Review my Prepping Plan?

schoolisfun · August 24, 2010, 8:56pm

I am prepping for the October PSAT as it will be a taste of the real SAT. My most recent test scores (Blue Book) are M:680-740; CR: 650-710; W: 670-740 (Composite: 2000-2190). My aim is to get a 225+ on the October PSAT. I am a rising sophomore and want to aim for a 230+ on the PSAT junior year and a 2300+ on the SATs. Please, I don’t want any replies saying, “You’re too young to be worrying about this; Wait till junior year, etc, etc.”

My first ever CB test scores (practice) were 1870. 670M, 620W, and 580CR. I went through 5 PR tests and 1BB test. And I am at the scores above.

My Plan: Completely memorize Direct Hits (I know maybe 50 words total from it right now)
Read Silverturtle’s Writing guide every weekend to reacquaint myself with the material.

Take one SAT section (so either 1 math, 1 writing, or 1 CR, not the whole subject) each day and review answers for the ones I got wrong and was unsure/wavery about.

Do this until October 12/13 (whenever the PSAT is)

What do you guys think?

Thanks

Edit:
This is what/how many I got wrong, section specific:

Math:2 grid-ins and 2 multiple choice

Critical Reading: 4 Sentence Completions; 7 Passage Based

Writing: 2 Modifying Sentences, 2 from the Paragraph Modification section at the end

n0vad3m0n · August 24, 2010, 9:44pm

You are certainly not too young to start SAT! I wish I had the ambition sophomore year; instead, I was having too much fun haha.

1.) If you’re aiming for a 225+ on the PSAT, note that all you’re looking for is luck. One wrong on my real junior year SAT on the math section was -5 points.

2.) Direct Hits won’t improve your sentence completions; it’s not worth the amount of brain space for memorizing. There are a few ideas for sentence completions that can help you isolate good answers.

3.) Note your errors: Ask yourself “Why am I getting this wrong?” If it’s just sheer dumb error, then note that you should take more time, regardless of the pressure. Work on time management. If it’s because you didn’t know that a problem type was possible, such as a possible grammar error or math problem, then familiarize yourself with the test more. AKA, do more practice tests.

4.) Mix it up. Your brain is going to get tired of the relentless drilling. I’m currently in a depression of SAT failing so I took my mind off it, and I’m not planning on doing SAT for a couple of days.

schoolisfun · August 25, 2010, 12:12pm

Thanks for your reply! haha I try to keep my fun in check ;)

1) Oh yeah that makes sense; hopefully, I won’t have such a harsh curve :)

2)

What do you mean by this?

3) Thanks for the advice! I will keep that in mind :)

4) Oh boy do I know that feeling! In fact, I did take a break from it for a while, about 3 weeks lol And now I need to maximize my efficiency with the test.

n0vad3m0n · August 26, 2010, 8:49am

1.) The PSAT always has a harsh curve, not to scare you. Just know that it’s not the end of the world for college admissions if you don’t win NMS outright.

2.) Certain errors like vague pronouns, faulty comparisons (“The rate of work done by Manuel was faster than John.” when instead it should be “The rate of work done by Manuel was faster than that of John.”), and other ones that aren’t coming to my head right now should stand out and be easy 3 second questions that you should get correct.

The next level is a little bit more obscure. These usually involve tense agreements, number agreements, and idioms. They don’t jump out immediately at you screaming “ERROR!” but upon the second read-through you should be able to get these down. Depending on the specific idiom, it might even go in the above category where you should immediately get those correct.

And obviously, the final category is those things that make your head spin due to outrageous structure and a large number of prepositions. The easiest way is to eliminate the prepositions, because they’ll help you find your error!

It’s a good idea to identify what error that is. When you go through a writing section, note all the different errors. “That’s a tense disagreement.” “That’s a faulty comparison.” “That’s a misplaced modifier.” This will help you in the long run, rather than simply go “That doesn’t sound right.” “I think that sounds odd.”

schoolisfun · August 26, 2010, 9:02am

Oh I know! I had a 182 PSAT in 8th grade and now as a rising sophomore I regularly get around a 208-210. I really hope that I can improve it by 20 points by junior year and a little more than 10 points by October 13. A more realistic goal is probably 215-220 for this year.
Thanks so much! I hope I can perfect the Writing MC. or get maybe 1 wrong at the most.
But what about the sentence completions? Aren’t those in Critical Reading, not Writing?

By the way, n0vadm0n, just out of curiosity, what was your SAT score? You seem very intelligent when it comes to the SAT.

n0vad3m0n · August 26, 2010, 9:43am

Oops I thought I said Writing, not sentence completions earlier.

In any case, I found that as you progress, the words generally get harder and harder. Meaning, of course, the last one in the completion in a section will contain stuff you might have never seen before. This “trick” works probably 50-50, but it’s better than nothing. If you get to one of those questions, and have absolutely NO idea what ANY of the words mean, isolate the toughest looking words out of your choices, and select one that “sounds right.” This of course, is a desperation tactic, but if you eliminate those easy words and go for the harder ones, you’ll have a better chance at figuring out which of them may fit.

Other ideas include connotation exploits. Is the sentence looking for a positive or a negative word?

I’m currently looking into memorizing prefix/suffix/roots to help me with Sentence Completions. I hate rote memorizing, which is why I don’t memorize vocabulary simply for the sake of SAT.

My score isn’t as high as you might think. I took my first ever SAT in March with a 2080. Pending a retake in October, I’m hoping for 2200+ realistically. But I am good at pinpointing areas that are my weakness and improving. On that March SAT I got around 7 wrong for the Writing section. With the ideas outlined in my last post, I’m improving to 4 wrong, including several blunders. I’m currently tackling CR but with college apps and senior year issues to deal with, I’m having a tough time getting back.

(I’m using PR’s 11 Practice Tests for SAT & PSAT)

To show you how much I improved, freshman year PSAT: 154. Sophomore year: 179? or something. Junior year: 208.

Each year I got more and more familiar with the exam, and all the prep I’ve ever done is self-study. I’m more proud of my score (hopefully if I get 2200+) when put into the perspective of what I was like roughly three years ago. I think that attitude, the will to improve and ultimately succeed, is what every SAT taker needs.

schoolisfun · August 26, 2010, 9:48am

Wow Amazing post n0vadm0n! Thanks for all the help! I really appreciate it! I think your score is a high score even at your last sitting; CC tends to skew score perspectives. Congrats on the major score improvements! I hope I can pull off similar improvements =)

Review my Prepping Plan?

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