jenx1234

I took the SATs in May without studying and was relatively happy with my score. However, I'd like to bring it up about 60 points.


Does anyone know from personal experience whether studying actually makes a difference? I've been told that no amount of studying can really change scores all that much. So, is it worth it for me to devote some time every week to studying?

Thanks in advance!

MIG31flier

i guess a practice test a week or two shouldn't hurt....

Pea

It has been 30 years since I was in high school but 30 years ago the prevailing wisdom was that you couldn't study for the SAT, it was more a measure of aptitude. I went to a public high school and the private school in our town didn't believe this and they prepped their students for the SAT. And you know what, those students did much better than they would have. As much as the SAT people would like to think otherwise the SAT is something that can be prepared for but I don't know if that necessarily means studying for or a prep course.

112358

It takes a lot of studying to make a significantly large increase, but you should be able to go up 60 points without too much work.

chenman333

You betcha!

dshinka

I went from a 710 M my Junior year to an 800 my Senior year. I knew all the math I just made stupid mistakes. My dad bought me a book of 12 full-length practice tests and I went through half of the math ones. Sometimes I'd get all the questions right in one subsection but never all 3. I guess I lucked out...

I increased from a 570 W to a 600 W and a 630 V to a 660 V without studying, so I'd guess that taking 18 practice sections gave me a good 60-70 points on one section.

But yeah... STUDY!!!

My best friend went from a 1200-something her freshman year to a 1590 (out of 1600). Her parents wanted her to pop out a 1600 and she was forced to study a whole lot and retake the test several times.

That being said, you can study too much as there's a principle of diminishing returns since colleges care a lot about your GPA, essay and EC's and what you have to offer the world.

pigs_at_sea

is the sky blue??

scigirl14

Pigs_at_sea, sometimes the sky is grey.

jenx1234

okay thanks everybody!

(except you, pigs_at_sea...)

Charlie Brown

Definitely. 60 points is not unreasonable at all.

swimminvegan14

I studied extensively for both tests when I retook them in June, especially on the math section which on the SAT went up 70 points on the second sitting, all of my other subscores stayed about the same. I think the only things you can really do to study for the SAT or the ACT even is go over basic math skills even try some practice problems and read A LOT so that you get the vocabulary without even really trying.

2400clubmember

This thread is ridiculous. Obviously studying helps. For writing, you can improve your grammatical skills. Math, different basic concepts. CR, more exposure to vocabulary/reading. If you believe studying doesn't help, go ahead and try it out and prove me wrong.

jenx1234

I don't think it's ridiculous at all. I already took the SAT with zero studying and got a 2140. So you can imagine why I think it's hard to believe that I'll improve with any studying.

But, thanks for the input. Much appreciated.

yellowismellow

yeah, the sky's kinda grey right now. which sucks because today's july 4th. :[

if you want +60 points, then i would aim for approx +100 points on the practice tests.

apple1984

+60 is definitely possible; I improved by 170 points by doing a handful of practice tests from the Blue Book (2170 January -> 2340 June).