<p>My junior daughter took the May SAT and only got 520 , 540 & 510. Scary thing is that she is bright- top 10 in her class, taking all AP classes. She is a solid student, very capable. She attends a crappy public school in a rural area. They can produce results, as many have gone on to good schools. She wants to be premed and is starting an intership program her senior year. BUT…between now and June 5, then until Oct., how much can she realistically bring those scores up? We just bought flashcards and the CB review book. Any advice anyone has would be appreciated. I don’t know what to tell her.</p>
<p>If she thoroughly does the CB review book, it could go up hundreds of points. The general consensus on CC is that the CB “blue book” is the best one to practice with. A large part of the SAT is knowing how to “take the test” and understanding that it is a standardized exam, so a lot of the question structures are the same. Read around the forums for what people have written, as there is a wealth of information for increasing scores. The more real exams she does, the better she will be at the SAT. </p>
<p>Tell her not to worry. A lot of students are not SAT allstar’s on their first attempt. She may not be breaking 2300+ soon, as that is a huge increase, but with sufficient practice with the blue book she can definitely go up hundreds of points. </p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>Do the ACT and see how she does in that. </p>
<p>And to be honest, getting a 1500 usually indicates she’s not too great of a test taker, prep or no prep, so don’t expect 2200+ scores after a summer.</p>
<p>As An0maly said, practice truly makes perfect. You can drastically increase your score, it will just take a lot of work. Grab the BB produced by collegeboard, have her go through the whole thing. Then, have her take the practice tests one at a time. Once finished with a practice test, score it. Evaluate, for each answer, why she got a particular answer right/wrong. Don’t simply move onto the next test. This is the most important thing you can do. For additional CB practice tests, get the red/white books and the online service. </p>
<p>For vocab/CR/essays, read the Economist. It’s a magazine. It will boost your vocabulary, help develop good reading skills, and may provide evidence to support your position in the essay.</p>
<p>You can drastically improve your score over time, your daughter just must put in the work. Best of luck to your daughter.</p>
<p>ny mom, there is still hope for your daughter. </p>
<p>I won’t go into what she should do to improve her score since other posters will probably have better insight as to what books to get, but I can tell you that a dramatic increase is possible if she studies over the summer.</p>
<p>FYI, I went from a 170 on the PSATs to a 2140 on my first SATs this May.</p>
<p>Definitely have her take the ACT.</p>