Marie96

@Reckie,
Have you talked with others about this too? Just seems so odd...

My EC's would be the way you consider yours. Not many, but very passionate about them. I do have a few "big" EC's I'll be doing next Summer and Spring. Pretty sure that I'll just go ahead and add them on my apps.


None of the schools I've ever been to had grade inflation, so I'm not too familiar with that. All I really know about the one I'm with now and have been with for about 2yrs is on a 6 point grading scale or something like that. (I had always thought it was on a 10point until I got a midyear report..) 94+ is an A. 88-93 is a B. 80-87 is a C. etc..

Have you noticed a decrease in one section and an increase in another? I'm having that problem (about the decreasing, not increasing lol) with Writing and CR. My CR has gone up by about 50-60, while my writing has gone down by about 40. I have mainly been concentrating on only Math studies because that is my main weakness, but I just don't understand that fluctuation with the Writing. I mean, I've always considered English my best subject...

Reckie

Well the SAT's vary in difficulty, by quite a big difference I might add. It's expected that you know more on one test than another, and scores fluctuate based on all of this plus luck with guessing and tons of other factors. This is another reason I'm trying to take it as many times as possible. I feel I got really lucky on the Oct SAT and I knew just about everything on the math section.(which I previously got a 580) We'll see how I did in another week. With what I was able to remember I'm expecting a 640-670+ and I didn't study at all between the tests. I'm also a very good writer, and I had a really really tough time with both CR and Writing.(expecting a decrease in CR, maybe writing also) I usually know 99% of words on the SAT but it just so happened I knew maybe 80% of the hard ones on the October test...(like *** is Polymath)

I'm well aware of my math weaknesses,(fractions, triangles, etc) and if a test has easy questions on those topics I can get them right, but if they're one of the 16-20(harder ones) I end up 99% getting them wrong. Once I fix these I expect less fluctuation between tests as well.

Fluctuation is one reason I dislike taking and grading full length SAT's, because I end up over-thinking what I did wrong and getting mad over doing worse after studying.

Marie96

I hope you receive the score that you want back from the Oct date!

That's what I was thinking about the fluctuation, but this has been over 4 practice tests so far. I could understand if it was one or two, possibly even three, but four?!? One major problem I have with the SAT and basically other things too, is that I just get frustrated if I can't figure something out. I remember there was one math problem and I really over thought it. I spent probably a good 20 minutes on it. When I went back to the correct answer, I had realized that the solution was veryyyy simple. Guess that's another thing I dislike about the test: You never really know if the solution is simple or complicated. Well, I think part of that just comes down to the method.

When do you do most of your studying? Like, I do mine mainly between mid-morning and the late afternoon. I would study all night, but I just don't understand much and make careless mistakes when I'm tired. I do find that I retain more of the information during the afternoon studying than the morning for some reason...

Reckie

Honestly I've barely started studying yet. I've been trying,(not really) but I plan to start! Since I learned about my senior gpa not counting I'll have a lot more time now to study. I only take 5 classes(although 4/5 of them are college/AP classes) so I get home a little after noon every day. Besides homework I have all day to study on weekdays, and as long as I don't let my friends get the best of me I have time on weekends as well.

I've seen the most improvement when I go over questions with no time-limit, learning how to do the ones I get wrong. What helps you the most?

Marie96

I'm somewhat of a procrastinator until I get a surge of motivation or until I see the deadline quickly approaching (like in this case, lol.)

Um, I would say that taking my time and going over everything step-by-step is what helps me the most. It's really tough for me because I just get so distracted over the least little thing...I'm like a dang fish!

Have your books arrived yet?

Reckie

Same here. I'll be doing a math problem and just randomly hear something, turn on the tv and not even realize I was doing math until like half an hour later. It's like unconsciously I'll do anything possible except just sit still and work.

Most of my books are here, I just need to start working!

It seriously sounds like we're twins.

Marie96

Wow, it really does seem like that! I either do what you do, or get lost on the internet when one of my friend's send me a link to something, especially with youtube...I end up looking at the "related" videos for a while.

How many more days? I think it's around 15?

Reckie

Something like that, I think less lol. It's hard to study when I don't know what I got on the October one. I really do need to get started though. Related videos have stolen hundreds of hours from my life.

My excuse for not studying today is I'm trying to sell all my paintball gear. And by that, I mean, clicking refresh until someone messages me since I already put the posts up.

Yes, clicking refresh > studying.

Marie96

I think I might over credit myself sometimes. Like if I study for a page or two (which isn't much at all), I'll just consider my studying done for the day like I do when I complete around 18-20 pages.

Well, just make up what you didn't do today for tomorrow. At least that will be some studying done! I should really study this weekend...*should*

How do you manage making time with friends?
For me, I put them ahead of studying without even realizing it.

My life: Family>Friends>Things I want to do>Distractions>Studying. Average out around 4.5-5 hours of sleep too.

Reckie

LOL I just finished the math diagnosis test in Grubers and came on here to brag(like 10 pages) before watching a movie.. and then I read your post hahahaha.

My life: Things I want to do > Friends > Sleep > Everything else.

Anyway... I just did the Grubers diagnostic test! I either got every question in the section right, or every question in the section wrong... so I guess it worked!

Marie96

At least ya got something done! Lol congrats on getting it completed!

I've been mainly using Barrons lately. I was using PWN the SAT Math, though.

Are you studying section by section or all at once? Like, my main focus is Math, and then once I feel confident in that, then I'll start with the CR.

Reckie

Honestly I have no idea. I'm much better at english/writing than math, but I need to bring both up.

For this upcoming test I'm probably going to do math exclusively until the last couple days where I'll work on all my essay topics that I need to memorize, and continuing my vocabulary each day as well. Just started Direct Hits but I want to at least finish the first book before this test.

What are you doing?

Marie96

For me, just math right now. Then I'll go straight into my CR book and study writing some. Plus, I need to fix my essay examples. (They're in rough draft mode right now)

Well...all I got done today was a page...which my excuse would be that Friday's are always hectic for me.

suddenlysilly

Hi, What I did for my SAT essay is, read a lot of samples and try structuring my essay like the best of these samples. Also, I wrote them and showed them to my English teacher, who at first returned my papers with a lot of corrections and red (my cheeks turned red looking at them too!) but as time went, the corrections got fewer and confidence increased! I took my SAT last week and I'm hoping for the best!

One best sample structure I found useful - SAT Exam – The SAT Essay

Reckie

@Marie, I've decided to buckle down and do LOTS of math along with finishing the Direct Hits 1 book before this upcoming test.

@suddenlysilly, thanks man! I think I'm going to do 3 examples, 2 from the list I'm going to study and memorize(Enron, Apple, etc.) and then 1 personal example if I have the time. How do you guys normally format it?

14 days left(including today)
I have to do 15 words per day in Direct Hits to finish the book on time.
I need to spend at least a full day on my essay examples.
And the rest of the time will be spent on practice tests and math studying.