You really, honestly, truly, do NOT need money for tutoring or prep classes to do well on the SAT. If you found your way to this site, you can find your way to free online practise material. There are plenty of kids scoring above 2200 without costly prep or good schools. Most research has shown that the average increase in score after taking a prep class is 40 points. Don’t argue for your limitations. Start practicing.
@neatoburrito, I found out about this site when I watched a video by on Harvard time. Anyway, thanks for responding to my thread and can you link me with some advice
@verizonwireless
If you only found out few months ago about the SAT, don’t blame it to your school or your GC or the lack thereof. If you are really interested about getting in to top school and if you have internet access (which you have), all the information that you need to know are out there.
Anyway, 1900 for the SAT is not that bad. My daughter first SAT (she was Junior as well) is 1900+, her second one is 2200, then she took the ACT and got a 34. Just get a reviewer and practice.
Just type “free online sat” into Google.
@verizonwireless,
Don’t let your struggles define your mental attitude. There is nothing about your school that is holding you back from doing your best on the SAT. Lots of folks do very well on the SAT without private tutoring, or even without much by way of prep. Certainly, it’s a good idea to practice the test a couple of times. Some students need to take a test like the SAT a time or two before they do their best. My younger son is like that.
But his school recommended that he take a prep course to boost his score, and quite frankly, it didn’t do a thing for him. I let him quit the course. From then on, he just would occasionally give himself a practice test. He took the SAT twice and managed to do very well.
Taking lots and lots of APs isn’t going to correlate with a higher SAT score. Most of the kids at my sons’ high school take less than 6 APs (five is usually what the best students take, with a few exceeding that number). My older son’s best friend took four or five APs and still scored a 2300 on his SAT. Lots of his friends scored over 2100, even with fewer APs.
I once read an article from the College Board on taking multiple administrations of the SAT. The article suggested that there is some increase in score related to getting older and a little more mature, and that a bit more than half of folks will see a modest increase just by taking the test another time. What will give you the best chance of doing your best on the test is to read as widely as you can, especially for pleasure. Develop an interest in many topics and enjoy exploring them intellectually. You have a computer, you have the Internet. Explore! Enjoy!
As for fees, you’ll need to do some legwork, but the College Board has programs to reduce or waive exam fees. Here’s a link to get started. You’ll need to research it further, the eligibility requirements, and what’s available in your state:
http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/waivers/guidelines/ap
All the best to you.
@notjoe, I know about that, I have a fee waiver (only found out about it this year). Can you help with SAT study material, and thanks BTW, for keeping my spirits high. Lastly, your older sons friend, did he end up in an IVY league?
My older son’s friend didn’t want to go to an Ivy League school. Rather, he got the top scholarship to the state school that he really, really wanted to attend, and that offered a fairly specific academic degree program that he really, really wanted to take. But both my sons wound up Ivy. In my older son’s year, he was the only one admitted to Harvard, but there were a handful of other students who went to other Ivies. In my younger son’s year, he was also the only Harvard admit, but two other students went Ivy.
By the way, none of these high-scoring students who went to top schools, including Ivies, took the school’s recommended SAT prep course except my younger son, who quit after a few weeks. He quit because they tried to teach him a different way of working through the test, and it just didn’t fit him. He kept getting lower and lower scores on the practice tests. He quit the class and made every effort to ignore and forget everything they told him. He eventually superscored a 2340.
In terms of SAT study materials, I think my kids got the Princeton Review materials for standardized tests. But they mainly used them for the practice tests. Other than a few of the more technical AP and SAT II tests (Physics, Chemistry, maybe one other), my sons didn’t “study” for the standardized tests, especially not the SAT I.
@notjoe, so did any of your kids get into Harvard with a score below 2300?
No, but usually, their high school sends, on average, one student per yer to Harvard, and most score between 2100 and 2200. Other Ivy admits are typically in the 2100 - 2200 range as well. Sometimes we have recruited athletes to Ivies, and obviously, they don’t need such high scores.
The ACT is not “easier” but it is true that some students score much better on one of these tests. My D scored only 2040 on the a SAT but 36 on the ACT. The SAT score is at the 93 percentile and the ACT is at the 99.93 percentile. I don’t know how common such an extreme difference but you would certainly want to know how you might score on the ACT
For every spot at Harvard, there are probably a hundred kids who are just as qualified and accomplished. A lot of kids think that because their scores (and extras) exceed the ivy scores they will get in. That simply isn’t true.
Take my neighbor. Class of 2017. She got 2350 (give or take, I can’t remember the exact score) on the SATs. She is an accomplished musician, a girl scout leader, probably about 8-12 AP’s, a leader in a bunch of clubs, won so many awards that her dad stopped going to the ceremonies because they were interfering with his job, first generation college, etc. The Harvard interview took place in the local library and although it was supposed to be about a half hour, it went almost two hours. He told her mother that it was the best interview he has ever had and he was definitely recommending admission. Results: Y- wait list. H,P,D- rejected.
Another case- my daughter’s friend Class 2019. SATs- 2390. Published author. Salutatorian. Skipped 2 years in math. Accomplished musician. Lots of awards. Fluent in 3 languages. Leadership positions. Excellent conversationalist. Many AP’s. Y: deferred (early action)
The bottom line is that no matter how qualified you are, including grades, activities and scores, there is no guarantee. Please don’t get so hung up on one particular school. I bet that there are many schools that are a great fit for you. But you should at least apply because one of those kids in a hundred WILL get in and that kid might be you. Just have a plan B.
Also check out this post. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1744865-parents-our-son-could-go-to-ivy-but-refuses-advice-p1.html This kid has great points and is very mature with his reasoning, although in my opinion he should at least apply to the ivys.
One final point. If you don’t get in for undergrad and still want the diploma from an ivy, there is always grad school. There are plenty of non-ivy undergrads who are ivy graduate students.
As much as I agree with your points (I was deferred from Harvard early action, and it’s heartbreaking to feel that you have everything and still not get in), I would have to correct you in saying that there are likely ten people fighting for each spot at Harvard, not one hundred. The applicant pool is probably filled with fifteen thousand qualified applicants, not one hundred fifty thousand.
hey @Tiberium, sorry to hear that.
And what do you mean you “had everything”, can you share your stats
It’s at the bottom of the page.
@Tiberium … You really did have everything, I cant even fathom why they would reject you. How did you get a 2400 by the way? I wish u the best in the RD round
Harvard is a reach school for everyone. Nobody is a shoo-in there. Students really have to set themselves apart from the countless other highly qualified students.
OP: if you look at the spread of SATs on this thread, you’ll see it’s pointless to focus on that lone metric:
@T26E4 most of those kids have 2300+
@T26E4 even so, I heard that many CCers inflate their stats, is that true?
who is to say? But you should look at the REJECTED students. That’s what you should see. Stop focusing on one lone measurement point. Harvard ≠ University of Seoul