<p>Hey,</p>
<p>Ok, just came out of the PSAT's yesterday... and now its time to set our eyes on the SAT... although I think I completely screwed up on the PSAT's yesterday, probably even scoring less then 180, I still think with enough practice I can achieve a 2300+ in the SAT's. What do you guys suggest is the best program of study (besides tutoring or a class)? What should I start doing from now until the SAT test date (I'm assuming May?)? How can I guarantee a 2300+?</p>
<p>wait, psat's were yesterday on a wedensday....? im confused....</p>
<p>yes it was on wed during school</p>
<p>Well both Wednesday, or Saturday. No difference, time to look forward for the SAT. (Though good luck to you if you are taking it Saturday. :))</p>
<p>A-san, you remind me of myself after I took the psats. Through my experience with the Sat's and Psat's i've come to understand that potential plays a huge amount in the scores you are able to attain. Generally, people who recieve 2300+ on the SATS have also attained at least at 200 on the PSAT's. I honestly do not think that theres a problem in aiming for a high score but i just think that you should be a little more realistic in what you will be able to attain. Studying can really really help, but it rarely gives you a 500 point boost (assuming you get an 1800). I suggest you set a more realistic goal of maybe a 2050 and work from there. Also if you can find a good private tutor and can afford it, do it. Theres absolutely no way to guarentee a 2300.</p>
<p>p.s. i dont mean to be debbi downer. good luck!</p>
<p>I spent two months studying on and off on weekdays and proliforously on week-ends during school. I ended up with 2300 second try. It takes natural capacity and lots of practice.</p>
<p>ofcourse you can't guarantee a 2300, ace1054, no one can, but I dont see anything wrong with aiming for it. Furthermore, aslong as you know the material cold, I don't see any reason why anyone can't achieve the score they want with proper practice, and training. Testing is a game, and it takes preparing. There is no inherent skill you are born with that can make you take a test better then others. I believe its a mix of your reading habits, logic, reasoning, and knowledge of the material, all of which I know can be taught. Ofcourse, it can be taught more faster to some than others, but all that is relative to your determination and the methods you use to learn them. The methods is what I am here asking for from knowledgeable CCers. :)</p>
<p>Thanks the the advice though, ace1054. :) I doubt I'd be able to afford a private tutor, but I dont think there is a need, since there are so many resources and books already.</p>
<p>A-san..........You have the right mentality, thinking that anything is possible with hard work, but the truth is that innate intelligence plays a huge role in the psat and sat. If you got a 1800 on the psat, I seriously would not count on a 2300 on the sat. If anyone can achieve the score they want with proper practice and training, then thousands of people would get 2400s at each test date. However unfair it is, some people just aren't born smart enough to get certain scores, and hard work can only take you so far. But remember these are only standardized tests, ultimately trivial in life, and hard work can take you as far as you want to go in things that matter. Just don't waste your time going for 2400.</p>
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How can I guarantee a 2300+?
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ofcourse you can't guarantee a 2300, ace1054, no one can
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<p>A little contradiction there, A-san =p</p>
<p>I don't want to discourage you, but I want to put in some of my own experience -- I hope you aren't offended by any means. Like Ace commented, your mentality reminded me of my Junior PSAT. I scored 238 (78 in CR) in the Junior SAT, and I was all like, "Great! I have a 2400 now!" It took me two tries with the SAT to see that unlike most Asian college entrance exams (or for that matter, most college entrance exams in the world), preparation for the SAT only takes you a certain way. Without enough natural ability, it is difficult to score above a 2300 on the SAT. With all due respect, I disagree with you on the point that SAT can be "taught". Sure -- practice can increase your score immensely, but there is absolutely no gurantee of "I put in 300 hours of practice, now where is my 2400?" In freshman and sophomore years, I naively assumed that to be true. After all, I live in Taiwan and I've heard numerous stories of how so-and-so did 2 years of intensive practice and scored perfect on the Taiwanese college exam. After taking the SAT twice and watching my friends take it, I've come to believe otherwise. The SAT is not a measure of how much you learned at school or even how much you learned from your preparations. Scoring above 2200-2300 requires either natural aptitude or a very solid foundation in English.</p>
<p>By no means I am saying that it is impossible for you to score 2300+ (I personally saw a student improve from 1740 to 2270 after copious practice), but I just want to put things in perspective for you so you don't end up berating yourself should you miss that mark. A massive jump in scores is possible (especially if you have never performed to the best of your ability on standarized exams), but after a certain mark your scores will plateau. I am willing to believe that a 2400 is based largely on luck and the questions that appear on that certain test administration. Don't kill yourself over a number -- it's just a number, not how "good" of a person you are.</p>
<p>By the way, I ended up scoring 2290 on my SAT (800/800/690). Although I missed the 2300 mark, I'm more happy with that score than say if I scored 770/770/770. I'm certain I can score over 2300 if I took the SAT again with more preparation, but I don't consider a 23x0 to be an immediate ticket to college success. The SAT is not everything there is to college admissions -- your ECs will take precedence after you have reached a certain threshold in SAT scores and GPA that the schools require.</p>
<p>Good luck on your preparations!!</p>
<p>Both of you have very valid points, however, I said firm in my belief that no one is born smart. Ofcourse, one person can be at a different level then another, for example, me and thousands of others who have just taken the PSAT's, but its not to say that someone has better "smart genes" then anyone else. However, this is a whole different debate about nature-vs-nuture, and I am sure you guys hold your viewpoints just as strongly as I do. </p>
<p>As for my PSAT score (in my case) I think its going to be a little weird. I did say I got less then 180, however, that is all dependant on my Critical reading score, which was ironically my best score last year. Last year I also had a 46 in Writing, and now I can say that I am confident that I got 700+ definitely - I knew every question in the writing section, every one. As for Math, I know that I did better then last year, so I'm hoping for over a 60. Now, for Critical Reading, I really think what screwed me up is a matter of strategy. I ended up with not enough time in the end to finish the last few questions, so my biggest problem was pacing I think. </p>
<p>Anyways, lets say that this is the case of someone who will make a big turn around as you guys have suggested you've witnessed, how did that person go about doing it? How would you go about doing it?</p>
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A little contradiction there, A-san =p
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<p>EDIT: @oasis, haha yeah, you got me.</p>
<p>i started at the 1700s(first practice test) and ended up with 2200+ on my 4th try. 1st try was 1870. So, you can study for it, but you do also mentally mature and become smarter through the years. Math/CR is more aptitude, but you can study a little bit. Writing you can just study for and get 800, but yeah its possible although very difficult</p>
<p>PSATS
168, 169, 198
SATS
1940, 2100, 2200'ish (last one is prediction that i hope..)
This is how it went for me. I rose about 500 points mainly because of study. And the questions i missed were NOT because I didn't know them (ok maybe a phew), but because of time constraints and just stupid errors. (on this last one about the flag one on the grid-ins, i read it to say that find the area of the dotted line... i always do this on any standardized test. So I am stuck at 2200).</p>
<p>How did both of you study? What exactly did you do from the PSATs to SATs?</p>
<p>I won't say my scores, because I am embarrassed but I improved three hundred points from my junior PSAT to my second SAT in May. My first SAT was a month earlier in April. I improved 80 points from first SAT to second SAT.
I think it is definitely possible if you think you will put the effort in. After seeing my dismal PSAT score (I put 0 effort into PSAT) in January, I bought the collegeboard online practice thingy. I did 5 practice tests out of those over the course of three months and improved 200 some points. Then between April and May I just did hard math problems and just did practice CR passages.
I took it this October again with no prep over the summer. I hoped to prep but SAT prep is not my favorite pass time. I think I will score lower this time. </p>
<p>After my long boring story, here is the advice:
Start early. Learn vocab like crazy. I don't think the roots help that much btw. but they are helpful to look over. For CR passages, try a couple of strategies, ie, reading questions first or passage first, underlining and marking the passage while reading. Compare scores and see which ones work better. Use the one that works for you.
For Math, lay off the calculator. Punching buttons take too much time. Try mental math, believe me it helps.
Writing--Well sophomore year,in english class, we had like 4 weeks of intensive grammar prep so I didn't have to do anything. I score in the 700s in here without prep so can't help on that. For essay, use SAT vocab and look over high scoring SAT essays. Just copy their format. </p>
<p>If you read this, you have more dedication, patience, etc. that me and are ready to score that 2300+. (Remember anything above 2200 is luck )</p>
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<p>I kind of hate it when people say that . . . </p>
<p>There are people in this world smart enough to not have to rely on luck to get any of the last two hundred points. I improved my score 100 points from 2200, and it wasn't from 'luck', it was from an ungodly amount of high-level practice, timing, and prep. Luck will only help you on the last hundred or less, where a single questiokn can mean 40 points less on a section (for example, the difference between a 52 and a 51 raw score on math when the curve is at its harshest).</p>
<p>A-san, since you're on CC, I assume you're probably smart enough to score as high as you're hoping eventually, however, people are definately born with more natural talent that others to do this. If it wasn't so, everyone that worked their butts off would be scoring 2400, because the max SAT score has a low ceiling.</p>
<p>If you still don't believe me, go to the last few questions in every math section on an accurate SAT practice exam--here it becomes painfully obvious. The concepts are often overlapping or math concepts have to be applied in creative ways to solve many of these problems. Luck can help if you happen to know the methods on that particular exam, but there are people who would be able to answer all of the hard math questions anyway, meaning luck wouldn't be a factor. Also, look to this: Studying and practice can only familiarize you with math/other concepts so much, but the SAT always recycles tricks on the hardest math questions in different ways to the point that someone has to be naturally smart to be able to apply the concepts they've learned to any given question, no matter how different it is from the other high-difficulty questions that they might have spent hours practicing before.</p>
<p>It is imo. AFter reading so many of the CR questions i could of EASILY gotten a 2300 (i missed 2 easy lvl sentence comps... i read them wrong. I missed SO MANY others that were so freaking easy..). I mess up the math questions (missed 2 more easy ones here.). i always do this. I seem to have a natural propensity to make careless mistakes. I took everyone's suggestions and still I just don't get it. I just can't stop making careless mistakes. I could of easily gotten a 2250-2300 in oct. if not for it... now I am expecting 2150-2200..</p>
<p>Keep in mind that there are people that don't make those mistakes and can score very high each time. It might be luck for a lot of people, but not all--and I (as stated by the examples of my above post) don't consider my score luck.</p>
<p>As for the above post (by A-san) on people being born smart or not, I think it's pretty obvious that some people are straight-up more intelligent. In any big school, you'll find a kid that works hard and gets good grades, and a kid who barely studies and always aces everything. There are kids who never do a bit of test prep and come out with 35s and 36s on the ACT, or 2200+ on the SAT, while others have to work their butts off only to miss 2100 or 32. There are kids who retain and apply information and ideas naturally while others have to slave at it to make it natural. It's arbitrary and unfair, but it's true, and you can see it at any big public high school.</p>
<p>Don't get it twisted--hard work goes a long way, but natural talents give head starts. That's all I'm saying.</p>
<p>I completely agree with you, Murasaki. You echo my sentiments; your previous posts actually summarize what I've been trying to convey to my parents ever since last year. I wanted them to understand the point you made in the last paragraph in your second-to-last post especially for a long time.</p>
<p>Preparation will get you far, but there are people that are just endowed with enough natural ability to be scoring consistently higher than someone with massive amounts of preparation.</p>
<p>I think Murasaki makes a very good point here,</p>
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however, people are definately born with more natural talent that others to do this. If it wasn't so, everyone that worked their butts off would be scoring 2400, because the max SAT score has a low ceiling.
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<p>murasaki i have to disagree with you there. You claim to have gotten 100 points higher than 2200. But, thats composite. I mean you pretty much stayed at 2200 for 2 tests, so yeah its pretty much luck. You might have been able to get 2300 in a single testing, but you didnt.</p>
<p>But, there are of course those that can get 2400 consistently. And, those are few. Anyone that scores in the mid 2100 range, can probably easily score in the 2200 and 2300 range with a bit of luck and work.</p>