Is Drastic improvement in SAT Score possible in limited time ?

EngineBus2015
Fri, 11 Jul 2014 16:59:54 +0000

Do untimed Blue Book tests. This will help for both CR and Math, as you begin to familiarize yourself with concepts and skills.

For CR, attempt to get everything correct - read slowly to grasp meaning and aim for 100%. Once you’ve mastered the accuracy portion of the test, resort back to timed practice. You should find that as you practice untimed tests, your comprehension will improve and as your accuracy improves, your speed will start to improve, as well. For vocab, memorization will not help you remember the words for long. I’ve heard that Direct Hits is quite helpful, but otherwise, try some apps like Mindsnacks (Apple App store). By using a game-like structure with rather childish animations and easy-to-remember pictures, it is one of the best ways to learn and remember the vocab well. And, if you enjoy reading articles, keep doing it. It’s a great way to improve comprehension, but don’t force yourself to do it if you’re not enjoying it. I believe you can miss up to 7 and still stay above 700 in this section.

For Math, I see that you are at a 650. This is the level where you’re either really good at the easier (level 1-3) questions and struggling with the tougher ones OR you just happen to make simple mistakes. Nevertheless, brush up on algebra, geometry and counting/probability concepts. In addition, Khan Academy has great videos to help you tackle specific types of problems on the math section, so definitely check those out. Just as with CR, do untimed practice in the Blue Book and try to master all of the questions. Because there is such a severe penalty for even simple mistakes (on the June administration, I believe 3 incorrect was a 700), you really have to know your stuff.

For Writing, brush up on grammar rules, if necessary (I see you’re using Barron’s so keep at it), but realize that a lot of the questions can be answered based on the way they sound in your head. If you generally practice proper grammar in your daily conversations and writing, you should be fine. Familiarizing yourself with the test certainly helps. On the essay, your goal should be to get a 10 - since that is the lowest score that will never hurt your overall score (i.e. a 9 can bring a perfect multiple choice score down to a 780). The best way to get this is to familiarize yourself with the College Board writing style and develop your own formula based on it. Also, prepare a couple of canned examples before the actual test - examples that can be used for really any topic. When it comes to the actual test, you’ll end up spending less time on brainstorming and more time on writing. Finally, make sure you hit the 2-page mark because even if your essay is great within 1 1/2 pages, the graders will feel a lack of depth and give you at max a 9. As a result, you could write a crappyish essay and hit the 2 page mark and still get a 10. I would, however, advise against intentionally writing a crappy essay. :P

Hope this helps! Good Luck! :)