<p>What should I do over the summer to prepare to increase my score from 1950 to 2150? I took the test last November and scored a 1950, but have scored a 31 on the ACT in the meantime and believe a 2150 is achievable. I can easily improve my Math and Writing scores, but Critical Reading is still a struggle on the SAT, despite a 33 on the ACT. How should I prepare for this score increase? Thanks.</p>
<p>I had a 190 point increase from 2110 to 2300. Also, I had a 30 ACT, so we’re sort of in the same boat. The week of my SAT was one of the busiest in my life, so I prepared by doing a few questions from the Blue Book on each section. The night before, I did quite a few questions, but I never did a full practice test. I also casually practiced writing an essay, doing just the body paragraphs.The main reason I think my score went up was because I walked in knowing that it was the last time I would ever, ever take the SAT (and I was 11 the first time!). So I was 100% focused.</p>
<p>It’s absolutely doable. When I started out, I only had a 1700. However, I knew I could, with lots of hard work, bring it up, and I did. I worked my butt off, and now I have a 2140…so it can be done. For the critical reading, the key, for me, (in addition to learning lots of vocab) was reading the New York Times EVERY day. Trust me- it works. Good luck!</p>
<p>rose91 I am hoping for sth like that.I scored 1830 on my first try and will try to improve to 2150 in June and probably 2250 in October.I dont have the opportunity to read NY times every day but improved my vocabulary significantly and read some huge novels ;)</p>
<p>Yeah, I had trouble finding time sometimes to read the NYT as well, but even just reading ONE article will help! I promise! :-)</p>
<p>Or you could do one better and read The Economist.</p>
<p>A much better publication IMO in regards to syntax and vocab.</p>
<p>Even better! I mean, the NYT isn’t the only paper you can read, but it happens to be delivered to my house, so it’s usually that or the Wall Street Journal for me. Lol.</p>
<p>i worked on vocab
ok i have a question.
so i went from a 570 CR and 700 M in January (lol) to a 690 CR and 800 M in May (220 pt increase Cr+M), but i was wondering if my low scores the first time would hurt my chances for admissions.</p>
<p>^
No…they will see you improved by working your butt off
showing that you are dedicated to improvement and success
you’lle be fine</p>
<p>Haha, I definitely agree about the newspapers. I read the Wall Street Journal, because that’s the one that gets delivered. I remember when I first started reading it in 9th grade I would write down every word I didn’t know. It has taught me SO much. I still have all of the napkins here I would write down new words and it’s just amazing to see what I know now that I didn’t such a short time ago. And now I have an 800 in CR. Another big help = Nabokov. Pick up one of his shorter books, or even a collection of short stories. His books are like vocab central, and interesting!</p>
<p>so guys… if i’m taking the june SAT, how much do you think reading the NYT for two weeks will help?</p>
<p>The guy above said that even 1 magazine will help but when you read it try to learn every word u dont know and understand every single sentence</p>
<p>Well, I mean, reading the NYT won’t cause a miracle to happen in two weeks, but it can always help you learn extra last-minute vocabulary and improve your reading comprehension.</p>
<p>It’s definitely possible, I went from a 1950 on my first BB test to a 2300 on the May SAT.</p>
<p>Rose, What were your study habits (for each section), and how long did you prepare?</p>
<p>I started preparing for the SATS during the summer of '08, which is pretty early. I knew that I’d probably take longer than the average person (especially on here) to get my score up by a couple hundred points, since I’m not naturally brilliant or anything. (To be honest, I didn’t think Id even break 2000. I told myself I’d be overjoyed if I’d gotten a 2030 something.) I also took a course at my high school starting in like…February…but I had started prepping on my own way before that. The course definitely helped me when it came to writing the essay, and learning some other tricks for the SAT. However, when it came to raising my score in general, it really came from old fashioned HARD WORK, haha. It was tough and stressful, but it payed off alot when I received my 2140.
By the time the PSATS had rolled around, I was hopeful that I’d get a higher score than my diagnostic score of 1700- and I did. I got an 1880- not bad, but I knew I could do better.
Now- for the important stuff- for critical reading, like I said, it was all about learning the vocab lists and basic roots of words (neo, a , ex…nothing too hard.), as well as reading the newspaper alot. This payed off for my march SAT- since I got a 670, which was much better than my PSAT CR score, however my math still lacked in comparison (540).
When practicing math, I tried to get motivated by timing myself when doing math problems . Also, I made flashcards for every problem I got wrong on practice SATS, and studied/practiced those. Part of preparing for the math was just practice,practice,practice. Math is my worst subject by far, so it took alot of effort on my part, but I just kept thinking how happy I will be in May if I kept up the hard work.
Writing, although it has always been my strongest section, was improved alot by just learning the basic grammar rules. If you get any SAT review book, it will give you the grammar rules you need to know. Also, my essay was never made up on the spot. I always had two examples that I’d mold for any prompt given. For my march SAT I got an 8 on my essay, which wasn’t so great, but by adding some strong vocab words , as well as additional details for each example, I was able to get an 11.</p>
<pre><code>Also, most importantly, try to do a practice SAT EVERY weekend. It’s annoying and time consuming, but it really got me used to the rhythm of the test for when the real one came around.
</code></pre>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>yo, i took a practice test cold in february (the ones from the bluebook). i got something like 1570/2400. yeah it was a shock. so i delayed my sat test from march to may, and spent every weekend since then studying for it. I got a 2240 on the may SAT, which is a 670 point increase. so 200 is definitely possible. you just have to work hard and really care about it if you want those 200 points. good luck :)</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the advice. One last question: will my college receive my scores if I take the October test and the Early Decision deadline is Nov. 1?</p>