<p>I need help to try and figure out what to do in order to get a higher SAT score, and now that I have a lot of time as a Freshman, I can get started right away. </p>
<p>Please read this entire post before commenting. </p>
<p>The situation is as such that I am in dire need of guidance: Books, websites, vocab lists, prep classes, anything you know of that helped you get a great SAT score, preferably in order. I'd really appreciate it of some of you 2100+ posted on here since you provide the great tips/guidance. I took the SAT after 8th grade and got a 1520, I didn't study a second, but I still feel like crap after that score. I already ordered the College Board Blue Book, since I've seen in numerous places that it is a must. I have above a 94 in each class and complete my homework in less than 3 hours, so I can definitely handle some SAT.</p>
<p>2 questions:
1. What was your Freshman (or closest) SAT Score?
2. What was your final SAT score and, how did you do it?</p>
<p>My goal is a 2200+, and I know it won't be easy, but I will try my best to make it happen. </p>
<p>Thanks for the help fellow CC'ers. </p>
<p>(I posted the same thread in SAT & ACT prep)</p>
<p>1970 (690 CR, 580 M, 700 W). I was taking Algebra I. This was for a talent search, so I didn’t study. </p>
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<p>2340 (790 CR, 750 M, 800 W). This was while I was self-studying AP Calculus BC.</p>
<p>I improved my score mostly by taking ACT practice tests, because I was initially just preparing for the ACT. But my SAT score ended up being comparable to the ACT score I had gotten a year earlier.</p>
<p>Most importantly, I knew a lot more math.</p>
<p>I think practice tests are the best way to improve your score. Figure out what you’re doing that makes you get questions wrong, and quit doing it. Just reading a prep book never did anything for me, except for the section on grammar/punctuation rules, because there are some obscure ones I wouldn’t have known otherwise. </p>
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<p>That’s above the national average, and your eighth-grade score doesn’t have much to do with anything. I got a 22 on the ACT in seventh grade and a 35 in eleventh grade.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help again halcyonheather, what you said is what I plan to do. </p>
<p>Do you think there is any real hope of getting a 2200+? You had a very solid Freshman score, mine is 450 below that. Is my goal unrealistic considering the circumstances?</p>
<p>It’s hard to say. I don’t think a low middle-school score indicates much of anything. In a lot of ways these tests measure what you’re supposed to have learned in high school (regardless of what they claim they measure), and if you’ve only been in high school for a couple months there’s no telling how well you’ll perform in the math section after you’re done with Algebra II (and trigonometry with the ACT).
Your scores in the CR/Writing sections don’t have quite as much to do with what you’ve learned in your English classes, but I think my writing skills improved almost automatically as I got older. Most of the answers in the CR section just sort of came to me, not because of anything specific I had studied but because I was going by an intuition that I hadn’t really had when I was a freshman. And it was my high school English classes that helped me develop that.</p>
<p>@halcyonheather, I think you’re spot on, I took the SAT in the middle of June after almost of month of no writing or thinking, just R&R. I hadn’t had any thinking for a month so perhaps that screwed me over. Three months in Pre-IB English, I feel like I could do much much better, particularly on the Reading and Writing since I reviewed grammar in my class. Many people have told me that just school had improved their scores 300 points. I think I know now that not reviewing ANYTHING for a month had been a detrimental mistake. All I can do now is just anticipate the arrival of my beloved Blue Book. :)</p>
<p>@repede, I want to qualify for National Merit, and therefore I want to study for the SAT/PSAT and then maybe focus on the ACT. :)</p>
<p>8th grade: 1610 lol
First time junior year no study: 1980
Second time with study: 2250 (680 in cr)
Final time: superscore of 2330 (brought cr to a 760)
760 CR 770 M 800 W</p>
<p>Just practice a ton doing official practice tests, and learn lots of vocab. That’s all you really need to do.</p>
<p>I really don’t think you need to start this early. I know it’s tempting, but I would use the extra time you have left over now to focus on extracurriculars. Do a sport, play an instrument, volunteer somewhere, start a club! </p>
<p>If you really want to get a head start, I’d say a good time frame would be after you’ve taken the PSAT your sophomore year. Chances are, your score will have jumped significantly from where it is now and you’ll be able to see what you need to work on. Practice tests, as stated above, are a really good way to get used to how the SAT works. </p>
<p>I didn’t take the SAT as a freshman, but I took it cold as a 7th grader for a summer program, got a 1750, and promptly forgot about it. I took it again as a junior and got a 2320 (800/800/720) after a few months of weekend SAT prep. I didn’t spend my underclassman years getting worked up over the SAT, and neither did my classmates who got similar scores!</p>
<p>Relax, I’m sure you’ll do fine You still have plenty of time and there are concepts that you haven’t seen yet, so your current score isn’t indicative of what you’ll get in the future. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Your math will improve as you study more math in high school, and some repetition and study of practice tests can pretty easily solidify a good math score. Get a Gruber’s book to study math if you want more help there. But honestly, I would wait until summer after 10th grade, then hit the math hard in preparation for the PSAT.</p>
<p>Regarding CR, the people who score the highest with the least effort are readers. People who read A LOT tend to do the best in that area. You can start reading more now. You will naturally build a stronger vocabulary, and grammar comes more easily (it just sound right) if you spend a lot of time reading. You still will want to study for CR, but honestly, picking up the habit of reading a lot for the next two years would do the most for your score.</p>
<p>My D2 who went to college last year got a 2380 superscore, and subject tests Lit - 800 and Math II - 800. She didn’t study until the summer before the 11th grade PSAT. But she did do a lot of reading…</p>
<p>I agree with this too. Assuming your grades are already good, it’s important to work on your ECs (assuming you want to apply to colleges that care about them).</p>
<p>@coriander, I’m planning to do JV Tennis this month, since I’m okay and my school isn’t too good at it. I would have done JV/V Soccer but I live 30 miles from my school (the only one near me with IB) and I would have to attend practice every day for 2 hours and my club practice interferes with that a lot. As for clubs, the Club Creation period ended the first week of school when I had no idea anything went on, and I didn’t create one since I had absolutely no friends there. I seriously plan to create one next year though, I know this sounds ridiculous and nerdy but I want to create a SAT club. There are a bunch of Freshman and Sophomores that I know want to prepare but don’t have too much time. My idea is that we can create meetings every Friday after school for about 30 mins and each get a Blue Book (the area of the school is fairly wealthy), and do sections of it and compare to understand the problems better. Please give me some feedback on this idea. As for participating and an instrument, I’m signing up for dozens of weekend volunteering opps through HandsOn. Perhaps I could get a permanent volunteer job there. Also, since I joined my school late three days late and every class is crowded, I couldn’t get into Band even though I do play French Horn, but I can’t even practice now since they are so expensive and I can’t afford a $50 rent per month. </p>
<p>I just have nothing to do these weekends until my volunteer opportunities arrive and my club soccer games, so I want to get ahead on the SAT. Thanks for the advice :).</p>
<p>@intparent</p>
<p>I’ve already taken the two main fields of math in middle school (Alg 1 & Geometry), I suppose I just need review in Geo since I’m taking Algebra 2 which is sufficient review for Alg 1. I read a fair amount for class, but do any of you guys including intparent know of any nice books to read that are fair to the freshman mind but exploding with good vocab? I’d love to read, but I just don’t know what to read that would be interesting.</p>
<p>@halcyonheather ( refer to my reply to coriander )</p>
<p>@Yakisoba, Dang nice! I wish I could do that haha, but we’ll see.</p>
<p>One last question:</p>
<p>Does the Official SAT Study Guide (Blue Book) include a diagnostic test? I want to submit myself to the testing environment and get another go at it. I figure it will be accurate since those are the ACTUAL tests. I might put my essay under the scrutiny of you guys.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>My seventh grade SAT score was quite similar to yours - 1580 (490 writing, 510 CR, 580 math) and it was really quite embarrassing since my parents wanted me to get 2000 +</p></li>
<li><p>My sophomore SAT (this past October) was a 2270 (740 writing, 800 CR, 730 math)! So if I can do it, so can you, haha.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Basically in preparation for the October SAT, I took about 8 practice tests total and memorized some vocabulary. It wasn’t a lot, like 800 words max, but I made notecards for each that included examples and reviewed them periodically. For math, I didn’t really study at all, so I definitely will before taking it again haha. And for the essay, I practiced writing ~5 additional essays in addition to the ones in the practice tests. I ended up writing a full two pages on the actual SAT and scored a 10. I reviewed grammar rules in Erica Meltzer’s SAT Grammar book but didn’t spend much time on it, which is probably why I missed 3 grammar questions.</p>
<p>I’m ambivalent about this…in a way, the problem is that it’s not nerdy. It sounds kind of anti-intellectual, like you’re only concerned with standardized tests and not with learning things for their own sake.</p>
<p>@serviceer, WOW! I’m pretty sure this is exactly what I needed. Your last paragraph really hit a cord with me, it describes what I thought at first perfectly with the exception of school sports. I love how you dominated the SAT, it’s inspiring to me. I have a few questions for you though :)</p>
<p>Did Direct Hits significantly help you out, since you stated that the vocab didn’t really help you or did it only provided a nuance of change?</p>
<p>Perhaps you made a mistake of some sort, no offense at all :), I looked up Erica Mueller SAT Grammar, and nothing showed up. Is there a different person named Erica?</p>
<p>I can’t thank you enough for stumbling by and taking the time to post this. </p>
You still have plenty of time and there are concepts that you haven’t seen yet, so your current score isn’t indicative of what you’ll get in the future. Best of luck!</p>