<p>OK. This is a fairly simple question. BTW, this is not a hypothetical, I actually improved this much:
Initial SAT I :
Total: 1910, Math:640 Reading: 670 Writing: 600</p>
<p>That’s really impressive! That’s a huge improvement in really short amount of time</p>
<p>A boy from my school last year got into Stanford and a few other top tier schools with around a 2100, but he had really great ECs.</p>
<p>Do you have any tips on improving SAT scores? I’m scoring between 1930-2050 on all my practice tests and it’s not going up, I just can’t seem to break 700 on any section… and I’m taking the SAT in January! Any advice would be helpful!</p>
<p>I’d say that’s extremely impressive. I am shocked by how writing was your lowest score, and how now it’s a perfect score! How did you make that big of an improvement? I am specifically wondering about the CR section because that’s my weakness.</p>
<p>one word: Barron’s
buy Barron’s SAT 2400, follow all the tips for CR section (except for the interact+visualize stuff, which seems like a load of BS) and other sections, do all the work – treat that book like god (lol, I am agnostic but w/e). Read every word.Take notes. I am not kidding. </p>
<p>Also, buy the regular barrons SAT prep book. Don’t go through the strategies, which are the same, just look at the tough example questions and do as many of the Barron’s mock SAT tests under exact conditions as possible.</p>
<p>The beauty of the SAT 2400 book is that if you follow it to the letter, you have a fixed procedure for everything that will guarantee a good score. Oh yeah, exercise ALOT the week of the SAT – clears your mind . Besides, anybody should be exercising regularly but thats a different story. </p>
<p>For vocab just buy the PR flashcard box. Skim through them. Unless you’ve been living under a rock u’ll know apporx 1/2 to 3/4 of the box depending on how much you read. Separate the words u do and dont know, and go over the ones you dont like mad --you want to use them alot in the essay.</p>
<p>Well taking into account the ridiculous SAT II math curve it isnt that surprising. On SAT I math I made 2 mistakes and 1 omitted and got 700. I bet I got more wrong on SAT II and still got a 790. Same goes for the Physics. On most of the SAT II physics curves 62 or above out of 75 will get u an 800. BTW, 62/75=82 and 2/3 %. Thats a B-. So really, if you got <800 on SAT II physics you dont have a solid understanding of the subject, considering how elementary the topics in SAT II physics are. For obvious reasons, an
800 in that test has no meaning (in reality, that is).
Thankfully, the system is geared to assiduously avoid reality as much as possible.</p>
<p>The ‘maybe’ in that sentence is more of a ‘yes’. However, I did get a 790/800 on the SAT II math (which in reality is a cakewalk compared to the hardest SAT I math questions) .
Does that count for anything in adcom’s eyes, or are they still convinced I am not strong enough in math?</p>
<p>In general, read the SAT 2400 book by the letter, and just use the big book for extra problems/practice tests . The SAT 2400 gives many more tips and the font in the barron’s big book is microscopic (irony…?). So as far as actual learning is concerned , it should all be done from the 2400. On the flip side… (at least for math) go through all the math problem types in the BIG book. The reason is that some of the stuff mentioned there is not found in 2400, like alphanumeric problems, and the pedantic details like 0 is neither positive nor negative that u kno will eventually mean the difference. </p>
<p>A final word of advice ( I cannot stress this enough): when u answer a question incorrectly, go over the answer explanation in the back and learn from your mistakes. This is one of the main reasons i chose to buy barrons over the CB book (I hate CB, btw, i can’t shrug off the feeling they r trying 2 con me) , THEY EXPLAIN THE ANSWERS.</p>
<p>Clearly the CB people didn’t realize that just giving the answer isn’t good enough, because in many cases (especially with the HIGHLY opinionated CR ques), the reason u got it wrong/omitted was because u didnt kno how to answer it 2 begin with…</p>
<p>A final piece of advice: Barron’s is quite difficult. If you do worse than on the CB tests, that is actually quite normal, especially for math and If u have never taken Barron’s before. Barron’s just abuses the most vicious tricks SAT has to offer…</p>
<p>The barron’s SAT math ques are like mental minefields, there is a trick pretty much everywhere. If u were like me, used to skimming a word problem, picking up on a few key words in the problem description and then answering the question u expect them to ask, u will prolly bomb ur first barron’s math questions. Don’t be discouraged, on the whole it is probably b/c u rushed the question and were not careful enough–in this case it just a matter of becoming careful. It literally shakes you up and gets you to pay ALOT of your attention to word problems.</p>
<p>Just bought Barron’s 2400! Can’t wait to use your advice. Gotta finish the writing workbook first, though. I really hope this raises my CR score ;)</p>
<p>Yes, a 2250 is an excellent score, but likely average for an unhooked applicant to the schools on your list. More importantly, the 700-M is below average for an unhooked applicant to MIT/Caltech; it is in the bottom quartile for both. (Caltech’s 25th % is a 770!)</p>
<p>Sorry, but adcoms won’t care one iota about any test improvement; indeed, many/(most?) won’t even see the improvement (unlike gpa trends which do get analyzed). (At some colleges, a ‘clerk’ writes the highest scores on the outside of a folder…)</p>
<p>Well, thank you for being honest.
Yes, I recently discovered Caltech’s SAT I math (25th percentile -770).
Oh well, they had a relatively crappy comp sci. program anyways when compared to others I am applying to.</p>
<p>Also, if , and when, my advice does come through for you, please consider chancing me.
I’ve put quite a bit of detail, although I suspect the reason no one has chanced me to date is that I don’t follow a stereotypical applicant profile…</p>
<p>Please don’t listen to the naysayers. Those are fantastic scores, and that radical improvement is impressive indeed. I’d bet dollars to doughnuts you’ll get into one of the schools on your list.</p>
<p>When DS took the SAT I the first time, he had an attack of diarrhea cramps right at the outset. (LOL, I know, TMI.) It definitely affected his scores. Second time he took SAT I, he did MUCH better (2100). Personally, I think he should retake in January (standby), but DH disagrees…he doesn’t think the improvement will be enough to warrant the extra agony, LOL. Plus, DS has already been admitted to a bunch of places, so it’s kind of moot at this point. But I think a 2200 would really help with FinAid. DS’s SAT II scores are fantastic; there has definitely been an upward curve, so maybe that would translate into an improved SAT reasoning score, too. However, DH is probably right: At some point, you call it quits, especially if you’ve already been admitted to colleges you wouldn’t mind attending!</p>
<p>Hmmm, we used every prep book under the sun, but I don’t think we used Barron’s. Live and learn!</p>
<p>BTW, y’all kind of disparage the SAT subject tests, but don’t some colleges (e.g., Middlebury) regard them highly? DS just got an 800 on his Latin SAT, and I guarantee that was no cakewalk. (Actually, he did say the test seemed pretty easy, but then, he has been studying Latin forever. And one of the passages on the test happened to be one he had just translated recently, for home-school.)</p>