<p>Hi fellas,
i'm an international student, a rising Junior from Germany. (12th grade.. yes, we have 13 years of school...</p>
<p>I completed a high school abroad year in Texas (09/10). I've been back home for 2 weeks now and i'm getting ready for my application process to Trinity University in SA, TX.</p>
<p>I scored 156 on the PSAT, but that was 2009. I've got the blue book, and i scored the following on my first practice test (i didn't time myself, i just know i took too long on the CR and W sections but i did the Math Section right on time):</p>
<p>Math - 650
CR - 530
W - 470</p>
<p>For math I studying Barron's 2400, and i'm reviewing algebra II to get a strong base. Also, i'm asian, hence i have a love story going on with math, so i'm highly motivated.</p>
<p>As for CR, i have NO IDEA. My problem is not understanding or interpreting the stuff they have in their passages (common sense and logic), my problem is the vocabulary. A BIG problem. I aim for a 700 in CR, and i don't feel like i'm making any progress. (I'm pretty good in German literature, too.)</p>
<p>Writing, i think silverturtle's guide? But i haven't concentrated on studying that stuff yet. I just briefly read over the guide.</p>
<p>Could you help me, by suggesting me what to do to improve my vocabulary? And what worked for you? Oh yeah, and i'm a visual learner.. i think?</p>
<p>The only way to get better at reading difficult passages is by reading difficult books. I had the luxury of being forced into reading Marx, kant, machiavelli, and a host of other political theories that made for painfully slow reading sessions as part of dual enrollment in a couple of college classes. This also helped with vocabulary. While you aren’t necessarily memorizing definitions, you learn how they’re used, and how to use them; exactly the skills you need for the SAT. God knows it would be a waste of my time to sit in front of a list of words and memorize them all, but thats just how I learn.</p>
<p>Practice tests seemed to work for me in terms of building vocabulary, eventually I just got a “feel” for the correct sentence completion. Do not try to forcefully learn a set list of words, it simply wont stick. </p>
<p>I did not have to study for the CR passages, I’d attribute this to the way “English” is taught in Australia: we read and respond to the passage with textual evidence. You could try this, but it would probably take you a while to read passages in this manner. Maybe your time would be more wisely spent on exam technique e.g. targeting easy questions/leaving appropriate blanks.</p>
<p>Writing is the section you will need to study the hardest for, the SAT is overly pedantic about grammatical rules most of us never bothered to learn. Be sure to CAREFULLY read over silverturtle’s guide, it’s like the Rosetta Stone for SAT writing.</p>
<p>I still have conflicting opinions toward English. I love grammar/writing, but I hate reading/analyzing. They just had to overthink it back in those language makin days. No wonder “hooked on phonics” stinks.
And… The spelling of phonics doesn’t really go hand in hand with it’s definition. So congratulations super old ancestors.</p>
<p>How hard is it to improve the last 150 points on math though? I mainly missed the “hard” questions, so if i study a lot, do you think there is potential for 750+?</p>
<p>The math curve is always harsh, a -2 is usually around 750. However, given your self-reported motivation in math and Asian genetics (racial profiling FTW?), I don’t see how you wouldn’t be able to reach your target score.</p>
<p>I personally think DH is a bit overrated; it assumes that you are already a proficient + voracious reader who already have read a lot. So if you are willing to memorize more words, then I suggest you use Barron’s 3500 or PR’s Word Smart, etc.</p>