Academy a couple of times. I found that the problems barely matched up with the problems on the real SAT. A lot of problems did not cover topics on the test. There was a differential calculus question shuffled in on Khan Academy for some reason.
The only reason I believe I got an OK score on the math section was because I did a couple questions out of a SAT practice book. The brand does not matter for practice problems, but try not to use Khan Academy. If you want strategies, Princeton Review might just be your best friend. I took a practice test a few weeks ago because I will be taking the August SAT for a better score and I got a 780 on the math section. I also do a rigorous preparatory program but that is just SAT math practice problems, not sure of the source.
In summary: Don’t use Khan Academy. Use any book for practice problems that resemble problems on the real SAT. For strategies, I recommend Princeton Review.
Good luck!
As for my kid, he basically only used the prep books I bought for him for the practice tests. Doing the tests in a timed manner and figuring out the problems he got wrong was his prep. He actually relied on online sources for his prep tests mostly, so in many cases the books were a waste of money. The Princeton and Barron’s books were more useful for EBRW.
The reality is that what you learn in class in your Algebra thru Trig classes covers everything on the test and what you are prepping for is to figure out the problems in an expedient manner. So doing the practice tests and doing as many as needed to get used to the speed is the best prep.
The advantage of an interactive tool such as Kahn is that you can plug in your PSAT and practice SAT tests and the program tailors what you need to work on. My son used Kahn and got a 740M on the March SAT - up from 680 on the PSAT and better than he expected to do. He used nothing but Kahn.
No doubt other test prep companies have had time to prepare new tools for the revised SAT. They probably give great tips and strategies. But if, like OP, you want a resource that actually teaches the material, the answer would be Kahn.
^^ That’s only if you like the way they teach it. I don’t.
^ That could be. No one tutorial is going to work for everyone. My son was frustrated MANY times but it paid off in the end. That might not be the outcome for everyone. The degree of success is really only known once you take the test and get back your score.
I got the impression from some College Confidenttial posts that Khan Academy is not that great, so I tried to steer my son away from it and bought some books for him. He insisted that Khan Academy is actually a good resource and continuted to use it. He got an 800 on math section of SAT and 800 on math subject test - so I’d say Khan Academy definitely worked for him. He also told me that he used some of the books I got for him. I don’t know if he said that just to make me feel I did not waste the money.