For those of you that have had a good deal of success with preparing for these tests can you provide some insights into your preparation. My approach for both tests was to each one with no preparation at all to provide myself with a baseline score level. I took the April ACT and got a 30 on that (26M, 27W, 33R, 34S) and the June SAT on which I received a 1350 (670M, 680WR). Only concern would be that my PSAT was a 700 for math but my SAT score still falls within the expected range. Please let me know what you found most helpful in preparing for each test; practice tests, Khan Academy, other resources, etc. Thanks for your time and good luck with the scores being released tomorrow.
BW
Both of your scores are around the same level, so you should pick the one you’re most comfortable with. For the SAT it looks like both sections are around the same level, while for the ACT you’d just have to focus on M and W rather than all 3 section types in the SAT, but it’s up to you.
Once you’ve picked the test to focus on, look at the test dates. If you want to take it a third time just in case, allot the time for that (so take it in the earlier date so you cant receive your scores before the next test date instead of December or something). Also account for SAT subject tests and stuff if that’s in the picture.
Then, if you can, buy 2 test prep books for the test of choice. For the SAT, buy the official guide (the blue book) with all the practice tests and just keep on doing them and going over mistakes. Then to supplement for strategy and to review grammar/math, buy a book from Kaplan, Barrons, or Princeton (I’m not sure which one is the best so you’ll have to look on a different thread for that opinion). Khan Academy has great SAT practice tests, and there’s tons of sites offering help for the SAT if you put it in google. To practice SAT writing, it looks kind of like a rhetorical analysis which they write in AP Language, and just google a bunch of example essays so you know what you should write. For the ACT, there’s the Real ACT (it’s red) which is the official guide, and then a supplemental book from a test prep company. Since its a more established test format, there should be a lot more online resources for this than the new SAT.
Thanks for the advice. What is a reasonable score increase to work towards? Being someone that didn’t prepare at all for either I’d assume that I could make some pretty good strides.