<p>My daughter just took the May SAT and scored CR 680, Math 660, writing 680 for a total 2020. She had taken an online prep course. She will be a junior next year and has an awesome GPA and a lot of AP, extracurriculars, etc. She really only wants to take it one more time if possible and then focus on other things. Is there a way to judge potential improvement and what is her best strategy?</p>
<p>You sound like my mother when I took my first practice test. Other than her math score, her other scores are relatively similar to when I first started studying the SATs (and math is the easiest section to raise a score in, so no worries), and I’ve improved exponentially since my sophomore year.</p>
<p>Although people might tell you otherwise, SAT scores are important and it’s better to put a little more focus in them if your daughter plans to go for ivies. I recommend (this worked for me) reading a short book, Elements of Style by Strunk and White, then a barron, princeton, or kaplan book, then memorize about 500~thousand vocab words then take a practice test in the beginning of her junior year. This is probably the best way to judge her potential.</p>
<p>After I took my sats, I scored 2310 (my first practice test I score 1800). I felt it was too low, so I decided to take an online course. It was next to useless. I took the Princeton Review online course, and not only did the instructors make mistakes, their diagnostic tests are rigged. Anywho, the best way to judge her potential is to give her the materials she needs to prepare herself, then after she’s studied, take the test. (I don’t consider online prep courses studying for obvious reasons).</p>
<p>If she scores close to her/your desired score, then more studying would probably suffice. If it’s >100 points off, consider taking another route of action, although I have seen people improve 300+ points miraculously overnight.</p>