I’ve been taking practice tests once a week for the past couple of weeks and despite studying, I’m failing to see an improvement in my SAT scores. Here are my most recent scores in chronological order with the top being the oldest:
Test #1:
Critical Reading: 690
Writing: 610
Essay: 7
Math: 700
Total: 2000
Test #2:
Critical Reading: 710
Writing: 610
Essay: 8
Math: 760
Total: 2080
Test #3:
Critical Reading: 650
Writing: 720
Essay: 10
Math: 650
Total: 2020
Test #4:
Critical Reading: 700
Writing: 730
Essay: 10
Math: 740
Total: 2170
Test #5:
Critical Reading: 700
Writing: 700
Essay: 11
Math: 710
Total: 2110
Details:
Critical Reading: I know I still have to work on vocab because I’ve been missing around 2-4 of the sentence completion questions each time (anyone have any good vocab memorization techniques?), but I think I’m slowly getting better at vocab (hopefully). The passages aren’t so hard but every once in a while (maybe 1 in 4 or 5?) I get a long passage that screws me over and I can barely figure out the main idea. Is there a better way to study critical reading other than constantly doing practice tests?
Writing: Probably my worst subject. I miss questions all over the place in this section, but I’m missing a lot in the “find the error” (usually 3, even up to 5 if I’m unlucky) section. Is there an easier way to study for this portion (memorizing idiomatic phrases is soul crushing T_T)?
Essay: I think I’m OK at essays, but my essay grade can be anywhere from a 9 to an 11 depending on the prompt. My best topics tend to be Utopian societies, dictators, and WW2. Are there any other topics that I should brush up on to ensure a grade in the double digits? Note: My essay formats tend to be Intro>Example person/literature #1>Example person/literature #2>Conclusion
Math: This SHOULD be my best subject but I always end up missing problems. Some of the problems I definitely shouldn’t be missing (adding numbers when I should be multiplying) but some problems I don’t know how to do at all. I know I can cut down on the amount of problems I’m missing through silly mistakes if I go back and check, but a lot of the time, I don’t have time to go back due to some of the harder problems toward the end eating up a lot of my time. Of the harder problems, I actually don’t know how to do most of them but I end up getting maybe 80% of the problems I don’t know how to do correct due to a combination of plugging in answers and unconventional solving techniques (which take up a lot of time). The 20% of problems that I truly get stumped on I have no idea how to study for because I’m missing different kinds of questions every time (geometry and word problems to name a few).
Goal: I’m aiming to get 2250+
Summary: Anybody that is or was in a situation like mine, how did/are you guys studying for the SAT? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! 