<p>I'm a junior right now and I've been studying for the SAT for a while. I did a little prep before my sophomore year PSAT and received a decent score of 190. I did minimal prep in between that and summer, and come summer I was away at camp so I didn't have a lot of time for intensive prep. I did study for about 2-3 weeks before school started almost every day though. When school came about, I used my free period to study for the SAT and I did this until the day of the PSAT. I recently got my scores and they lowered to 185.</p>
<p>I am not sure what to do now. I'm pretty sure that the 185 was not a fluke because I took a practice SAT and received an 1880. I am confused as to why I am not improving but I would really appreciate any tips on what I can do to help. I have friends who received 160-170 on the PSAT sophomore year and then got around 200 their junior year without all that much studying. I've always heard that people normally have a 10-20 point natural increase, yet I had a 5 point drop. </p>
<p>For studying writing, I took practice tests from the blue book. I was able to get 700+ 3 times in a row about a week before the PSAT, so I assumed I would get the same. I got mid 600's for both the PSAT and the practice SAT I took. Since I finished all my tests in the blue book, how would you suggest studying now? I feel like I know the majority of grammar rules but it's all just stupid mistakes. I know you guys will suggest just practicing to make those stupid mistakes go away, but clearly practice has not improved anything. </p>
<p>For math, I was receiving high 600's on my practice tests from the blue book. I did about 4 or so practice tests in math and I ordered Dr. Chung's book and did ~15 of the tips. I also watched many Khan Academy videos on the SAT math. I got a 69 in math sophomore year so I assumed that with a year of prep and another whole year of a math class that I would be able to score at least 70+. I actually went down to mid 60's. How would you suggest improving from here? </p>
<p>For reading, I am terrible. Some passages just click with me and I am able to get all the questions right in that section, and other passages just don't make sense and I got a majority of the questions wrong. I did not focus on vocab before the PSAT but I am now so I am not worried about that. Basically I want to know if you suggest reading the questions first while marking the passages for lines, then reading the passage and answering the questions as you go along? I have always used to read the passage first completely and then skim it for the questions. I've improved a little with the former method but I'm not sure if that's because it's actually working or if I have just naturally improved my reading skills.</p>
<p>I am trying to avoid taking classes because I don't want my parents to spend that much money, but I can try it out if you think that I should take it. I have the motivation to study on my own it's just that I need a new way of studying. </p>
<p>tl;dr: how do I study when my scores have decreased because of my studying?</p>