I am currently at a 1700 SAT (540CR, 590M, and 570W)
I want to jump to an 1950 getting roughly 650 on each section.
I currently have the blue book and was wondering how I should go about making this score increase feasible within about a month or two .
Vocabulary:
Memorize roots of words. Try to decipher connotations (positive/negative meanings of words) of each answer choice and determine which one best matches the tone of the sentence. Memorizing “SAT word lists” is helpful as well, but knowing roots will help you get a grasp of those words you haven’t studied. The SAT won’t test your knowledge on every big word known to man, it will test your ability to use context clues to pick the best answer.
Reading:
For each paragraph, state the main idea. Cross out unneeded details in order to get the main idea. For example, if a sentence reads: “Each and every person in the US, whether it be all the ethnic groups, religious groups or families, deserves these rights”, you can cross out unneeded material to get the gist of the sentence (Each and every person in the US deserves these rights).
When you get to questions, don’t look at the answer choices right away. Answer the question in your own words first, then look at the answer choices. It helps because you now know all the main ideas and your thinking isn’t tainted by considering 4 wrong choices and 1 right choice. Answers on the SAT Reading section must be true, mentioned and supported by the text. If it’s not true (not stated in text), it’s not the answer. If you don’t see the answer choice in the text, it’s not the answer. In other words, be very literal when you read. Don’t infer at all unless they specifically ask you to infer. Don’t try to use outside knowledge to answer questions. Use what’s given. As for time constraints, I’d advocate reading through once really well so you aren’t burdened with skimming through the text 5 times and still not being firm in your understanding.
Math:
Don’t use math for the math section. Yes, it may seem counterintuitive, but trust me, the SAT Math section is more like the SAT Logic section. Every problem you do will not require you to do complex trig equations or algebraic modeling (you have all the formulas, and you have a calculator to double check yourself).
-Backsolve: Plug in the answer choices until you get a consistent answer.
-Guesstimate on Geometry sections: For example, if they ask you to measure of a specific angle, and you see it’s acute, you can immediately assume it’s between 0 to 90 degrees and can cross out any answer choices that aren’t within this range.
-Proportions: These pop up alot.
-Use the formulas they give you: Nothing on the SAT will require outside formulas.
Writing:
Writing is all about identifying redundant types of mistakes.
-Listing errors: “I ate, ran, and to swim” is not correct. “I ate, ran, and swam” is.
-Run on sentences.
-Unneeded punctuation: I like to, swim.
-Idioms: “Preference of” is wrong. “Preference for” is.
-Dangling Modifier: “Tired and exhausted, the bed was made by her”. It sounds like this is describing the bed as tired. It should be “Tired and exhausted, she made the bed”
-Pronoun agreement
Essay:
Intro: Two solid sentences with a thesis and statement of your two examples.
Bodies: One example gets one body. Make sure you always relate to your thesis. You can make up examples. If you use a book, do not summarize the book for the majority of the body. Rather, spend 1-2 sentences stating the main idea/ overall idea of the book, then tie it with your thesis. Same goes for any type of example
You do not need a conclusion if you write 1 1/2- 1 3/4 pages. I recommend using the time you’d use to write the conclusion to instead correct mistakes you may have made in grammar. If you correct your grammar mistakes, use big words, and have clear cut sentence structure, you will be in the 8-12 range. A conclusion may separate the 11 essays from the 12. but an 11 essay will still afford you 2 wrongs on the multiple choice and an 800.
I increased my writing score from 580 to 780 in a week. Get the ultimate guide to say grammar by Erica meltzer. I did that in 3 days and it drastically increased my score.