Recently, I’ve found myself deviating from Collegeboard’s original material and taking practice tests from brands such as Ivy Global, Princeton Review, and College Panda. Because I’ve seen a notable difference in my scores on these “synthetic tests” compared to the original tests published by Collegeboard, I’m starting to question their legitimacy. Moreover, I am confused as to whether the scores I get on these practice tests are accurate representations of how I would do on the real deal. From what I’ve read, it’s generally recommended that those studying for the SAT should strictly take practice tests from the Collegeboard. Is this true?
Given that I’ve already taken 5 out of the 6 practice tests published by CB, would retaking them be better than taking a brand new test isn’t issued by the Collegeboard?
I took 3 of the collegeboard practice tests before taking my latest SAT. I’ll let you know whether or not they were indicative of my actual score on the exam
I think the actual reading section was much harder than the collegeboard ones though. I felt great on the practice tests but the actual exam was pretty difficult
@Pawrrrrrr The results came back and the practice tests were actually pretty accurate. I scored a 1500, 1530 and a 1510 on the 3 practice tests I took. On the actual SAT, I scored a 1510 with a 1530 superscore.
Synthetic tests will never be as accurate as the College boards tests because private companies and tutors do not have access to thousands of students to test the questions on. The synthetic tests are good for practice (sometimes), but you should expect that they will indicate your score on a real test. Ideally you want to “save” a College Board test (or 2) to take the week before you take your real test to get a sense of where you a re at.
