I took it a bunch of times
First time: 1940. I studied a ton for this, maybe 5-10 practice tests
Second time: 2090 2 or 3 practice tests
Third Time: 2190 One or two sections
Fourth Time: 2210 2270 superscore. I basically read one Critical Reading section out of the 3 in the book and did some SAT Questions of the day.
I think that taking classes can differ from person to person.
First attempt:
Dec. 2013: 2140 essay 9. Did 3 months of Sat prep with Princeton review.
Second attempt:
May 2014: 2170 essay 11. Studied for like a week before it lol. So I’m pretty sure there’s no foolproof thing, all you can do is try your best.
2200 - First test, pretty much went in cold (although I did skim the PR book in the week before the test).
2400 - Second test, somewhat got lucky as the math portion was easier (this was for last November), but the majority of my studying was concentrated on just looking through the formulas contained within PWN the SAT, and Dr. Chung’s math guide. I didn’t truly start studying until three weeks before the test, as I was a bit too occupied earlier in the year.
(If I could suggest anything, it would be to make sure that you have all of the SAT grammar rules down like the back of your hand. They’re surprisingly easy to master, and distributed practice should give you a good grasp of just about all of them.)
(Also, anyone who says that you need any real examples for your SAT essay is either inexperienced, or lying. I got an 11 using examples that were more fake than presidential campaign promises. As long as they sound good, and support your essay, their veracity is immaterial.)
Overall, I think I may have just been exceptionally lucky. I’m somewhat of an anomaly.