How high can you typically raise your scores?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>First off, I know this is last minute, but yes this is for the Oct. 11th test.
I took the SAT the January of sophomore year ('13-'14) and am now going for my fall of junior year ('14-'15) SAT. My mother did not allow me to study for the 10th grade SAT, as she was treating it like a PSAT but with actual writing. I also have chronic sinus issues, and had a nasty sinus infection on test day. I didn’t double check anything, finished most sections quickly (I normally finish before time but take time to check) and actually took catnaps between when I finished and when time was called. Needless to say I didn’t do so hot. 590 CR, 520 M, and 490 writing, 1600 total. I only need CR+M together, and I need a score of at least 1290, right now I have 1110. I really want to stress I NEED this, it’s for Bright Futures, which is basically the easiest FL res. scholarship, but since I’m legally classified as a homeschool student I have to make that score as opposed to a slightly lower one (If I go for the lower one I have to prove my transcripts, which won’t work, as I’ll explain soon)
I did FLVS (FL virtual school) for HS because I wanted to dual enroll full time starting junior year, and I did. I have 4 college classes, and one AP. The college ones are fairly manageable, just lots of reading, and one professor who is seriously under qualified, but I’m managing. The AP is online, and has a fair amount of busywork, but is also manageable. This is all great, and since I do FLVS and dual enrollment, I’d have no issue proving transcripts (providing them from an actual institution), except I literally can not. One example is English, I did Eng I, II, and then AP Eng Lang, and whenever I only got a 3 on the Eng Lang test I went to the college I am now dual enrolled at and CLEPed it so I would get out of comp I and II. This means that unless I want to force myself to take English IIII or another AP Eng course I don’t need, I pretty much need this score. The same can be said for math, and science (I CLEPed a few different things over the summer, and those don’t count towards the transcripts that bright futures wants)
As I said, my classes are fairly manageable what is not manageable was I didn’t study until the 22nd for the SAT (I was going to start the 14/15th, right after my ACT, but hurrah! I was sick for that, too, and I took a week to get back to the point where I could actually focus again). I’m signed up for the SAT on the 11th, and have been doing 4 hours or so of studying per day, except Tuesday’s, (T/R Classes and required volunteer hours Tues. night prevent that from happening). I guess this post was really unorganized but basically I have a few main questions:

  1. If my baseline, no studying, being sick, is 1600 total, 1110 for CR/M, do you think I could get a fairly nice total and at least 1290 CR/M? Have you seen something like that before?
  2. How do I handle studying with 4 college classes, 1 AP class, and the fact that I still need some personal time (I’ve literally started breaking down in the middle of studying from how stressful all of this courseload feels)
  3. Any tips for taking the test while sick? I’ve been to the ENT multiple times and taken many many doses of antibiotics, and actually just had a CT scan today/blood work done, but the results/solution will not be back until after the test.</p>

<p>I know SAT/ACT are very different, but my ACT score with a month of studying and slight sickness was 28 (needed a 29), went for a retake, totally awful infection just like the first SAT, crammed the week before but still had that base from the first test, got a 27, superscored it’s still a 28 but I raised the math subscore by 2 points.
Just for reference my (good) ACT subscores were:
Reading- 33
Math- 25
English- 29
Science-25
I know there’s no science on the SAT, but do you think those ACT scores I got while I was feeling better may reflect on how I’ll do on the SAT with studying/a healthy mind?
I’m honestly just very stressed over this upcoming test and don’t know how to deal with it or what I can do to make it better (it being the stress and the score)</p>

2

<p>Maybe you should skip taking the test if you’re sick and didn’t study. You have all year to get this done. And knowing that the score would be important, perhaps you should have studied earlier, at a time when you weren’t sick? Just a thought.</p>

<p>When you’re actually in college, you’ll be taking–4-5 college classes, about what you are now. If this is causing you to break down, I think you need to discuss this with your parents and perhaps a counselor. Honestly, it sounds to me like you are too ambitious in the coursework you are selectiing.</p>

3

<p>I don’t get sick in the sense that I get a cold, I have chronic sinus issues that they’re trying to fix (had a CT scan and allergy testing earlier this week) and I tend to get sinus infections around the times of tests, otherwise I’m just always stuffy and have a sinus headache, but not as bad as during a sinus infection, which has become my new normal. The first ACT I took was literally the only standardized test I have felt “normal” for. I’m not sick now, I’m just worried that this pattern may continue and I want to know if anyone else has taken it sick (after studying of course) and done stellar. I’m not going to cancel on the morning of, I mean the chances of doing great while sick aren’t spectacular but there is still a chance and by not going all you’re doing is wasting money. I had the ACT a few weeks ago, so I didn’t want to study for the SAT and the ACT at the same time, and during the ACT/after I was getting over a sinus infection and really just had to focus all of the energy I barely had on the dual enrollment courses, because only 2 of my professors give out freebie skip days, it’s not like FLVS or high school where I can just call in an excused absence unless it’s a literal emergency involving a medical condition. I know, I asked.
I’ve been doing mundane things like word and question of the day for a while now, probably around 7 months, but I’ve only really started to delve into studying for the CR and M section last weekend. I just want to know what things I can do in this short amount of time to help me the most.</p>

4

<p>Update: I took a CR and Math practice test today from the blue book (? it’s the official SAT book and it’s blue, so I guess that’s what the blue book people talk about is). One of my review books gave some…different advice. It said to guess/guesstimate on your practice tests, clearly marked which ones you guess, and then calculate your score with the guesses and without. I guess the point is so that you can see if the way you got to your guesstimate was a legitimate way to get that answer, or if you really did just randomly guess. You then count the ones that you used the correct method for, and count those into your score? I didn’t do that last part because it seemed kind of weird to me, like if I really were taking the test and I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t put it down, so why count it when I’m doing practice tests? I think the point is more that you understand that’s the right way to do the problem.
Anyway, my reading with guessing was 700, reading without counting the ones I would have left blank on the real test was 730.
Math with guessing was 590, math without counting the ones that I would have left blank on the real test was 610.
The scores I got with guessing put me at 1290 which is literally the exact amount I need for the CR+M score.
The scores without guessing got me to 1340, which is great because it provides a little more wiggle room than getting the exact score I need (again this is for a state sponsored scholarship, so they don’t turn people away for getting just the minimum, just an fyi) </p>

<p>I mean honestly the state scholarship is the only reason I need these scores because with my current plan I’m going to have an AA by the time I graduate high school and will be filling out transfer apps as opposed to regular apps, but does anyone have any advice other than just reviewing what I missed today to get the score up a bit more so I can have a little bit more wiggle room, yknow? Is it okay to take a lot of practice tests leading up to the test? I have all T/R classes so I’m trying to study MWF and then of course on the weekend when I’m not doing class hw or AP, so should I be doing a practice CR and M test every MWF? (TBH I don’t care about the writing score at all, it doesn’t factor in to what I need and my ACT score will probably be better than the SAT overall score as I had more time to prepare for it, so I’m planning on using that for anything else that needs scores, and the SAT for the state scholarship)</p>

5

<p>I think mathyone’s advice is sound. Is there a way you can follow it?</p>

<p>I say this as an SAT tutor accustomed to working with students but high target scores and who need to do intensive prep to get to where they want. I am not a doctor, and forgive me for inferring too much from what you are saying. However, I hear a lot of anxiety (even more than I usually hear in these situations) and your situation sounds like it is triggered by severe stress and a schedule that maybe you are physically unable to handle. </p>

<p>Again, I say this as someone who often is a very demanding teacher and tutor, but from your description it sounds like you are spreading yourself thin, but I would ask yourself what the benefit is of this if your body is unable to handle it. Again, I’m not a doctor, but I don’t think it is a coincidence that you are getting sick on test day. I think your body or your mind is having trouble handling the stress you are placing on yourself. </p>

<p>I often have to assign a certain amount of sleep to my students as homework in an attempt to get them to take care of yourself. Your poor health sounds like it is only adding to your academic problems. Ask yourself is there anything in your schedule that you could part with to get 8 hours of sleep and allow your body and mind to perform at the level they need to? Keep in mind, it would be worth it if you could take time to deal with what sound like some anxiety issues that have been blocking your path.</p>

<p>I think the practice tests are a good tool for test anxiety. Keep doing them under test conditions, this can also ease your nervousness. Start getting 8 hours of sleep a night. Studies show it will improve your performance.</p>

6

<p>So I took it on Saturday and I felt okay about it. I wasn’t sick this time so that obviously helps. Even if I don’t get what I need for the FLVS requirements for Bright Futures I’ll still at least have the next couple of weeks mostly worry-free as far as standardized testing goes, and that’s nice. Just gotta wait for the 28th now.</p>

7

<p>That’s great! It is better to feel ok than to feel great (possible overconfidence) or horrible (you know how that feels). Is this the first time you felt ok after either the ACT or SAT?</p>