<p>I know most people on this forum are high scorers on the SAT but I'd like to take this opportunity to help those who are still struggling with their SAT score or looking to improve their current score.</p>
<p>I did well on the May SAT so I'd like to help those who are not yet in the 99th percentile at least.</p>
<p>So here are 2 questions I have for those who are having problems with the SAT:</p>
<p>1) What is the single biggest problem you face on the SAT?</p>
<p>2) What is the single biggest question you have on the SAT?</p>
<p>Post your answers to these questions and I'll see what I can do. Of course, anyone is free to chip in advice as well.</p>
<p>I would desperately like to know how to prepare for the writing section and how I can move faster on the passage sections of the reading . Thank you</p>
<p>1)The key thing to note for SAT math is that it does not require complicated formulas or methods. Believe it or not, every single math question can be solved in less than 45 seconds if you know the right way to solve it.</p>
<p>The reason people run out of time for the math section is that they still treat it as school math. SAT math is completely different from school math. SAT math only revolves around a few basic math concepts and that’s it. </p>
<p>The sure-fire way to increase speed is to practice more and under timed conditions and always strive to find the shortest possible way to solve a question. I know that’s not a magical fix but it works.</p>
<p>2) As for avoiding silly mistakes, what I suggest is make full use of your test booklet. Write down your working on the booklet so that you can see it. When you complete a question, check your working to make sure it’s correct. </p>
<p>Some people prefer to work quickly through the questions once and then go through the questions again to make sure they got them right. I prefer to make sure I get each question right before moving on. It’s up to you.</p>
<p>Even with my strategy, I’m usually pretty quick on the math section. On my best attempt I managed to finish it in 16-17 mins with about 8 mins left to check which is plenty for me.</p>
<p>3) As for avoiding anxiety, I believe that I’m not in a position to give you professional advice. From my personal experience, the best way to be less anxious is to work hard preparing for the test. Become so good that you’re confident of getting the score you desire and you’re anxiety will go down. Like I said, this is not professional advice but common sense tells me that it works.</p>
<p>Preparing for the writing section is extremely easy because the SAT only tests on a few grammar rules over and over again. Learn those grammar rules well. These grammar rules can be found in the common SAT prep books you find out there.</p>
<p>Once you’ve learned them, practice using real SAT questions (Blue Book) and it’ll only be a matter of time till you get used to the way these grammar rules are tested.</p>
<p>As for your question on moving faster on the reading section, would you care to tell me what your current reading strategy is? </p>
<p>Personally, I don’t read the entire passage once before going to the questions. I go straight to the questions and answer the questions while reading the passage. I find that this saves time.</p>
<p>They contain entire lists of essay prompts that appeared on the SAT before. You don’t have to go through all of them. Just read through them to get a feel of the kind of topics to expect on the SAT and start gathering examples from books/movies/real life that you can use.</p>
<p>What I did is make a list of 15 examples. Beneath each example I would write out 5 bullet points about that example so that I can remember them easily and elaborate further on test day.</p>
<p>I didn’t follow his guide exactly. In fact, I didn’t even know his guide existed when I realized that my methods were similar to his. I would say that the main difference between my method and his is that I don’t make short notes beside the passage and I sometimes don’t read the passage entirely.</p>
<p>How do I do well on the Short and Long Passages? I absolutely hate those! I feel like I have no time to read everything, plus even if I do, I get most of the questions wrong.</p>
<p>The number one key to solving passage reading questions accurately is to remember that all correct answers must be supported by the passage.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter if it’s a tone question, inference question or whatever. The correct answer is the one that is supported by the passage.</p>
<p>When we do the passages, we normally tend to interpret stuff and pick the wrong answer as a result.</p>
<p>Don’t do that. Read literally and take the passage for what it is. Don’t put words into the author’s mouth. Be as literal as possible. Don’t read into the passage.</p>
<p>If an answer is not supported by the passage then I can guarantee you that it’s wrong. The correct answers are ALWAYS supported by the passage.</p>
<p>How do you approach double passages, especially the questions asking “what would author 2 say about this line in passage 1?” these always trip me up the most :/</p>
<p>The approach to double passages is exactly the same as the way you would approach single passages except that you do one passage at a time.</p>
<p>You answer questions specific to one passage first before you do the same for the second passage.</p>
<p>So when you’re doing passage 1 you would ignore all questions on passage 2 or on both passages.</p>
<p>After you’re done with passage 1 then you would do the same for passage 2. Finally you would answer questions regarding both passages.</p>
<p>For these questions, it’s still about finding the answer supported in the passage. For your example, “what would author 2 say about this line in passage 1?” the answer for this question would be found in passage 2 because it’s asking what author 2 would say about a line in passage 1.</p>
<p>Don’t guess what author 2 would say or answer the question based on what YOU think author 2 would say. Use passage 2 as evidence for the correct answer.</p>
<p>Ok so I’ve yet to take the SAT, so my next question is a BROAD, and probably impossible question:</p>
<ol>
<li>Best way to prepare for the SAT/ACT? Especially the CR section of the SAT (i.e. what books do you recommend, etc.)? And when should I start (currently in the summer after 10th grade)</li>
</ol>
<p>Hey. The best way to prepare for the SAT is to purchase the official College Board book. There are many practice tests in there. Take them and then look up the explanations online (there is a link within the book). Also, here is the strategy I use for CR: </p>
<ol>
<li>Read through the questions</li>
<li>Every time there is a “On Line X” go to line X in the passage and put the number of the question beside it</li>
<li>Read the passage</li>
<li>When you come across a question #, answer the question IN CONTEXT. </li>
<li>DON’T ASSUME THINGS. I swear… DON’T ASSUME THINGS!!! If you find yourself saying, "But they could mean that… " Stop yourself right there! Just go with the simplest and most obvious choice!</li>
</ol>
<p>For Writing: </p>
<p>If you take Grammar sections in the Official College Board book and then look up the explanations online, you will be able to get an 800 easily after a couple of tests. </p>
<p>For Math: </p>
<p>Work swiftly and carefully. Prepare using practice tests.</p>
<p>If you were wondering, I got a 800 in math, 800 in writing, and 740 in critical reading. My low CR score is due to my not studying vocabulary… so don’t make my mistake! Memorize those crazy word lists that these other CC’ers seem to rave about and get all of them correct on the test!</p>
<p>My biggest problem is critical reading . I scored a 6 out of 19 on my sentence completions. Do u know any books that can give a brief 1000 or less vocab list to drastically improve that. Also do u know any book good to improve the reading passages part of the c.r. Section. Last, in math I struggle with the last math questions . Do u know a book that cab help with that?</p>
<p>Thanks for helping me reply. I agree with your brief but accurate comments. :)</p>
<p>@jackjanani:</p>
<p>Believe it or not, sentence completion is really NOT all about memorizing vocabulary words. It’s more about proper test taking techniques.</p>
<p>Every sentence will contain clues to the answer. You just have to read the sentence critically and find those clues that will lead you to the correct answer. </p>
<p>Memorizing vocabulary plays a part, but it should NOT be your priority. For a good vocab book, I recommend Direct Hits Vocabulary both volume 1 and 2. If you learn the words in those books, coupled with proper test taking techniques, you’re pretty much set.</p>
<p>TAKE BOTH tests! Take them each 3 times. no max.
SAT (General), plus at list 2 SAT (Subject Tests)
ACT</p>
<p>Please, Study hard for SATs and ACT, write good essays during the application process!
SATs and ACT score is very, very important extremely important for admission!</p>
<p>I did Princeton review lasses, improved my score by 200 +, but also i would HIGHLY RECCOMAND TAKING SAT CLASSES ESP FROM KAPLAN, OR PRINCETON REVIEW.</p>
<p>1) Sometimes I feel like there are monsters popping up from the graphs and shapes in math section. In addition, I hear this incessant voice in my head telling me to throw my calculator at my proctor.</p>
<p>If you are still taking questions, I was wondering which you thought would be more effective: taking classes with PR or self-studying over the summer. </p>