<p>This was the advice from a top college counselor: For the 8 weeks leading up to the test take a test a week to find your weaknesses, and then maybe study for a few hours to gain skills. 4 hrs = practice test, 3 hrs = general studying, 7x8= 56 hours at most…</p>
<p>Yes, you can definitely overstudy! If you burn out, you won’t remember a thing. 400 vocab words in one day is nuts…I would NOT do that. I’d be curious to know how many of those you’ll remember even a week from now. Our brains are just not equipped to take in that much new info in such a short time.</p>
<p>Memorizing vocab words is a nutty way to succeed on the Verbal. It’s not going to help you out of context.</p>
<p>Overstudying to the point of burnout is silly once you’ve already reached your little glass ceiling. Besides, sometimes you can do worse if you overstudy because you’ll start overanalyzing EVERYTHING and you might be so sick of the test that you can’t perform on the test day. Maybe this is just me though; I am a HUGE overanalyzer and I performed brilliantly on the test day when I was too sick to think deeply into any question.</p>
<p>I should think this is common sense. For example, do you study for a math test after you’ve learned all the concepts? Do you study for a history test once you’ve memorized all the material? The SAT just makes people crazy ;P</p>
<p>Keshira, I immensely disagree with your first statement. If a person is an excellent reader but isn’t as good on the sentence completion, I think it would do a lot of good to memorize vocabulary words.</p>
<p>I actually havent even started studying for my SATs yet, but i guess that there isnt such thing as studying too much. My friend said that his friend studied alot, and she also took as many practice tests that she could, for she had many many SAT prep books- she ended up getting a perfect score, so it pays off. How exactly does one recommend breaking into the study habit for the SATs? I mean, i have so much other stuff to do that im so unsure how to start!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You get into the habit by wanting to do well badly enough. Seriously, if you truly want a good score, you’re not going to sit around waiting for “motivation” – you’re going to bite the bullet and start doing what’s necessary to score well. </p>
<p>If you think you have better stuff to do, then that’s fine – just don’t whine if your score is below what’s needed to get into the school of your choice.</p>
<p>This is a stupid question.</p>
<p>i agree with you :)</p>
<p>Personally, I believe that…</p>
<p>any studying for the SAT is too much studying. It has become more a test of who studied for it, who knows the tricks of the test, etc. Plus, what if students can’t afford to be tutored or attend a SAT class? I guess studying from a book is okay, but still, this seems wrong.</p>
<p>the SAT should be a test of what you learned during school, not how much you learned from a SAT tutor, book, and/or class.</p>
<p>I want to say more, but I don’t want to be too much of a jerk and I would like some good karma to help me into college.</p>
<p>DEFINITELY U CAN STUDY TOO MUCH. if you find that you have to study more than 3hour/day for 2 months to get a 2400, then maybe you should go do other stuff</p>
<p>As long as you are still motivated, no. Motivated, meaning having any goals in life above watching TV. Also… it is impossible to “learn” 400 words in one day.</p>
<p>i’d say more than 30 minutes a day is excessive… is ur life really worth a good test score…</p>
<p>phand8:</p>
<p>yes, because that test score is basically what determines your life in the future 
(not really, but still a significant part of your future)</p>
<p>so yes, I think it’s worth it to sacrifice a little of my life now knowing I could have a better life in the future :D.</p>
<p>There’s always a chance you could improve (except of course you got 2400). Many of my students attended my classes for over a year and improved gradually. One, last year, started with 400s and reached 700 in writing, 580 in Reading, and 800 in math. You just can’t get enough SAT :)</p>
<p>Studying too much? Maybe. But for most people, I don’t think you’ve gotten there unless you’ve finished the 3500 vocab word list and are moving on to the next one…</p>
<p>
estoy de acuerdo… :)</p>
<p>You’re studying the SAT too much if you:</p>
<ol>
<li>Skip ECs to study for it.</li>
<li>You’re GPA declines even a little because you’re studying schoolwork less to make room for SAT. </li>
<li>You’re scores are already in the ballpark that the college you like is accepting. At this point, ECs, grades, teacher recs, essays will make or break you, not SATs. </li>
<li>You change your sleep pattern to make room for an extra hour each day.</li>
<li>You transform yourself into an uninteresting person, with a 4.0 and a 2300, but nothing to distinguish yourself.</li>
</ol>
<p>As long as you don’t fall into these traps, SAT study can be very beneficial. You have a limited amount of time in high school, so you need to prioritize, and as long as SAT doesn’t take up time that higher priorities should be recieving, then studying can be worth it.</p>
<p>I agree with what Nick says.</p>
<p>I you study too much, especially in the days leading up to the test, you’re going to totally psych yourself out and develop one hell of a self-doubt complex. If you’re taking hard classes and reading as much as possible, you really should be fine. </p>
<p>Although you should definitely study, my advice is to only study the REALLY killer stuff. Books like SAT 2400 (Kaplan) and Barron’s SAT 2400 usually cover the most difficult types of problems, and I would only focus my attention on those. Furthermore, if you want to cram vocabulary, most SAT prep books will have a somewhat definitive list of the most commonly seen words. </p>
<p>Be strategic and DO NOT OBSESS. You’ll see a much greater return: :)</p>
<p>It seems that my score started to go down before hitting 2000, what happened? I’m worried…</p>
<p>I’d say I agree.</p>
<p>I devoted a year to that thing, and 3 months before the test I would churn out about 2 hours a day for studying. Only problem? I was working hard, not smart.</p>
<p>I guess it depends mostly on a) what you’re aiming for b) your diagnostic score without studying - some people are just naturally more talented at standardized testing
I was simply going through the motions, not really focusing on my weak spots as much as I should have. My avg PSAT practice scores was at 217, but I hit 230 on a magical day of genius. However, I think I burnt myself out, getting 2100 on the SAT. This was after 22 Practice Tests and review of each one. </p>
<p>I don’t know about you, but I’m a person who doesn’t like taking breaks, no matter how much I need them.</p>