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SAT thread
- Thread starter togaquest
- Start date
if you want to improve take practice tests and study vocabulary. i did this for a few weeks beforehand and got 99th percentile on the sat. btw the sat will not help you get into hardly any schools because everyone now knows that the main indicator of college success is your high school gpa and also because college admissions are primarily designed to perpetuate class hierarchies. for example, despite being 99th percentile with a 4.0+ weighted gpa (with AP classes you can ++ your gpa) I did not get into a single private school, probably, imo, because I went to a public high school and my application cycle was during a recession.
That's a good score. Did you have to study or did it come naturally to you?
I was lucky enough to be able to go to 2 separate SAT classes and take the test 3 different times. The first class focused on teaching you the material (grammar rules, math formulas, etc.) while the second was more about teaching us different skills and tricks for taking the SAT in general. In the end, I used a mix of both strategies.
The best thing you can probably do it to take a lot of timed practice tests. I took 10 (!) and it was what helped me the most. Of course, if you can take a class, that will probably help but not everyone can.
My three scores were 1290, 1270, and 1420 (690 Reading/Writing, 730 Math). My original goal was 1400 so I was happy with my score.
Good luck SAT-ing!
The best thing you can probably do it to take a lot of timed practice tests. I took 10 (!) and it was what helped me the most. Of course, if you can take a class, that will probably help but not everyone can.
My three scores were 1290, 1270, and 1420 (690 Reading/Writing, 730 Math). My original goal was 1400 so I was happy with my score.
Agree, it looks like the SAT is going out of style. Most schools don't require the essay (which I would not take unless one of your scores require it or you really like writing) and some are starting to transition to test optional. SAT scores are helpful for getting an easy read on how touch a school will get into. Seeing a school with a 1400-1550 SAT range let me know it was probably a reach while a school with 1160-1360 I felt confident in my ability to get in.
Good luck SAT-ing!
I took the SAT 3 times. The first time was in 8th grade because I needed it for a summer camp? Details are hazy but I got a 1310. I think that was right around when it changed from 2400 point scale to 1600 so scoping out the new format could’ve also been a reason.
The second time I took it was the summer after my sophomore year. I didn’t study a lot, but I did complete one of those packets my school gave me which is maybe half a full exam. I got a 1550. My main improvements came in the Writing and Language/Reading sections because I was already pretty good at Math. In the 3 years that elapsed, I developed a lot in terms of critical reading and grammar (sadly that knowledge has been lost to me, my grammar sucks now).
The third time I took it was the summer after my junior year. This time I studied A LOT. It was incredibly frustrating because the 1550 I got was 800 Math and 750 Writing/Reading, and it's very difficult to actually see improvement in Writing/Reading. I got a 1590 with my split being 800 Math 790 Writing/Reading and I wanted to fucking stab something. I burned all of my prep books and I have since moved past that experience.
All 3 times I did absolutely DREADFUL on the essay. I don't remember what my scores are but I think they were all below the 50th percentile. Good thing nobody gives a shit about the essay anymore cause oh my god.
My tips for preparation:
- Don't bullshit yourself at any step throughout the process of preparing. It's really easy to call it a day with 5 problems left in the 80 problem Math section and just assume you would've done well, but that's not how it works at the real exam. The SAT is more of a test of your concentration than it is your knowledge so get in the habit of doing the whole thing. This also includes practicing bubbling when you practice, as mundane as it sounds.
- Along a similar vein, always time yourself. Even if you're not keeping to the time limits, see how you're doing with each practice run. If you're not improving/staying within the time limits, figure out why and fix it. I found this to be less of a factor in the SAT than the ACT because SAT is quite a bit more generous on time.
- Don't try to stay up the night before "studying" - the only thing you could conceivably study that would be of any benefit are formulas for the Math section, and you should've already done that anyway.
My tips for exam day:
- Turn your phone off LOL
- I wouldn't mess with energy drinks. During my prep, I timed and saw if drinking a 16 oz Monster would last me through an entire exam. Assuming that I began drinking it 30 minutes before the exam started and finished 10 minutes before the exam started (having it not finished before the exam starts is just a hassle because you have to put it on the floor next to you), I would crash at about halfway through the Math section. Your mileage will vary I guess but...yeah. I haven't heard of anyone with a score I'd consider good that made use of an energy drink.
- I do know a lot of people (mainly girls) that drank coffee, but that's because it was already part of their morning routine anyway. If it's not part of yours, I would advise against trying it. This also goes for stuff like breakfast. I don't really eat breakfast and I'm certainly not going to start on exam day lol.
- Bring a snack.
- Eat the snack. If nothing else, the familiarity should help calm your nerves.
- If you're not a morning person, take advantage of naps. As mentioned before, the SAT is more generous with time. After checking to see if I bubbled correctly and double checking a select few problems (more on this later), I put my head down and took a nap for the remaining 5-15 minutes. You also get a 15 (they call it 10 but lol) minute break. Don't even bother socializing with friends, just take a nap.
- I wouldn't count on being able to double check every problem. Even if you have enough time to do it, confirmation bias is going to set in and after a couple problems, you'll just be checking to see if you bubbled correctly, rather than actually seeing if there was any errors in your process. As you're taking the test, mark a couple problems that you're not sure about and want to return to later, as well as any problems that didn't immediately click on the first time. Ideally this shouldn't be more than 25% of the problems in the section. Go through these with a very detailed eye. For the rest of the problems, just get in the mindset of getting them correct on the first try. Yes, you will need a lot of practice to actually develop this confidence.
Advice I did not try:
- I didn't fuck with tutors or classes. Classes because there are none in rural Iowa. Tutors because, as mentioned, SAT is more about your concentration than what you know, and I doubt a tutor could help you with that. I have heard from friends that tutors helped them from getting subpar scores (1200s range) into good scores (1450 and higher) but I can't say that I've heard of much improvement after that. Plus, it's expensive.
- Writing Math formulas down on your thigh/calculator, programming them into your calculator if you have graphing. I was confident I had all of them down, but if your Math isn't great, this could come in clutch.
- Drinking. Obviously sounds like a horrible idea. My friend offered me this tidbit of wisdom and my guess is that he was trying to numb the pain of the SAT. Understandable line of thought, but not optimal for high performance.
- Xanax. This one's actually quite interesting. I wouldn't call this scientific by any stretch of the imagination, but I have been surprised with the improvements my friends report when using Xanax or other anxiolytics. For reference, my friends typically score in the 1200s-1300s, and colleges around my area start offering the second highest tier of scholarships at 1400 and higher. Of course, none of them actually want to study, so they spend their time looking for shortcuts. Xanax has been the one with the most success in bumping their scores up to the 1400 mark. I guess that exam day anxiety really is a bitch. I never tried this myself and I haven't heard of any top level scorers that have.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I fuckin hate College Board so if any of my advice is helpful in "cheating" their artificial test of college preparedness, I would be delighted.
The second time I took it was the summer after my sophomore year. I didn’t study a lot, but I did complete one of those packets my school gave me which is maybe half a full exam. I got a 1550. My main improvements came in the Writing and Language/Reading sections because I was already pretty good at Math. In the 3 years that elapsed, I developed a lot in terms of critical reading and grammar (sadly that knowledge has been lost to me, my grammar sucks now).
The third time I took it was the summer after my junior year. This time I studied A LOT. It was incredibly frustrating because the 1550 I got was 800 Math and 750 Writing/Reading, and it's very difficult to actually see improvement in Writing/Reading. I got a 1590 with my split being 800 Math 790 Writing/Reading and I wanted to fucking stab something. I burned all of my prep books and I have since moved past that experience.
All 3 times I did absolutely DREADFUL on the essay. I don't remember what my scores are but I think they were all below the 50th percentile. Good thing nobody gives a shit about the essay anymore cause oh my god.
My tips for preparation:
- Don't bullshit yourself at any step throughout the process of preparing. It's really easy to call it a day with 5 problems left in the 80 problem Math section and just assume you would've done well, but that's not how it works at the real exam. The SAT is more of a test of your concentration than it is your knowledge so get in the habit of doing the whole thing. This also includes practicing bubbling when you practice, as mundane as it sounds.
- Along a similar vein, always time yourself. Even if you're not keeping to the time limits, see how you're doing with each practice run. If you're not improving/staying within the time limits, figure out why and fix it. I found this to be less of a factor in the SAT than the ACT because SAT is quite a bit more generous on time.
- Don't try to stay up the night before "studying" - the only thing you could conceivably study that would be of any benefit are formulas for the Math section, and you should've already done that anyway.
My tips for exam day:
- Turn your phone off LOL
- I wouldn't mess with energy drinks. During my prep, I timed and saw if drinking a 16 oz Monster would last me through an entire exam. Assuming that I began drinking it 30 minutes before the exam started and finished 10 minutes before the exam started (having it not finished before the exam starts is just a hassle because you have to put it on the floor next to you), I would crash at about halfway through the Math section. Your mileage will vary I guess but...yeah. I haven't heard of anyone with a score I'd consider good that made use of an energy drink.
- I do know a lot of people (mainly girls) that drank coffee, but that's because it was already part of their morning routine anyway. If it's not part of yours, I would advise against trying it. This also goes for stuff like breakfast. I don't really eat breakfast and I'm certainly not going to start on exam day lol.
- Bring a snack.
- Eat the snack. If nothing else, the familiarity should help calm your nerves.
- If you're not a morning person, take advantage of naps. As mentioned before, the SAT is more generous with time. After checking to see if I bubbled correctly and double checking a select few problems (more on this later), I put my head down and took a nap for the remaining 5-15 minutes. You also get a 15 (they call it 10 but lol) minute break. Don't even bother socializing with friends, just take a nap.
- I wouldn't count on being able to double check every problem. Even if you have enough time to do it, confirmation bias is going to set in and after a couple problems, you'll just be checking to see if you bubbled correctly, rather than actually seeing if there was any errors in your process. As you're taking the test, mark a couple problems that you're not sure about and want to return to later, as well as any problems that didn't immediately click on the first time. Ideally this shouldn't be more than 25% of the problems in the section. Go through these with a very detailed eye. For the rest of the problems, just get in the mindset of getting them correct on the first try. Yes, you will need a lot of practice to actually develop this confidence.
Advice I did not try:
- I didn't fuck with tutors or classes. Classes because there are none in rural Iowa. Tutors because, as mentioned, SAT is more about your concentration than what you know, and I doubt a tutor could help you with that. I have heard from friends that tutors helped them from getting subpar scores (1200s range) into good scores (1450 and higher) but I can't say that I've heard of much improvement after that. Plus, it's expensive.
- Writing Math formulas down on your thigh/calculator, programming them into your calculator if you have graphing. I was confident I had all of them down, but if your Math isn't great, this could come in clutch.
- Drinking. Obviously sounds like a horrible idea. My friend offered me this tidbit of wisdom and my guess is that he was trying to numb the pain of the SAT. Understandable line of thought, but not optimal for high performance.
- Xanax. This one's actually quite interesting. I wouldn't call this scientific by any stretch of the imagination, but I have been surprised with the improvements my friends report when using Xanax or other anxiolytics. For reference, my friends typically score in the 1200s-1300s, and colleges around my area start offering the second highest tier of scholarships at 1400 and higher. Of course, none of them actually want to study, so they spend their time looking for shortcuts. Xanax has been the one with the most success in bumping their scores up to the 1400 mark. I guess that exam day anxiety really is a bitch. I never tried this myself and I haven't heard of any top level scorers that have.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I fuckin hate College Board so if any of my advice is helpful in "cheating" their artificial test of college preparedness, I would be delighted.
High school GPA doesn't mean shit anymore with how hand holdy teachers and schools have gotten in recent years. Virtually everyone is allowed into AP classes nowadays and the content is incredibly watered down. My school wasn't weighted so there's no difference between a straight A AP student and someone getting As in remedial courses, but I assume colleges are aware of the grade inflation going around in schools so they don't lose funding, because colleges themselves do it too. I honestly think that colleges take into account test scores more because there's at least a universality to SAT/ACT, whereas GPA is up to a teacher's whim.
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Hi there! I got a 1530 out of 1600 the second time I took my test (1430 first time). I read through Wigglytuff's post above and that is probably one of the most comprehensive posts I've read about SAT preparation. The only thing I would disagree on is the High School GPA not meaning shit. There, unfortunately, aren't many other ways admission counselors can judge your application.
My tips to applying to college:
- Commit to a club/extra curricular all 4 years of high school. Just do it. It shows commitment and shows that you're willing to improve in said field.
- Get your GPA as high as possible. There's literally 0 drawback to having a high GPA. To add on, take challenging courses so counselors are informed that you'll be thriving in college. By challenging courses I mean APs or if you're in an IB school take high level stuff.
- Those x number of weeks/months preparing for the SAT are your GRIND TIME. IDC if you're 1 suspect vote away from TC, you better not fucking log on. Study your fucking ass off.
- If you know what you want to major in, do things that demonstrate your interest in that major. For example, if you're into business, do case competitions or some shit like that. Explain how those events have piqued your interest in the field and go from there.
- FOCUS ON YOUR ESSAYS. If there's a "Why x school?" essay, do not fucking write a paragraph about the city/location. There are a million other schools in that location. Do your research and figure out what the fuck you actually like about the school. Is it the study away programs? Is it the professors? Is there a specific class or classes you want to take? Dig deep. For the personal essay on the Common App, there are a million ways you can go about this but the more you write about how you've grown as a person learning life lessons through whatever, the better it is (again there a different topics this might not apply to yours).
Feel free to DM me for more tips or if you have any questions! :) Good luck on the SATs and applying to college.
Edit: On SAT Subject Tests. I took Math lvl 2 and got 800. Uhh these are important-ish? It's not a bad thing to have a high score on these but definitely not necessary. Take them only if you're confident you're getting a high score otherwise don't waste your time and money.
My tips to applying to college:
- Commit to a club/extra curricular all 4 years of high school. Just do it. It shows commitment and shows that you're willing to improve in said field.
- Get your GPA as high as possible. There's literally 0 drawback to having a high GPA. To add on, take challenging courses so counselors are informed that you'll be thriving in college. By challenging courses I mean APs or if you're in an IB school take high level stuff.
- Those x number of weeks/months preparing for the SAT are your GRIND TIME. IDC if you're 1 suspect vote away from TC, you better not fucking log on. Study your fucking ass off.
- If you know what you want to major in, do things that demonstrate your interest in that major. For example, if you're into business, do case competitions or some shit like that. Explain how those events have piqued your interest in the field and go from there.
- FOCUS ON YOUR ESSAYS. If there's a "Why x school?" essay, do not fucking write a paragraph about the city/location. There are a million other schools in that location. Do your research and figure out what the fuck you actually like about the school. Is it the study away programs? Is it the professors? Is there a specific class or classes you want to take? Dig deep. For the personal essay on the Common App, there are a million ways you can go about this but the more you write about how you've grown as a person learning life lessons through whatever, the better it is (again there a different topics this might not apply to yours).
Feel free to DM me for more tips or if you have any questions! :) Good luck on the SATs and applying to college.
Edit: On SAT Subject Tests. I took Math lvl 2 and got 800. Uhh these are important-ish? It's not a bad thing to have a high score on these but definitely not necessary. Take them only if you're confident you're getting a high score otherwise don't waste your time and money.