yipyip0901

i took 3 practice tests in this week.and my scores always remain the same.
math: 700-750
crtical reading: 500-550
writing:540-580
is it possible to raise my score up to 2100 in one year???? (PS:im an international student) should i focus on critical reading rather than math????

Feed

You're doing great on Math! So yes, focus on Critical Reading and also Writing.
Take as many practice sections as you can on these specific parts of the test instead of taking an entire practice test.

I'm sure you'll be able to bring your score up to a 2100+ in a year.
Good luck! =]

Sci-Fry

I'm in a similar position to you. I'm getting 700-800 on the math, 600s for the Writing and 500 for the critical reading. I'm gonna spend the summer focusing on CR and W, as to maximise my grades for next year. I'm also an international student. I've only taken the PSAT, it was the first time I took it, and I'd never seen a PSAT paper before, so I had no idea what to expect. I understand that many people screw up the first time because they don't know the format and strategies, so I'm gonna look at those over the summer...

Godfatherbob

~300 points is totally doable in a year. I would advise you NOT to concentrate your efforts exclusively on reading, however, for a few reasons.

One, if you don't study math it's very likely that your math score will DECREASE over time, rather than increase. The process by which you should go about solving reading questions is very different from that by which you should go about solving math questions, and as you focus on the former, it's likely you'll neglect, even forget the latter.

Two, you may find that once you hit 650 in reading and writing, you can't go any higher. They're difficult sections. You could be stuck with a 650-650-700 situation (I say 700 instead of 750, because, in this scenario, you've focused on the English sections, and consequently your math has suffered), which, granted, is a respectable 2000. But, it's no 2100. Now, in order to raise your math to 800, in order to bring your 2000 to a 2100, you'll have to concentrate exclusively on math, because it will have been [x] months since you last did an SAT math problem. Then, just as your math will have suffered from an exclusive concentration on the English sections, so your English sections will suffer from an exclusive concentration on math, and you could be facing something like 600-600-800--the same 2000.

A similar thing happened to me a few months ago--I, too, am in the practice test phase of SAT studying. I studied math for two weeks, and saw an increase of 170 points--590 to 760! I thought, great, just two sections left. The next month or so I focused on Writing and Reading, and when I took another test, lo and behold, each went up about 30 points. Swell, right? Well, not quite--math went down 90--760 to 670.

Moral of the stories: Focus on the English sections, but do not neglect math. Your goal is to have all three sections increase with each practice test--something I've never been able to do.

Two more quick things:
1. One practice test per week is too frequent. Space it out significantly more.
2. If you're going to take full practice tests--which you should--do take the whole thing. You can't just assume that [this] section will be the same as last time.

Sci-Fry

^ I see your point there! I'll definitely make sure to stay consistent with math. I was still planning on doing a little bit of math anyway because I've never read the strategies or anything, so I want to take a look at those. Never revised for the SAT before, so I'll need to look at everything.

Thanks for the advice

yipyip0901

should i focus on memorizing vocab or passage-based reading????????

Feed

^ DEFINITELY passage based reading.

Nobody can (or has) memorized the dictionary. You are BOUND to see an unfamiliar word on the SAT. Focus on vocab when you have free time, don't take out time for it. I'd say learn 20-30 words a day. That's it. And by learn, I mean don't just memorize the word; know it! Use it in sentences, your English class, or whatever.

Good luck! =]

jumpngo

increasing vocab will increase your total CR score. Doing practice on the CR sections will also increase your CR score because you get used to the passage questions, etc.

Godfatherbob

^Not exactly. I mean, once you're familiar with the question types, doing more and more of them won't raise your score. You have to analyze your incorrect answers, develop an effect strategy for both reading and answering questions, and improve your reading comprehension skills through regular reading. On the one hand, doing practice tests is great; but you have to remember that they're tests, which in and of themselves don't help you study nearly as much as learning from your mistakes and perfecting your strategy.

Feed

I agree with ^^ and ^, or at least that's how I was able to raise my CR score from 560 to 690!

I learnt a lot of vocab (did 50 a day or somewhere around that), did practice tests, and most importantly (yes, as trivial as this seems) I went over my mistakes!

Godfatherbob is very right in saying that you need to recognize your mistakes, and then correct them. There is a pattern in the questions (mostly) and once you acquaint yourself with it I'm sure you'll do better! Like now, I can (almost) always eliminate two/three choices on the questions because I KNOW they can't be the answer.

Long story short: Peruse, practice, and purge.

Don't procrastinate! =]

RahoulVA

Don't even focus on writing, seriously. I would take an 800 M 800 CR 600W any day over a 700 each. I'm not international, but English is my 2nd language, and I don't know if it was yours, but you actually need to start LEARNING thousands of words to have a good chance of getting a 700 on CR. Try Sparknotes 1000,
SuperKids Learn 1000 SAT Vocabulary Words in a month!

Dictionary.com/Word of the Day Archive

Those are all the resources you need for now for vocab.

yipyip0901

is sparknotes 1000 a prep book? can i buy it in the bookshore?????

Godfatherbob

I don't get it. Obviously, you'd take a 2200 over a 2100, but why shouldn't the OP focus on writing, when writing is actually the easiest section to improve?

Feed

^ I think he means to say that some colleges don't consider writing, while CR is taken into account by ALL colleges, nit? (Landing a 1600 CompositeScore is the shizz!)

Of course, though, I say focus on both sections because you do need to improve on each one.

Sci-Fry

Lol! I think he miscalculated the score!