so i took the sat reasoning test in june and i just saw my scores online and they were pretty bad i got:
Critical Reading: 400
Mathematics: 500
Writing: 390

im not good at writing essays, and my english affected my critical reading cuz i saw long words that i have never seen im my life (well since i know the english language)
im planning on taking it again senior year and i want to know what did you do to improve your scores?? besides the SAT question of the day, wich by the way it barely helped

Take an SAT prep class! They help BIG TIME.
When you're taking your test, pace yourself(I know everyone says that but it helps). Read thoroughly. If you don't understand a word, re-read the sentence and try to understand the message behind the sentence instead of the word itself(if that makes sense). Study for at least 1 1/2 hours a day. And don't stress out! Even if you get a less than satisfactory grade, that doesn't mean you won't get accepted into your college of choice! You are more than your SAT scores. Lastly, get some sleep, eat breakfast and stay positive.



That was longer than I intended it to be. xD

what about when i get stressed over a question?
because i worry that im spending too much time on one question that i wont have time to answer other questions

skip the question.
i do it all the time.
and come back to it when you have time.
sometimes, for some weird reason, some questions suddenly becoming less confusing when you come back to it. or for some reason the answer miraculously hits you. happens to me all the time.

Then just skip the question. If you have time at the end of the test go back to the question but don't worry over it.

I didn't skip any problems. I guessed on problems I didn't know.
You shouldn't do what I did (obviously), but I studied really hard for my CR score. It used to be 490. But improving your vocabulary really helps. Either find a list of really, really tough words online and manually make flash cards or go out and buy some. Making them manually is more beneficial in my opinion.
I also used Princeton Review's Hit Parade list and I got around 7~10 hits on the June SAT. It's decent.
If you have the money though.. I'd suggest you sign up for classes by PR or Kaplan.

Good Luck.

CR: 710
M: 740
W: 680
total: 2130

Ehh.... stupid essay weighed down my writing grade. I got a 7.

And you got a 7? Or did they change it? Because while I don't remember what I got, 7 doesn't seem like a good score...

It's not, haha. It's just over 50%. It [probably] means one person gave me a 3/6 (50%) and the other guy gave me a 4/6 (67%). Which is, uh, pretty bad, especially since I come from a very academically competitive school/community.

Wait, I'm confused.

Oh ok, I think that actually makes sense. Because 12 being the highest makes sense. I think I got a 10? I don't even know. I'm still slightly confused.

Impressive that you got a 680 with only a 7, though.

CR: 800
M: 800
WR: 750 (goddamn it lol.)
2350

My advice to improve on critical reading is to do as MANY practice problems as you can get your hands on. Often, test prep companies offer old SATs as practice. And not only do the problems, but when you get one wrong, read it over carefully and know WHY you got it wrong. Most people just glance at it, see that it was wrong, and move on -- BIG mistake. Once you do enough practice probs it gets instinctive and you start understanding what the question's getting at a lot better, it really improves your speed.

Not only that but the SAT is more about your test-taking skills than general knowledge, so the more you improve your test-taking skills (aka: practice taking tests), the better you'll do.

And if you get stuck, just skip it and come back. If you run out of time then whatever. If I remember correctly you don't get any points for a blank answer but that's better than the -1/4 for a wrong answer, at least.

I smell fakes.



Here, join this group of lying suckups.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/

Wowwww...... impressive. :] I'm too lazy to hardcore study for it, though, and no way am I taking it again. I mean, come on. 4+ hours of testing? I'd rather sleep on a Saturday.

It always makes me angry when people assume I'm lying purely based on my score, without knowing me at all. I know it's easy to say stuff over the internet but 1.) I hate lying and liars with a passion, and 2.) I graduated 2 years ago, why the hell would I lie? I was trying to give some helpful advice based on experience, and show that I know what I'm talking about. This is why I never tell anyone my score, because of people like you.

Not only that, but I worked my ass off for my test scores. I was already a good test taker but I put in definitely at least 70, maybe up to 100 or more, hours of studying and prep classes and taking practice tests to prepare. And it paid off: I got a 240 on my PSAT and a 36 on my ACT as well. I more than earned those scores, and the right to mention them. Perhaps you should put some thought into being more respectful of others.

And thank you dreamstar7 :)

Call me Zephyr :]

Holy crap, you got a 240 on your PSAT? :O Wow. Did you get a scholarship?

I didn't really get what the site was about, but that's a lot of time and effort you put into studying. Definitely paid off. :]

anoniez, just out of curiosity, why are you going to Emory with scores that wonderful? Not that Emory isn't a really great school (because it is), but those are really top tier material. Did you get a good scholarship?

Hmm. What made you so sure I was talking to you?

Critical Reading: 510 XD (don't laugh)
Math: 620
Writing 550 (Got a nine on my Essay)

HAHA you did bad. I'm just kidding. :P I got 1680 on my practice SAT test. Go to a SAT prep program it helps a lot. For the Math, you just have to apply what you've learned from Algebra and Geometry. But you just have to tweak it a little bit. It's all hidden in the problem. You have to read inbetween the lines. As for critical Reading, you just have to practice and practice. Keep memorizing words. Writing, is actually pretty easy. You have to make up a structure for the essay and memorize it. I go to Harvard Square. Their structure is like..

Many people believe that ________________ whereas others believe ____________________. By looking at the book __________ by __________ and at the life of ____________(some historical guy), we can see that _____________ is always the better choice(or whatever you're defending). _____________________(State your thesis) because ____________________(reason why)

That'd be your intro paragraph. I did that and I got a solid nine. I can get better though.. I just made stupid grammar mistakes because I was in such a rush. Well yeah, you just have to make the people sitting in their underwear grading essays think that you're smart. I'll post a thread about SAT essay structure that can give you a solid 9 or 10 later. It's quite easy. OH! And you can just bullshit the thing with fake books and fake historical people. Theres a rule that they can't grade you down for wrong facts. But TRY and stay away from people that everyone knows. For example, Robert Frost, J.R. Tolken, Edgar Allan Poe. You can make up names if you want. I personally think making things up is better. But you have to be good at it or they'll know you're BSing it and find other ways to secretly grade you down. The people on the SAT grade down for short essays too. My Writing teacher said just write bigger. AND MAKE YOUR INTRO SOUND GOOD! They always always always read the intro carefully and mostly skim through the rest of the Essay.

As for the Critical Reading vocab. Cover up all your answer choices first and decide whether the word is going to be positive or negative. Then, think of your own synonym. After you've done all that, look at your answer choices and then pick the word. You HAVE to do this or else you'll fall into their shitty little traps. I didn't do that first time so I got like a 1500 on the pre test. = = And for the long passages, what I do is read the intro and conclusion paragraph carefully. For the body paragraphs, read the first and last sentences. It's faster. And you get the main points, and you have more time to do the ones you need to look at the passage with.

Yeah, that's basically it. For Math, you just have to do a lot of SAT math problems to get the basic grasp on how to do it.


That's all! Good luck on your SATs

well considering his/her score was the highest and you said it right after her posts. Some people are left to assume that you were talking to them

good point though.

I kind of agree with Nikki though, why didn't you choose to go to a different school?

I wish I knew this before I took it. :[

Sorry if I misinterpreted :\ it's happened to me so many times that I kind of start assuming, I guess. My bad, if you weren't talking to me.

I would like to correct a popular misconception though.. good scores do NOT automatically get you in anywhere. To go someplace like Harvard or similar, you still have to do some pretty hardcore stuff outside of school, like start a free clinic or something (joking... sort of). Unfortunately I was never the type to do that when I could sleep in on weekends.

Why Emory? Well.. several reasons. One was that I'm pre-med and Emory's well known for its premed program, but most importantly (I hate to say this buuut) it's in the south. I absolutely can't stand the cold, soooo.. :) I got into some schools farther north but I knew that I would be completely miserable every winter for four years, and I couldn't stand the thought, I probably would've gone insane.

^ pft @ the south.

I had the choice between a full-ride at Baylor and shitty financial aid at Columbia. The choice for me was pretty obvious.

But about SAT's - I highly recommend Testmasters. They give you a formula for the essay, which I've gotten a 12 on every time I took it after the class. They're tricks and tips for critical reading, verbal, and math are also pretty nifty.

I'm not under the impression that that's all it takes (I know enough people who applied to Ivies/equivalent schools to know better), it just seemed fair to assume that if you put that much effort into getting good scores, you would have put as much effort into making good grades and crafting an impressive list of extracurriculars. I made decent scores, but I didn't study at all. And I made fairly mediocre grades because I didn't try very hard in classes either.

I like how valid your reasons are, though. I applied to Emory, but I don't really know why. Being in state it sort of seemed like I should, even though in actuality it made little sense for me to do so.

Heh I got 1370 HAH
But I got a 9 on the essayy

I'm retaking it in October :]

Well don't go posting your SAT scores on the Web, schools WILL see it, and if anything and you don't get the score you want again, prepare ahead, take extra classes in math or writing to show schools that you want to make a change. If you're in NY you can take College Now and get credit for it. Or you can get good grades and apply to Wake Forest or Smith...eh...something along those lines. They did away with SAT requirements