<p>If I scored around 1200-1300/2400 on various practice SATs, what does that mean? Because all the scores I have heard are around 2000, I expected my score to be around 2000, but have never heard of a score as low as mine. It shocks me to know I have such a low score. I know many of my friends who are about that same level as me and score around 2000/2400. One of my friends even got a perfect score of 2400! I have taken a practice ACT test and scored around 17. I am definitely not a dumb student in school and had 3 AP’s for 10th grade and have a GPA of 4.0 for 8, 9, and 10 grade. Also, I’m very sure that my school does not have a high grade inflation, especially when it was ranked top 1% of America’s best high schools at #293 in [America’s</a> Best High Schools - Newsweek and The Daily Beast](<a href=“http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2013/05/06/america-s-best-high-schools.html]America’s”>http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2013/05/06/america-s-best-high-schools.html). I do not chose to go to an Ivy league school. Even though I wish to go to CalTech or MIT, I don’t expect to, but I at least want to get into a decent college like UC Irvine or Cal State Long Beach. I do have some extracurricular activity, but nothing else. Just recently, I have received my AP score (i only took one out of the three) and got a 2. Will it help if one of my parents is a professor at UC Irvine and Cal State Long Beach? I do admit I am a slow test taker and easily distracted, but what should I do! I do not wish to attend a community college but what should I do!!</p>
<p>Are you running out of time? You have to know when to answer and when to move on. You should carefully and methodically go over your practice tests. Examine each wrong answer and find out why you missed it. If it is an error, you need help with your test taking strategies. If you don’t know the material, you will need extra tutoring or study time. I don’t usually recommend it, but in this case it sounds like you need a good quality prep class at the least. If your parent is a professor get help from him. He will know if you get preferential admissions where he teaches and it is likely you do, but if your score is too low it might now be enough of a factor. </p>
<p>Since you do well in class, get to the bottom of it. Are you sure you don’t have a learning disability that is causing this? If you have a documented LD you can get accommodations to allow more time for the tests.</p>
<p>Sounds like you just need to work on your test taking skills. Obviously you’re not incapable of high grades, you just have to work on beating the tests.</p>
<p>Can you tell us what your practice subscores are? I would try to focus on the subscore that is lowest. What Math are you currently taking in school? Your practice ACT is equivalent to around a 1210 SAT. I would definitely spend some time reading LOTS over the summer to improve reading and comprehension. If you are easily distracted ADD, you may want to see if you can get some suggestions from a DR. to help your concentration.</p>
<p>I agree with BROWNPARENT. You may want to see if you have an underlying issue that is causing such a big discrepancy between performance at school and test scores.</p>
<p>The average SAT is around 1500. Also the SAT is essentially a test on how to take a multiple choice test. There is an art to it. You might be a good candidate for an SAT class that gives the in’s and outs of testing strategy. GL</p>
<p>There are also some very excellent colleges that are test optional, I would look into that as well.</p>
<p>Timed tests are hard. Take a SAT practice test (books like Princeton Review, College Board etc) without being timed. Take breaks between tests etc. If your scores turn out to be considerably higher then you have to work on time management. </p>
<p>If your scores don’t improve that much, try SAT/ACT books which explain the concepts well. If you are having trouble with math try the College Board book (2004) and you can find step by step solutions for the practice tests on khanacademy.org. There are many grammar and essay (writing) books on amazon.com that you can order (e.i Grammar for Dummies). Keep up on some basic current news and some history as they will be useful for essays. Have an idea of major essay themes (success, happiness, ignorance etc.) and have a couple examples from books, news etc. for some topics. For Critical Reading the only key to success is Practice. Keep doing the passage sections and you’ll get the hang of it. For the vocabulary, you can find vocab books made especially for SAT. Princeton Review SAT books have a section full of common words on the SAT. Reading good novels (Great Gatsby, Joy Luck Club, Charles Dickens, Ray Bradbury etc.) will help in both the passage based reading, vocabulary, and essay topics.</p>
<p>If you do have a learning disability, you should check out what you can do when you take the SATs. My friend has ADHD so for the SAT she took her test in another room to avoid getting distracted and she scored REALLY well.</p>
<p>I hope everything works out for you!!</p>
<p>If you don’t feel that the SAT reflects your abilities and potential, then consider some test optional schools. [SAT/ACT</a> Optional 4-Year Universities | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]SAT/ACT”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>
<p>This combo of testing difficulties and excellent classroom grades is a classic indicator for learning differences of the dyslexia/dyscalculia/slow processing speed type. Your best option right now is to get yourself evaluated, so that you can get help with mastering your own best compensation skills during what is left of high school. You will not magically become a fast test taker just because you are in college. However, it is very likely that any accommodations that you set up in HS will be able to be continued in college.</p>
<p>Can anyone recommend some 4 year colleges that accept low ACT (16) scores. I graduated in May 2013 and can’t find a school that will accept without me first going to a community college, which is my last resort. Gotto if I haveto though.</p>
<p>Larellebrown, please make your own new thread so that answers to you aren’t confused with the original poster’s situation.</p>