<p>^Both my kids regularly got B+'s in English, but found the CR section a breeze. Just read!</p>
<p>DS took his first SAT in 7th for the Johns Hopkins CTY program and scored 480/800 and even got, I believe, a hundred dollar check in the award ceremony. We were told that pre-HS scores are purged unless you specifically request that they be held, and after some thought, he decided to keep it, but we don’t now if it helped him or not. </p>
<p>I think DD1 scored in the mid 500s in both sections in 7th grade. DD2 had 400s and 500s and didn’t qualify for the award ceremony.</p>
<p>Once in HS, they felt ACTs, with English being less weighted, and math apparently being harder was the way to go. DD1’s ACTs finally ended up in the low 30s, with single SAT in the low 2100s; DS peaked in the SAT in the mid 2000 single sitting, while his ACT was 35. DD2 finished her junior year with a 28.</p>
<p>No suggestion for good English scores - none of the three really reached the top tiers; for math, more than specific prep books, it was the amount of math done outside of class that counted - AMCs, AIME, ARML, spending time on the AoPS site etc.</p>
<p>Completely agree with people who say reading is what really helps with SAT scores. My son scored 1890 on SAT in middle school, and scored very well on 10th grade PSAT. He was sick the day of the official PSAT, and did not score well. SAT in 11th grade was 2160 - 690 math, 740 CR, and 730 Wr. He scored 36 on math ACT and 800 on math SAT 2.
He did attend CTY, and also attended summer university at JHU. The students stay on campus for 5 weeks and take 2 classes, for up to 7 credits. He loved the experience, and really wanted to attend JHU for college. I however, could not afford it without huge loans, so he is attending and thriving at another school.</p>