I’m a freshman and a non-native English speaker.
Recently(for the first time EVER) I took a diagnostic SAT test at Elite Educational Institution and I received 450 R&W 550M ( without ANY prior studying!) Ik it’s weak!!
My target score is a perfect 1600 with 800 for the essay, I have to achieve it because my dream schools are (UCB,Stanford, and UCLA).
If I spend all of my freshman sophomore, and at least 3 month in junior year taking elite classes and studying, do you think I would reach my target score?
I’m not so sure about prepping for the SAT that much…
Especially prep courses.
I’m just confused how exactly the prep courses help students? (I guess it helps the unmotivated students study, but I don’t think you are unmotivated at all.) How can prep courses teach you how to READ that you should have built up through 11 years of schooling?
I feel like to do well on the SAT, you just need to build up solid reading, english(grammar), and math skills in high school by taking rigorous courses.
After you have solid reading skills, then it’s just about taking some practice tests and getting used to the test. For example, after a few practice tests, you should start to see the “dummy” traps the collegeboard set up to trick students.
450 R&W score tells me that you don’t exactly have good reading skills. I would start reading difficult books to up your reading level. Writing section can be easily improved by learning the grammar rules the SAT tests.
Your math score is bound to go up especially if you haven’t taken algebra, algebra II, geometry, or trig. This section, in my opinion, is fairly easy to improve with practice.
I consider reading to be the hardest to improve; you just have to know how to read and think critically!
What I would is challenge yourself with difficult courses. Sophomore year, take AP Bio and AP World History (if your school offers it, of course).
Your reading skills will naturally improve with all those textbook reading.
Don’t worry about your scores all that much right now. I would just focus on keeping up your GPA. Most people improve drastically between freshman year and junior year.
I’ve worked with international students for 13 years, hundreds of students a year, and I’ve never seen someone go from those starting scores to a perfect final score. I’ve seen kids get close, mind you, so it’s definitely possible, but that R score suggests that you have a major, major up-hill battle. Best of luck.
@Asaltb you should be able to raise your scores by several hundred points with diligent practice. You have a couple of years of prep ahead of you which is an advantage! Be sure to take the PSAT 10 and PSAT as well, as these will be “test condition” practices. Do keep in mind that the new SAT is a lot more “wordy” - even in the Math problems - than the old one so get used to solving lots of “word problems”. After a while you will recognize strategies that help you. And your tutor will be of immeasurable assistance.
Like any smart student, have a few “match” and “safety” schools in your back pocket just in case you don’t get into your dream schools. It can be such a crap-shoot at that tippy-top level - perfect test scores are NOT necessarily what gets you inl! We know someone with a perfect ACT who was also National Merit and she did NOT get into Stanford (though she did get into other really top schools).
BTW, I have a kid who scored a 490 in writing on her first “cold” SAT practice as a rising junior. She finished with a 700 after nine months of prep. She also raised her math 120 points (reading was already fine). A lot can be gained just by becoming familiar with the test. In her case English is her first language, but your post shows that you have a pretty good command of the English language already - it shouldn’t hold you back from a getting a great score eventually.
My daughter prepped for the most recent SAT using Khan Academy, which has the great feature of being free. She felt that it really helped her, but of course we won’t know for sure until her scores come back. She wasn’t too worried about her math score, so she concentrated on doing reading and writing on Khan. She felt that her writing especially was improved from PSAT. I’d recommend at least checking it out.
first off, you’re a freshman. I get it, I was in the same position. I was a sophomore stressed to the max about my college goals, and studied like the crazy for the ACT. I wanted a 34/36 BAD, but I ended up getting a 30 my sophomore year. Here’s the lesson you need to learn: these exams test you on what you’ve learned in high school, and if you haven’t really been through high school yet, you just won’t do well. Now, I’m a junior, and after 2 years of difficult AP tests and AP exams, the ACT was a breeze. I got a 35 without studying. So wait it out, your skills will naturally improve (especially math!). Best of luck to you!
Also it’s prepping, not preping. Just trying to be helpful lol
