I’ve done literally everything: all 6 college board tests, 2 practice PSATs, 4 prep expert tests along with a prep expert class, lots of khan academy (completed all reading, most writing and some math). Currently almost done with Erica Meltzer’s reading and grammar and working through steve warner’s math book. I took the test October 1 am taking it again November 5. Ivy Global Tests I have but just by glancing at the reading sections they are not worth my time as they are a terrible imitation. Most cracksat tests are not real tests (for the new sat) as they are all princeton review or barron’s. Can someone help me find more official material to study with? Currently hovering around 1490-1520 range want to get 1570+.
There is no more official material. Practice tests 5 and 6 were the ones sent out with the Question and Answer Service. Unfortunately, everyone is in the same position with a limited amount of materials to prepare for this test.
Your best strategy at this point would be to pinpoint the types of questions that are tripping you up and looking for lessons that review and reinforce the concepts being tested.
There are a couple other PSATs floating around (the October 14th, 2015 and October 28th, 2015 tests) that you could try to find. But they are hard to locate, because the booklets were only released in paper form to the students who took those tests. The same goes for the Saturday PSAT and Sunday PSAT/SAT QAS test-takers–each test is a different version. However, as I said, the hardest part is tracking them down: for some reason the College Board has decided not to release these tests digitally, despite the CB’s supposed commitment to transparency.
The lack of real material is a good reason for kids to take the ACT these days
IES test prep has the best third-party practice tests. They have tons of them too. If you run out of all of those then I’d just take the SAT and be done with it.
@CHD2013 if they could somehow figure out science section that is
that is the sole reason I am doing the SAT as oppose to the ACT
It’s possible that you have done the absolute best you can. It’s also possible that you have overloaded with all the test prep and have hit your ceiling. I think you should deal with what you have. Build your list based on the test scores you have. You are putting unrealistic pressure on yourself to add another 50 points to your score. That is a huge number and you are setting yourself up for failure.
Here is something you can try. A new study shows that if you reframe anxiety as excitement, in your mind, it will help you perform better. Rather than saying to yourself “I need to be calm and relax” say “I am excited about this test and will do well.”
My other suggestion is to focus on your weakest area and start from the beginning. Stop timing yourself. Think about every single problem/passage, every single question, and every answer choice as you do each one. Then check your answers. Look for a common theme to the ones you get wrong. Try that, untimed a few times. Then start timing yourself again. Use old SAT tests, they aren’t that different. Good luck.
For those who have a lot of time, stick with the SAT if practice tests are your concern. May 16, 2017 - college board is releasing another book with 10 practice tests.
College Board is also releasing an online course for the new SAT. I do not know exactly when, but it should be released in May 2017.
Can you tell me a little bit more about IES tests? How close of an imitation are they to the real thing?
With Erica meltzer’s reading, for example, I typically get 75-85% of questions right and for the ones I miss, I always scrutinize them to identify the reason for my mistake, but it just seems that I make more mistakes next time.
Even if IES’ tests are the “best” 3rd party tests, I wouldn’t use them. No 3rd party can help decode the tests nearly as well as just using real tests. Very often the 3rd party tests are counter-productive.
@BucketsUCSC The science section isn’t that hard if you realize that it is much more of a reading (especially of graphs and charts) test
Well from what I’ve seen @CHD2013 practice tests/ friend’s experience the science section is the most random/ most challenging portion of the ACT along with being a time crunch even though it doesnt test direct science knowledge u need very strong understanding of how experiments can be used to prove a hypothesis and how the graphs assist in this, and this is coming from someone expecting a close to perfect SAT reading score on the october SAT
@BucketsUCSC Have you read the Michael Cerro prep book - For the Love of ACT Science: An innovative approach to mastering the science section of the ACT standardized exam? If not, you might find it helpful.
@CHD2013 Will Check it out if I feel like My SAT score is plateaued and I’m not happy with what I’ve gotten.