teenfun01

Hi, i am a rising senior and i took my first SAT's on June and got a Terrible score. I got a overall of 1510 out of 2400.
CR-500 Math-570 and Writing- 490. I was feeling terrible on the day of the SAT's, i was sick,i didn't get a lot of sleep and i was REALLY nervous. I didn't study at all. I get mostly A's in my honors/AP classes and thought i was prepared but i guess i was wrong. i own the Blue book, Princeton Review book and Barrons 2012 SAT prep book. I really want my score to be in 1700's range, i know it's going to be really hard but i am willing to study for it. I am taking my SAT's on October and maybe on November. Any tips to study would be highly appreciated!! Thank you so much for answering!!

ameliab12

A large Duke study showed the math score going up 14 points and verbal going up 13.6 points from the first to second test (those numbers are almost cut in half for a third test). Though some scores obviously go up higher (I had a 100 point increase, which is considered fairly spectacular), some stay the same or even fall. I had a friend who was angry that his score only went up 10 points. Some people don't want to admit that maybe their score was an accurate representation of their ability the first time and their expectations are too high.
Studying will help to familiarize you with the types of questions and you'll be less nervous the second time, but don't count on such a huge score increase. If I had an advice for you, I'd say you should really just read a lot of challenging books; it helps your vocabulary (especially if you write down any words you don't know and look them up) and makes your writing more mature.

Amandurrs

I think it's possible to get around 1700! My score went up 170 points my second time so I think just the fact that you've taken the test before will help you in making you more comfortable. Get lots of sleep the day before and just keep reminding yourself that it's just a test so you don't psych yourself out.

As for studying, I thought the blue book was pretty helpful in studying CR and Writing. I like to come into the essay armed with a few examples that I could use for a lot of stuff, so perhaps pick books you've studied in class or a movie that's really resonated with you and you can use those to answer the prompt. Last time I felt like I wrote a subpar essay but I did write 5 paragraphs and I ended up with a 10 anyway. So I think they do like to see 5 paragraphs (3 body, 1 intro, 1 conclusion) and big words (but make sure you use them right!).

I think it's easiest to improve your math score by getting together with a friend who's got a really good math score. You can go through practice problems and then ask them if you're having trouble. Having them explain really helps because it helps you learn the type of thinking you should be approaching the problems with. I'm not great at logic and all so I have some difficulty with math but just practicing/reviewing with a friend really helped me.

I think practice is key! Work through one of the practice tests in the blue book and make sure you understand each and every question and why the correct answer is correct and I think you should be good. Good luck and happy studying!