Current sophomore, here’s my experience so far:
School requires us to take practice SATs every few months now. I took my first one a while back. I didn’t know the format or anything, got a 1980 (800 CR, but Math/Writing were disasters). My latest score was a 2160, and a few months ago I got a 208 soph PSAT.
Here are my tips. Looking at my friends, CR is the hardest section to raise. I’m really lucky because I love reading, but I can honestly say the only way to get better at CR is practice. Yes, there are a few strategies that can help you along the way, but the main part is practice. Keep in mind that reading anything can help you with CR. I recommend reading short essays and news articles.
Writing was easy to raise for me because what I failed was really the essay. If you review your basic grammar rules, you’ll be fine for the multiple-choice. For the essay, just learn the structure and keep a (figurative) cheat sheet of a few examples that are good in any context. If you’re good at it, consider making up examples (which is what I do).
Math is supposed to be the easiest to raise because it isn’t subjective like the others–it’s just applying formulas. I really struggled with functions, ratios, 3d geometry… I haven’t really gotten around to studying it though so I’m not sure how true this is.
One thing I like about studying for the SAT is that it automatically makes you better at schoolwork as well. Improving math and writing obviously help, but getting better at CR will help you all around with your analysis skills.
I raised my score around 200 points just by learning the format, learning the essay, reviewing grammar and basic math. I haven’t actually prepped for it, but I’m going to start soon. Reason I’m doing this so early is that I want to take the “old” SAT before it ends, so I only have 2015 to take it. I’ll probably do my first one at the same time as you (Spring) and do another one in Winter if I’m not happy.