<p>Okay easy questions first:</p>
<p>1/ Normally your test will have 10 sections in total, but only 9 of them will account for your score. The remaining section is the experimental section, and will vary from test to test. This section can be CR, Math or Writing, but NEVER the essay. Based on students’ performance on this experimental section, CB can have some predictions about the difficulty of future tests. Now, some people may say that it is unnecessary to do the experimental test, I say you should give it your best to try to ace this section (there’s an underlying reason for this experimental section but I cannot remember correctly). First of all, it is impossible to know which one on your test book is the experimental section until you have finished all of your test UNLESS you can communicate with other students who take the test at the same time, which is obviously against CB’s rules.</p>
<p>2/ On every test, there will be a “curve”, which is used to converse your raw score into the scaled score. For example, a 67 on CR always equals 800, but a 60 can be somewhere in the low 700s. Depending on how difficult the test is, the curve will vary. The harder the test, the more lenient the curve will be.</p>
<p>3/ It is true that sometimes the international tests are recycled. However, HYPOTHETICALLY, this shouldn’t affect your performance since the official tests are strictly forbidden to the public and trying to reveal these tests severely violates CB’s rules. But that is just theoretically speaking. As far as I know, there are many test takers who already know every answer before taking the test, but they do so at their own expense. Koreans got their tests cancelled once, if I am correct. What I want to say is, you don’t need care about whether the test has been issued before or not, just try your best. Besides, cheating is morally unacceptable, and it goes against the whole meaning of the SAT.</p>
<p>4/ Now, let’s talk about your SAT preparation. Yes, it is very frustrating to see your score not improve at all. I just took the SAT last Saturday, and I reckon I can share some of my experience with you.
So I started to prepare for the SAT in October, in the midst of schoolwork and exams. Unsurprisingly, my CR score (which is my weakest part by the way) often varied between 500 and 600 and it didn’t seem to improve. However, after my finals were over, I still had a month to prepare. To my surprise, my CR picked up dramatically and my score often varied above 2300. Now, I believe that working hard alone is not enough. You have to do it THE RIGHT WAY.
You should get yourself the Rocket Review Revolution book, which is, in my opinion, the most comprehensive and insightful prep book on the SAT. For further reference, you can see the Grammatix or just look for advice from other CC users.</p>
<p>Good luck</p>