<p>So I'm planning on taking the SATs sophmore yr, preferably the first time of the yr. I'm kinda lacking in critical reading and writing and I really need to get 2300+. My vocab is not up to par either and I have the whole summer to study so what would be a good schedule?</p>
<p>As in the first 10 days, memorize vocab for 2 hrs and etc,etc</p>
<p>sorry bump</p>
<p>Who doesn’t need a 2300 SAT score? We all do. If I were you, I would take the SAT once my Sophomore year to see and get a feeling for the test. Most colleges view students who take the SAT’s more than 3 times as obsessive or just “obtuse.” You don’t want to blow all your chances your Sophomore year. I would study hard this summer and take the test. If the score is below, get your score report for an additional $15? and go over each answer, wrong and correct. Then from there, study vocab words, write practice SAT prompts, and just solve math problems at any available time. The summer of your Sophomore year, I would definitely devote the entire vacation to SAT. This is what you have to do if you’re not a good test taker like me. Most tutors are a waste of time and those summer camps are out there to grab your money. Spend any money that you would spend on tutors or these prep courses on all the books you can get your hands on. There’s several threads here recommending different books. Typically you’d want the collegeboard book, Barrons 2400, and Grubbers math book if you seriously lack math. Barrons is typically good because it’s actually a bit harder than the actual SAT so if you do well in Barrons, you’ll do well on the SAT. The CB book is just good for the tests that it provides. And Grubbers math book is pretty much straightforward. I also recommend that you look at Xiggi’s and Silverturtle’s thread. Also Trinity has a nice thread as well. Good luck and don’t give up!</p>
<p>You don’t need to take a real test to see how you do in it. You do not want to take the test multiple times or you are going to hurt your chance.
Just do many practice tests and you would already find out your expected score range. Once you reached a plateau or your target range, then you are ready for the real test. It makes sense to finish taking the test by spring of Junior year, but it does not make much sense to take it much earlier as you are expected to do better after you learn more from the curriculum.</p>
<p>Memorizing vocabulary and learning vocabulary are kind of the same thing but I would prefer learning something over memorizing it if it had some sort of value in my life other than the SAT. For the vocabulary, I would recommend Word Smart by Princeton Review. As for the rest of the critical reading, you should probably try reading some super detailed passages written by Mark Twain since flavor text seems to kill people. Barron’s Critical Reading Workbook or whatever it is called seems solid.</p>
<p>For Math, buy Gruber’s Math Workbook if your scores are below a 600. If you work at it, you should eventually get around a 600. You can also try Barron’s Math which I’m a little unsure of but I’ve heard good things about it. If those 2 above fail, try the Pwnthesat math workbook. I only went through the first couple of chapters but I saw a 50 point improvement after a couple of days.</p>
<p>For Writing, which is the easiest section to get an 800 on (my belief), Barron’s Writing Workbook works. I would ignore some of the essay advice and find what works for you. You can also watch videos by the user waystoimprove on youtube. I’ve heard about people just using that as a lone study source and scoring an 800.</p>
<p>As for courses, which I feel parents stress their children into (I stressed myself into it), don’t take them unless you are willing to put work into it and see no improvement in scores in self-studying.</p>
<p>Purchase the blue book (The Official Study Guide to the SAT 2nd Edition). It is by far the most useful thing you will ever need since some of the tests (I believe the first 3) are from actual administered SATs. Take a test every week or so and try to simulate testing conditions. Make sure you are timing yourself well. For the essay portion, feel free to post your essays on here for scoring if you’d like. You don’t need a perfect essay score to get a perfect writing score, but it does help if you mess up on the multiple choice. Good luck studying. </p>
<p>If you need more tests, you can try the SAT online course by collegeboard which should provide you with some extra practice tests. If you need even more practice tests, feel free to PM me and I’ll send you some.</p>