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Announcement 79.5K Views 190 Replies 17 points Most recent by drusba SAT and ACT Tests & Test Preparation79.5K 190
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Replies to: I can help with helping you improve your SAT/ACT scores!
I'm not too familiar with these tutoring centers since I was never able to afford them anyways. I would say that if she uses prep books like Barron's and Princeton Review, she should be able to raise that score. However, if those tutoring centers seem to have a good track record, I would say do it then.
Your plan is identical to what I did. I think you will be able to reach a 1550+. A 1570+ is very hard to achieve and scores can vary based on tests. I would recommend reading up passages from the Lincoln Douglas Debates, anything to do with woman's suffrage, and possibly some founding father documents like the Constitution or the Articles of Confederation.
In addition, I would also recommend reading CNN articles, WIRED articles, National Geographic articles, and the Economist / The New Yorker. Often times College Board will directly take passages from these companies and put them as a reading passage.
I took my first SAT in the fall - I went into that first test without preparation (bad idea, never do that) - I may have done a few practice tests and thought I was ready...didnt do well. After reading thru CC, realized how important it is to prepare systematically with solid material first. So went back and this time, prepared with Erica Melzer's books - then practiced tests (only English though - am fortunate to do well in math consistently and it saved time). For the tests, I critically analyzed the incorrect answers and went back to Melter chapters for any repeated mistakes (I didn't had any particular trend though). Got one incorrect in reading to score 1590 - better than what I was aiming for. Thanks to CC and this thread for awesome tips - no one in our school talks this stuff (wish I got active on this forum earlier)
Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How long did you study to raise your score to 1590? And how did you prepare for the essay part? I will try to prepare this summer. Can you share your advice?
The amount of time may not be the same for everyone - so I would rather limit my advice to 'what' and 'how' to study. First of all, find your weakness section: for me, it was very obvious from the beginning, it's EBRW (based on an SAT I took as a 7th grader and then again as a junior). For my second test, I know I have to improve EBRW and before starting the prep, took an official practice test in that section and used it as my baseline benchmark. Using Khan Academy and others, I tried to see if I have any particular weakness - I had more incorrect answers in English language conventions category. I was also missing some key points while reading complex passages. So I decided to work on improving my grammar rules foundation and also adapt better reading comprehension strategies that fit me. Based on recommendations, I studied thru Erica Melzer's Reading and Grammar books - cover to cover, doing every question it has. I did this over a period of 2 months - on and off and during the peak schedule for myself, so I may not have done it perfectly (advice to any math competitors - don't schedule your real SAT during Feb/March when the peak math season is going on - it was a stressful month for me). Anyways, after completing the Melzer books, I took another practice test - and went thru the test to understand why I got the questions wrong. I think this was my major difference from the 1st test - this time I did a better job of analyzing the errors (ps: took help of my parents in this). I may have done another 2 practice tests with a thorough analysis - afterward its practice and practice... just do as many practice tests as possible.
Lessons-learned and advice: Use the official practice tests effectively - don't rush thru them at the beginning of the preparation cycle. I would say first do one official practice test for baselining - then work on the weaknesses. If weakness is EBRW, I highly recommend the Melzer books; if math I am not sure - I didn't do any separate practice for SAT Math. After you are happy with your foundation training (Melzer books and any Math resources), do a second official practice test - rebalance your weakness. Go back and read the material if you are getting more incorrect's in any particular sub-area. Then third test...and so on.. at some point you may see that all you need further is just practice and go thru rest of tests you have. Have one official practice test for practice for a couple of days before the test. Go into the test confidently, tell yourself that it's only a test - if you do bad, you can always retake (I mean, don't put too much pressure; personally I do worse when I hype too much about a test). Good luck.
Thanks for sharing your journey with SAT prep
It makes me so happy that you're passing on your knowledge to everyone else. Way to go!
Can you also suggest any good books for preparing SAT Bio and Math 2? Thanks.
Sure thing! For Math 2, I used Barron's. Do keep in mind though that I had a very strong math background and the Math 2 test was fairly easy for me. As for SAT Bio, I just used Princeton Review.
Thanks for all the advice.
No problem!
@kayleenr
Use Barron's and Princeton Review for SAT Physics.
Yes, Khan academy has a diagnostic test you can take!
@visaoanh
You have to be more specific.
1. Once you have come up with an idea, how did you go from there?
2. What was progress like and how did you make it?
3. In total around how many hours did you spend on the project?