<p>I've been studying for the SAT since 7th grade in middle school. Now I'm a junior in high school and so far I can only get around a 2000 on the SAT. Back in the 8th grade, I took the SAT reasoning test once and got a 1550 out of 2400. However, my parents want me to get a 2200+ and they said that I will keep taking the SAT no matter what until I get 2200 or over, which sounds crazy to me. </p>
<p>So you can see that I've obviously been studying for the SAT for a long time. However, I wanted to ask you a question - To what extent does studying for the SAT improve your score? </p>
<p>Don't get me wrong, I know that SAT prep will improve your score, whether it's from books or classes, but is there a score improvement cap? Meaning can studying for the SAT improve your score only to a certain point? I heard that the test was designed to not be able to be studied for, however you can still study for it to improve your score, but probably not as much as you think you would. For example, I don't think that repeatedly studying for the SAT would get you a 2400, but it could get you a 2000+. </p>
<p>I think that I'm studying for the SAT too much - I take a practice test on the SAT Online Course every one or two weeks and I try to do a few practice quizzes every day. I also answer the SAT question of the day every day. What should I do to maximize my score but still not spend too much time studying? </p>
<p>Life's too short to waste it on a 3 hour test</p>
<p>What’s your GPA/class rank? That’s usually a decent indicator of SAT potential.</p>
<p>Improvement varies from person to person. I got a 202 on my PSAT sophomore year without studying, and got a 2250 this year as a junior (in October) with about 3 weeks of prep. However, I have been a heavy reader throughout my life (CR is usually the hardest to improve on). Noitaraperp does have a famous thread for improving from 550 to 800 on CR. Such improvements are very rare, and unlikely if you have been studying for so long.</p>
<p>You have to analyze the factors that are holding you back. If you have a low CR score, there’s not much you can do about that. Writing tests the same concepts over and over. If you learn the rules and the reasons behind them, there is no reason to not get 700+ on writing.</p>
<p>Math is also pretty easy to improve imo. There will be about 4 questions on the SAT that require a little ingenuity. The others are repetitive. You have to go over questions you get wrong and understand the concepts behind them.</p>
<p>I can’t say I got the best score in the world but what I did was do a practise test, then review my mistakes and think hard about why I got that question wrong and what I can do to improve. Try to practise the techniques they tell you in the prep books without time limits just to get the hang of them and maybe even work ahead and look at the literature and math II subject tests, which can give you a step ahead of the game so it might make it easier. Not sure if that’s the best advice but that’s what I did.</p>
<p>Seriously? That’s kinda ridiculous. Like read, like actual books and stuff, the people I know with good scores either spend too much time wasted on SAT prep or more likely, are well-read.</p>
<p>I’m a math person, so I can’t really comment on math.</p>
<p>You’re spending too much time on it, and it appears you’re not making much progress. There’s no way you would only get a 2000/2400 after studying since 7th grade.
I got a 2220 and I began studying my sophomore year, and that was too early. Not worth it!!!</p>
<p>I think pretty much all SAT prep is sort of ridiculous. I mean, yeah, study the week before, maybe do one practice test, review basic techniques. But I think people who memorize SAT words and study for months ahead of the test are sort of insane.
I can’t say that my personal interests aren’t good prep for the SAT. One of my favorite books is a book of English grammar. All of my life, when I have encountered words I don’t know, I’ve looked them up in the dictionary, and written down their meanings. For goodness sakes, at times I’ve even read the dictionary. And the books I read aren’t Harry Potter and Twilight, they’re Nabokov and Tolstoy. Nonetheless, I never bought a book of “500 SAT words.” And I think my “method” of prep was pretty dece. When I visited one of my friends, who is, I should mention, very intelligent, and already had an 800 on the Math section, she was studying for the Writing and CR sections. She had a big pile of 100 or so words she was trying to memorize and had been studying. I could define every one of them for her, and I bet I had more fun learning them than she did. </p>
<p>At this point, you’re probably wasting your time. You’ve lost momentum in studying, and you seem like you’ve come to resent the test. Take your score and move on.</p>
<p>I don’t know what you mean by “studying.” The best way to study for the SAT is simply to take a bunch of practice tests, reading strategies is overrated. What is the breakdown of your scores?</p>
<p>you know, if scoring high is really important to you, you should try changing your learning habits. back in 7th grade i practically didn’t even know english but my scores still worked out in the end. purposely studying for the sat doesn’t work that well if you are still building the core. start taking your english and math classes very seriously at school, read websites like nytimes, take debate if your school offers it. improvement comes naturally, prepping only gives you techniques which are only useful after you reach 2100</p>
<p>I think your parents are stressing you out. I studied a little for the ACT and got a decent score so I didn’t study at all for the SAT, and I was really relaxed and got a 2270. Just being in school should help you a certain amount on the SAT. Don’t waste too much time on practicing (though some is good)</p>