<p>Took the PSAT last year with a score of 151 (or was it 2012?)… anyways:
My all-time goal for the SAT is ultimately a 2000+! (ikr, most people would aim 2200), but it’s a huge jump and I think I’m going to suffer/enjoy the studying experiences in the 5 months I have (well my SAT is in December, but there is only a thread for October…)</p>
<p>I’m using 2 classic books: SAT Blue Book and Direct Hit’s Vocab vol. 1</p>
<p>Currently progressing with the Blue book, I figure that my Math is unfortunately having trouble in some areas… because I lack the memory from Geometry >_></p>
<p>Additionally, my CR has ALOT of improvement to achieve, such as my timing (I generally read all the passages and then answer) which I actually was 4 questions off with 25 minutes to finish a 25 question section…
This also occurs in my Math section, where I go way over the time limit</p>
<p>gah, anyways 5 months to prepare vocab for reading and prepping math is my ultimate goal in process to 2000+!</p>
<p>Wish you all and myself luck in the long run~</p>
<p>Yayy, I’m so happy people are starting to find this thread and posting! I won’t be able to catch up with replying to everyone, so just a hello to all. =) </p>
<p>@medicsz: haha, sorry, no thread for December, although that’s when I’m planning to retake if I have to! =) I definitely think a 2000+ is an awesome goal! Math is also one of the easier sections to improve, because it’s pretty easy to find some really good concept reviews and just hit up on those. Let us know how it goes! <3</p>
<p>@SP1999: I actually got Barron’s 2400, and totally agree. I worked on the writing section a few days ago out of there, though, and I thought it was pretty helpful!!</p>
<p>@gonewiththeair: Welcome! I’ve totally got a long way as well until my goal, so we’re in the same boat here. </p>
<p>@sdfgsd: Welcome!! I’m so glad you decided to get a CC account. =) I was a lurker as well, until I was finally motivated to post, and it’s been pretty beneficial. Good luck with your goals, and keep us updated! You’re right, this IS a progress thread. =)</p>
<p>@Zeppelin7: You got this!! Congrats on upping that writing score! That’s my problem area. Do you know how you got it up by so much inbetween tests? </p>
<p>Hey! Properly introducing myself. My aim with the SAT is 2300+ and I’ve been scoring just under that on the practice tests I’ve been taking, but I think I need to practice dealing with the LENGTH of the exam as I occasionally get tired and tank a practice test and drop 200-300 points. My focus doesn’t hold out for 3/4 hours straight, let’s just put it that way! </p>
<p>I am trying out Chung’s Math book but I don’t know how much I like it so far… very concise and I find myself using my laptop to find more detailed explanations. I’ve hardly started though so we’ll see…</p>
<p>On my very first practice SAT that I took in the beginning of junior year, I got a 1650, with 440w 620cr and 590m. After a semester of junior year, I got a a 182 on the PSAT, with 64r 65m and 53w. After this PSAT, I registered for the May SAT, and actually started studying for it with just the princeton book. On the May one I got an 1880, with 640cr 640m and 600w. After I got my score back, I studied hard core with multiple books to raise my score for three weeks and took the June SAT, and got a 2040, with 660 cr 680m and 700w. </p>
<p>I’m planning on taking the October SAT for a 2150+, and really believe I can do it. I started from a 1650, and have improved to a 2040 and am still not finished. Here are some of the things I’ve learned:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>CLASS RIGOR!!! taking AP classes in English, history, psychology, or any other reading intensive AP class will help your cr reading score, I started at a 650 because of it, and now the distance to get a 750 isn’t surmountable for me.</p></li>
<li><p>Math is easy to bring up, just practice and hope you do t get a harsh curve</p></li>
<li><p>If you struggle with writing, make sure you have versatile examples for the SAT, as a high essay can really help your score </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Wish you guys luck, and hopefully we all get the scores we want.</p>
<p>The roots of the words (and the prefixes) truly help when reading through passages, or any of the sentence fill-in the blanks, because you can get a sense of what the word essentially means :O</p>
<p>Like in Direct Hits (the book I’m using) has a chart of roots of different words in there, that link to different definitions of words… so helpful</p>
<p>I’m an international student. I scored 1650 on june test without preparation and got 450 in CR xD. Currently I’m memorizing vocab from Barrons flash cards and practicing from the blue book. Now I’m scoring 510-530 in CR. I just want +600 v.v. Vocabulary is my biggest struggle in both sentence completion and passages >.></p>
<p>hey guys! I was just wondering what y’all are doing for vocal? my parents don’t want to buy me ANOTHER sat book so I can’t get direct hits, but I’ve compiled all the words out of princeton review, barron’s and the spark notes words that I don’t know as well as all the words in the blue book and the ones I don’t know on questions of the day. if I’m only missing an average of 1-2 vocal q’s per test (in my first three weeks of study) is this ok, or should I be studying more? anyone have any word lists?</p>
<p>1) I never really make up an example since the cb books give enough. But making up your own book scenarios is a good question.
2) I seethe ultimate guide to sat grammar so idk but its been helping.
3) Vocab. Root words don’t cut it for the score I want.</p>
<p>@satmaniac 1, I personally use a recipe: 2 real examples from literature and one FAKE from history. I think you should study some real exps from literature/history because, believe me, in the test room it is really hard to make up 3 insightful examples, so I suggest you still should study some real examples (for instance, short stories that only take 5-10 mins to read but can be used for almost every tasks they throw into you.
I know a lot of people who got 11/12’s just by using fake examples, though.</p>
<p>3, Vocabs.</p>
<p>@lanflan No, you dont need another vocab books, I think that you are doing fine. In fact, if you have already memorized all words from those books that you mentioned, then it is very likely that you have known almost all of the words from direct hits as well. Just keep practicing. I always miss 1-2 words per test too. But the passages kill me!</p>
<p>Today I finished the Barron’s 2400 CR section, and I must say, the practice questions are much harder than PR or BB ones. The passages were excerpts from old, obscure writings and the questions were difficult as well. Hopefully taking the harder style questions will help me on the full length PR practice test I will be taking tomorrow.</p>
<p>@SP1999 The thing about Barron books that mind-puzzled me was the fact that there would be two sides of different people:
1.) Barrons book is bad, as its question difficulty is far more than what would be expected on the SAT (in-terms to the BB)
2.) Barrons book is good, because It ‘over-prepares’ you for upcoming tests</p>
<p>@medicsz
I am a person that believes any practice with questions similar to the SAT is good or helpful. Sure, the BB is the most accurate score predictor but I think practice with Barron’s or PR isn’t bad even though it is slightly harder. For me it makes BB tests seem easier which means I am getting better at the actual SAT.</p>
<p>I’m going to be a senior next year, but I was in the exact same boat as a lot of you last year. I wanted a 2300+ really badly so that I wouldn’t have to take it again. I ended up getting a 2260 in November, retaking, and getting a 2360 in March. </p>
<p>This might be unsolicited advice, but here’s what I thought worked well for me:
Barron’s–I used this book only for reviewing grammar. The practice tests/questions are too hard compared to the actual exam and I thought it was a waste of time to even do them. I did use the flashcards that came with the book, but that didn’t really prove to be too beneficial.
Blue Book–I did basically every practice test in there (the best practice tests ever!) and then when I ran out, I printed out more practice exams from the CB website.<br>
Vocabulary: my first time out, I got 4 vocab questions wrong. To fix this, I went through the Barron’s word list, and made a list of all the starred words on it. I also looked up other vocab lists online and printed them out. Then I taped them to my mirror and everyday, I’d learn a few more and cross them out. This really helped me–I got an 800 on the reading section my second time.</p>
<p>So what is your time allotment for CR?
Here is mine
Sentence Completion: 2-4mins (2 mins for the 5,6 questions sections and 4 mins for the 8 questions section)<-Is this okay?</p>
<p>Short passages: 5 mins (no matter how hard I try, I hardly can shorten the time for these small passages. Sometimes especially for the small paired passages, they even take me 7 mins to complete)</p>
<p>Long passages: 15-20 mins depending on the level of difficulty, which means sometimes I cannot finish the section on time.</p>
<p>This time allotment barely gives me any time to review, even for an easy section. So, again, what is your time providing for each part? Any suggestion of improvement?</p>
<p>I think the 3-4 minutes for SC is actually decent, and same goes for the small passages, however your times won’t always be fixed to that duration, because the actual SAT reasoning test will change around the questions per small passage such as: # of questions that refer back to a line OR # of questions that are based on author’s perspective…etc</p>
Do you know how you got it up by so much inbetween tests? </p>