<p>So I'm currently stuck at around the 1380-1450 range, and I would like to bring it up to around 1500+ by October (I'm talking about Math+Reading only). Did anyone witness stymied progress like this at all? A few weeks ago I was scoring in the low-mid 1300s, and now I'm pretty much safely scoring in the 1400 range. My CR is usually 670-690 (Missing anywhere from 7 to 10 questions), and my math is usually around 740-760 (Miss 2-4 questions every time). I can never seem to get an 800 on the math because I misunderstand the questions a lot, and end up immediately knowing what I get wrong every time I go check my work. </p>
<p>I have only been using official college board practice tests, and I have about 23 left to do >_>. My study program is going as follows: </p>
<p>Every day, Mon-Fri I do one 25 minute section and then review my answers. On Saturdays I will do a full length practice test and then review my answers on Sunday. </p>
<p>Also for writing I always end up missing 4-5 MC, and I would really like to get a perfect on the writing. Does anyone know a source with all of the grammar rules tested on the SAT besides spark notes?</p>
<p>I used the McGraw Hill, which is pretty good even though it’s quite a bit long-winded. Your math score probably isn’t going anywhere, you just have to see how the actual test goes. Critical reading is probably the hardest to improve in, maybe studying frequently used vocab would help. As for writing, just get some practice writing the essay within the time limit, make sure that your brainstorming is going quickly and well. But in all honesty, a few points here or there won’t make a difference, and changing your score drastically is pretty uncommon.</p>
<p>“I can never seem to get an 800 on the math because I misunderstand the questions a lot, and end up immediately knowing what I get wrong every time I go check my work.”</p>
<p>do the problems faster and use the remaining time to check your work</p>
<p>Or you can do the problems slower, and make sure you understand every question before solving it. If you go back to check, you’ll have to restart the problem all over again, and you won’t know which problems to start checking.</p>
<p>I think I’m gonna go with the advice of doing the problems slower and see how that works out for me. Also, what about working backwards on the math sections? I’ve never actually tried that, and am wondering on how effective that is.</p>
<p>I like to work backwards. I usually start out with the first few questions of the section to get my mind in “math mode,” then jump to the end of the section.</p>
<p>The SAT math should be easy to improve. As for CR…I’m not sure, I’m trying to get that up myself. So far, I’ve been taking practice tests from different books, and the results have been so-so (Not from the BB, I’m saving those for later because I don’t plan to get more tests from the online course). It’s basically the same for me as for you in math: I immediately see why I got something wrong just by putting an X next to it, even before looking up the correct answer.</p>
<p>^ Great advice. I am sure that will get the OP a better score.</p>
<p>Annnnyway, just work a bot slower in math and really make sure you are answering it correctly. I often miss little things like certain signs or additional parts of questions, so I get high 600s instead of lower or mid 700s. It sucks, but just make sure you get it right the first time, so you don’t even have to go back and check. As for CR, I am in the same boat. I went from a 560 to a 680, but I don’t know how. Just, I don’t know, read books and look up words you don’t know. That is all I do. :)</p>
<p>@112358, yeah I think I get what you mean. I find that I end up making the mistakes on the medium questions instead of the hard ones. Maybe its the pressure of thinking that I might not be able to answer the difficult questions in time. </p>
<p>@rmadden15</p>
<p>Yeah I agree with you about the CR thing. For CR, I’m really not looking for any specific strategy as I think it naturally improves the more practice you do. I can definitely see an improvement in my reading comprehension, and my vocabulary (even though I have done little direct work to improve it) since I started studying for the SAT.</p>
<p>“do the problems faster and use the remaining time to check your work”</p>
<p>BINGO! That’s how I always did it. I always got 800s on math practice tests and on the real one. I just finished each math section in 1/3-1/2 the time and spent the rest of the time redoing the problems (some other way if possible to see if I get the same answer), rechecking my work, and rechecking my understanding of the problem. Each of those parts are key, but the last part is the easiest to do but most important. You might think you have the right answer, but you may have misread what the question is specifically asking for.</p>
<p>I make sure to finish each section in 1/3 - 1/2 the given time so that I have time to recheck everything I did several times (6-10 times)</p>
<p>Finishing the math section in 9-12 minutes is easier said than done. If I had the ability to do the problems that fast, I would probably get an 800 as well lol.</p>
<p>^^that is a horrible strategy. Trust me, speaking from personal experience, and it does not work. I took a practice test at a Princeton Review center in may this year with a couple of friends to see where we were at. I was pretty confident of an 800, since I already got an 80 on the PSATs, so I kinda turned it into a game by seeing exactly how fast I could go. When I did, I usually ended up with about 1/2 the time left in each section. However, when I checked my answers, I didn’t really check my answers. At this point, I just assumed that everything I had done was correct and I even worked out each of the questions once. Turns out I still got 2 wrong. It’s better to do a very quick check at the end with the 2-3 minutes you have left after finishing the entire thing at a good pace. I generally check my answers immediately after finishing them without looking back after I finish. Using this strategy, I consistently get 800s.</p>
<p>Point of the story? Even if you can, don’t try rushing through. It does not work.</p>