<p>I’m a junior and took the May 1st, 2010 SATS. I did very poorly. :
420 Math
440 Reading
470 Writing
8 on essay.</p>
<p>What can I do to raise this score tremendously? I want to be able to get into a decent college, but with my scores I don’t even have a chance. I’m unfortunately not a natural genius. I can do good with much practice, but these SATS are killing me.</p>
<p>The number one thing you should do is practice. Get your hands on many practice tests (released from the College Board, that is) and review all of your answers, right or wrong. Are you taking the SAT reasoning test tomorrow?</p>
<p>No, I’m not taking them June 5th. I will be taking them again October 9th. I have the summer to practice, but I feel like it won’t help improve my score much. Is a SAT tutor worth it?</p>
<p>It’s worth it. DO IT</p>
<p>… worth it. 
Check your school to see if they have any discounts for programs. I know there are courses that guarantee 200+ points increase for a pretty cheap price. (around 400 for my school)
And of course, self study. That’s majorly important, learn the tricks and little strategies.
Good luck on your next one!</p>
<p>Thanks, I’m looking into some courses I can take over the summer, so I can be prepared for the fall SATS. Thanks :)</p>
<p>The buying SAT practice tests is very sound advice. The Collegeboard has a practice test booklet to prepare for the SAT and another one that is distributed to prepare for the PSAT (which is just a very shortened but nearly identical in all other regards version of the SAT, if you’ve never taken it). Actually both of these may be available online as well but I’m not sure - but your school should be able to distribute them for free if you ask your counselor.</p>
<p>Beyond that theres a book of 10 REAL SATs you can buy released by the college board in bookstores and stuff (Barnes and Nobles is where I usually go).</p>
<p>That amounts to at least 11 real SATs and a PSAT. There are generally 170 questions in each SAT which amounts to a total of 1,870 actual SAT questions for you to answer (not including those in the PSAT) as well as 11 practice Essays.</p>
<p>On top of this the college board releases an SAT question a day which you can sign up for - for free. Thats an additional 1 question for every day you stick with it.</p>
<p>The reason I’m counting questions is that as much as the SAT tries and often succeeds in measuring whatever inherent skill is involved in taking the SAT, the SAT can be conquered by practice. Depending how much is dedicated to preparing questions can and will become second nature. It just happens that very few people do this as it seems unlikely and of those who try most don’t stick with it long enough (myself included).</p>
<p>Upon compiling your nearly 2,000 questions, you answer them all. Forget about time constraints for the first 200-400 questions (1-2 complete tests) just answer them, and check your answers. When your wrong figure out why. </p>
<p>Learn/memorize math concepts you do poorly on. Any question you get wrong, tear it apart. Any question you hesitate on, tear it apart, You need to know them. Period. The math section questions get very difficult near the end. Often some of these you will not be able to answer on your own. They drop the simple algebra and arithmetic, and adopt a very abstract conceptual feel. These can be learned as well as if it isn’t an inherent skill of yours to be able to answer question like these effectively (like most people), it CAN be a learned skill. However before that can happen you need to know why the answer is what it is. Ask anyone who can answer you. Friends, parents, siblings, teachers, anyone who can be trusted as a solid source of wisdom. The last three questions or so in each math section are insanely difficult - 3questions x 3 sections/test x 11 tests is 99 very difficult math questions. This is more than enough to familiarize yourself with them.</p>
<p>If there are reading section questions you make mistakes on, learn why. What got me a lot was that I disputed when I got a question wrong. I was sure my answer was right, their answer was wrong. If not that, then both options had to be correct. NO. It doesn’t matter. What the college board says is right, is right. You need to get a feel for what they want in their answers. It should become predictable. Some technicalities are honored, others are ignored. There’s no way of knowing the difference unless you think like them, are brilliant (not sure how this one works), or you learn to think like them.</p>
<p>The writing section is possibly the most time constrained. The Essay kills me. I can’t manage it in 25 minutes and I have no advice there. But the multiple choice is conquerable. Beyond the 25 minute essay, theres a 25 minute, 35 questions multiple choice, and a 10 minute 14 question multiple choice section. All other sections on the test give you more minutes than questions, the writing section does NOT. Luckily though, it is arguable the most predictable. Theres no way of knowing what insane abstract question will be asked on the Math section, no way of knowing what obscure and archaic vocabulary will be tested on the Reading section, but the writing section is very repetitive. They love asking you to correct/avoid comma splices. They love asking about parallel structure. They love asking about stuff like… this: “Deprived of a strong education, his background cost him the senatorial race.” Find the mistake…
The mistake is that “being deprived of a strong education” is in this case being applied to “his background”. However, “his background” can not logically be deprived of an education, but “He” can. Therefore they would probably expect a restructuring of the sentence like… “Deprived of a strong education, he lost the senatorial race due to his background.” … Erm, well I’m not terribly good at writing SAT questions, but you should get the idea.</p>
<p>In any case. That’s the first 400 or so questions. The remaining 1400 questions may be used as you wish. Generally you should focus on tricks. Learn the types of questions they ask and HOW you answer them in the beginning. But once you’ve gone through that first 400 you should turn your sights towards learning how to answer them efficiently. Look at a question and think… whats the shortest path from A to B? How do you get from the question to the answer - FAST? You learn the method of solving it, you memorize it, and you apply it over and over again as you realize that the same types of questions repeat themselves. Its all a matter of familiarity. The method doesn’t need to be clever, it doesn’t need to be elegant, it can be crude and simple as long as you can place it in a repository to pull from whenever you see that type of question again.</p>
<p>Given the time, save one or two practice tests to test yourself at the end. You’ve already taken the SAT once at least, no need to waste a practice test for a “real run” in the beginning - use them as outlined above. But near the end its probably a good idea to take a “real” test to see how you’ve improved. For no other reason than a confidence boost. You can laugh your head off when you see that 1330 turn into a 1900+.</p>
<p>As for a tutor/prep courses… I’m not too fond of the idea. I just can’t approve of spending hundreds of dollars to prepare to take a test that you’re already paying money to take. My family isn’t in the best financial situation so I can’t say I had much of a choice in the matter, but I don’t think anyone will need to go so far as to hire a tutor. Unless you think you lack the dedication and self discipline for something similar to what’s outlined above and need someone to make you do it (which could really be any “someone” - a family member, a good friend, etc). But do know that very few tutors will have the balls to promise anything close to a 600 point score jump.</p>
<p>i have the college board practice test book, however i do not find it very helpful as it only has the letter choices and not the reasoning.</p>
<p>are there places to find why the correct answer is the correct answer rather than the just the letter answer?</p>
<p>Unfortunately the college board tests don’t seem to do that. Other practice tests (princeton review, etc) seem to offer more help in that regard but they are quite unreliable. The best bet would be to use the real tests and seek outside help. The main issue on the SAT is time, given unlimited time and limitless outside help, it shouldn’t be terrible to track down an explanation for a problem.</p>
<p>I know first hand how frustrating it is to get a poor scores on SAT. The first time I took my SAT i was a junior and got a 1600. Most of my problems were in timing- I didn’t finish any of the sections. I was completely ill prepared for the essay, thus leading to my awful score on it. Also, I didn’t figure out my strategies going into it. </p>
<p>The second time I took the SAT, all I worked on was timing and the essay. I went through all the questions and the ones I had to scratch my head over I just skipped. Then I went back and did those problems. For the reading, I made sure to read each passage because it really helps if you don’t need to go back to line 25-35 every two seconds. I finished EACH section. For the essay I just prepared a shorthand list of people and events in history that I can reference, which can be applied to all questions. Finally, as cheesy as this sounds, I memorized a list of about 20 “eloquent” words that I called “plug in words” to fluff up the essay. My score went up 200 points. </p>
<p>Before the next SAT I studied pure content. Honestly, all of the prep books go over the same information so it’s really about practicing the content. I started off by taking one of the College Board blue book tests to see where I was because those tests are, at least according to popular belief, the most accurate. Then I took all of the practice tests on the Spark Notes website (free and they grade it for you!) It’s important to actually study the material you’re getting wrong and not just take a bunch of tests. Sentence errors, subject-- verb agreement, math shortcuts, etc. Then I moved on to Princeton Review and finally finished with one last College Board book. </p>
<p>It’s kind of ridiculous for College Board to assume students will actually know all the vocabulary. It’s impossible unless you’ve got a photographic memory. Try and study some latin and greek roots. This will help you to determine whether a words base meaning is something negative, positive, etc. Or look for root words, like “antiquated” (antique = old = a word that might have something to do with being old). </p>
<p>Anyways, my score went up about 550 points. I know this is long and drawn out and may not even help you but I’ve been on your boat. Couple that with the fact that your posting questions on a website filled with over-achievers its easy to be discouraged. It’s always good to have a little encouragement and proof that YES, YOU CAN RAIS YOUR SCORE!</p>
<p>I had very similar scores when I took my PSAT. I was so upset because I wanted to get into a good school, so I got an SAT tutor and my scores skyrocketed to an 1870 (and that was only the first time taking them).</p>
<p>yea get a good tutor. halfway through sophomore year, i started getting tutored and got like a 1500 on my evaluation test. This May, I got a 2010.
College board tries to trick you. You just have to learn the tricks.</p>
<p>i am on a tight budget so i review on my own and my ever dependable internet. i have a list of topics “that is usually included” in the sats and i bought a reviewer which i can answer for practice then check up on the right answers.</p>
<p>don’t push yourself too hard. enjoy what you are doing, which is reviewing.</p>
<p>do not cram.</p>
<p>and know your learning style so you can keep up with the pace for the sats exam.</p>
<p>I would try the ACT practice tests and see how you do. One of my kids did almost the sae on each test but the other one did much better on the ACT.</p>
<p>If you have the ability to do so, find a private SAT tutor (sometimes your guidance counselor can give you names of retired teachers). This will help you strategize and understand concepts from the review books. As the others have said, practice is the key, especially with math. The more questions you do, the more you will learn the patterns of the test. </p>
<p>You may also want to consider the ACT. Some students find that this is a better test for their learning style.</p>
<p>DONT pay for a tutor this is a waste of money, the fact that you posted on this site in need of help already shows your motivation and determination to improve your score and you can do this without outside help. Your best tutor is practice tests, period.</p>
<p>Wow this thread has some pretty huge posts… All I can really add is that your level, a course from one of the big testing companies like PR should be helpful.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063987555-post14.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063987555-post14.html</a></p>
<p>rocket review revolution!!!</p>
<p>When trying to sign up for the ACT would I register through college board?</p>