Thread: Tell me about being successful on the new SAT

On the Essays, use big words.. but use them correctly..

uhh also DO NOT write about personal experience. try to pull an example from history, or a novel or some legitimate source. Not a movie or your life.

and don't stress.

We have SATs in the UK but my spider sense says that they are two different things.


Would anyone care to elaborate on American SATs?

Necro needed.

I need advice on how to study for the SAT's now.

Any advice appreciated.

Don't worry about it and don't study. If you know basic math and are a half-decent reader getting a good score is no trouble at all. And since I've seen some of you writing 2-page long posts the essay shouldn't be difficult either.

If you absolutely must study the vocab at least use freerice.com which is almost fun to use.

Originally Posted by M-Cat

Don't worry about it and don't study. If you know basic math and are a half-decent reader getting a good score is no trouble at all. And since I've seen some of you writing 2-page long posts the essay shouldn't be difficult either.

If you absolutely must study the vocab at least use freerice.com which is almost fun to use.

Thanks for the site.

The PSAT was kinda well not so easy. O_O I managed to do okayish.

I definitely need to study the vocabulary. =/

Originally Posted by Xox

Thanks for the site.

The PSAT was kinda well not so easy. O_O I managed to do okayish.

I definitely need to study the vocabulary. =/

What did you get Xox?

I got a 1970

Unfortunately, you can't really study for those types of tests. It's more of what you have to show for the years of schooling you've already had. Best advice in the world: take the test more than once. Take it as many times are you can possibly stomach. Your scores always either increase with each new test, or sometimes they stay the same. The point is they never decrease, so you have nothing to lose. I took the ACT three times.

Originally Posted by Grod

What did you get Xox?

I got a 1970

At freshman year I got a 1260.

Now Im taking it again in junior year, then over and over until senior year.

The colleges only count your highest, so best thing to do is take it several times.

I don't know but I'm really worried about it. O_O I did horibble inmath, I hadn;t even taken algebra at that point. Writing skills wasn't too hot either.

Originally Posted by Xox

At freshman year I got a 1260.

Now Im taking it again in junior year, then over and over until senior year.

The colleges only count your highest, so best thing to do is take it several times.

I don't know but I'm really worried about it. O_O I did horibble inmath, I hadn;t even taken algebra at that point. Writing skills wasn't too hot either.

I've only taken it once, this year (Sophmore).

Writing skills was my worst.

i got 1950.

Yeah I'm english but i took it anyway.


Retaking next year; need 2100+

on the PSAT i got 222 (i think) out of 240. it was 99th percentile... anyone else besides that place to study vocab? or other ways to study vocab? that will be my saving grace really, having a good vocabulary. plus it's good for english anyways.

Originally Posted by Carôusoul

i got 1950.

HA

I took the PSATs [I hate the new ones, the time before I took the old ones in 7th grade and only managed 1000 or some odd points that round down to it...], no studying and no essay, only a bloody 180... I guess I need to work on my English as that was my lowest scoring, the rest were all high scores when you divide it up into grammar, literature, and math.

Originally Posted by Grod

Writing skills was my worst.

ha me too. But hopefully I'll score better after 2 yrs. of practice.

Originally Posted by Carôusoul

Retaking next year; need 2100+

Good luck with that. Whatgrade are you in btw?

Originally Posted by wasup

on the PSAT i got 222 (i think) out of 240. it was 99th percentile... anyone else besides that place to study vocab? or other ways to study vocab? that will be my saving grace really, having a good vocabulary. plus it's good for english anyways.

You got a 222? Which basically means you got a 2220. Wow, can you give me any advice? Besides vocabulary, which I am working on.

We don't have grades here, infidel.

It shouldn't be hard. I average that on my practice tests.

Ick, I envy those of my friends who made perfect scores on their PSATs, but then again... none of us ever study for these things if it doesn't count towards scholarships and such... [It's so weird, the average results were around 190, the above average were perfect scores...] Not that we won't be receiving anything just for surviving IB...

Well then Carou, you're in college right? Or secondary school... I don't remember when people graduate in secondary school... 16 or so I think... meh... I don't know how old you are... and I'm too lazy to check your profile...

Looks like Jesus wins again.


I'm so darn attractive.

Yeah another thing is, some colleges don't even care for SAT scores. And for some, it's the most important thing.

I know people who couldn't make it to Columbia with perfect SAT scores. And some who made it to Columbia with not so great scores. It's not the most important thing, but they do stress it.

SATs are March 1st, the earliest possible date. I plan on studying the night before a little maybe.

Originally Posted by Xox

Yeah another thing is, some colleges don't even care for SAT scores. And for some, it's the most important thing.

I know people who couldn't make it to Columbia with perfect SAT scores. And some who made it to Columbia with not so great scores. It's not the most important thing, but they do stress it.

So true, some places really don't. They care more about what you can "bring to the college," so clubs, sports, community service, leadership roles, etc. Those could really be worth more to them tha a perfect score.

go to www.freerice.com

it helps you really practice your vocab and everytime you get an answer right they donate 20 grains of rice through united nations to help end world hunger.
its good because it gets really tough, helps you practice your vocab/expand, and you do it for a good cause! we did this in english class for a little bit one day and donated 2 bowls of rice! it was a lot of fun for class!

I would not recommend taking it "as many times as possible." First of all, you will quickly reach a plateau and any increases will be quite limited. More importantly however, colleges notice. While only your highest grades count, they are aware of how many times it took you to get those grades. I think I took it two or three times.

In terms of preparing for it... the first time, if you havnt taken practice exams, I wouldnt study for it. See what categories you need to work on, get the jitters out of your system. After that, as boring as it may seem, buy a princeton review (or something similar) book, and just do practice problems. SAT tests arent so much a test of your math ability for example, instead the challenge is in recognizing their evil little tricks. The answers are designed to confuse you. If you practice with actual SAT problems you will become familiar with how to solve certain problem types.

Above all else, SAT's are all about time management and knowing how the game is played. You MUST understand the scoring system... the differences between answering a question incorrectly and not answering at all. Guessing is not always your best option. Look at the scoring system though, and you will see (if I remember correctly), that if you can eliminate one answer, then you should guess. (take this with a grain of salt). These tests are all about little tricks like this.

Take it two or three times and the combination of experience, improved time management, and less anxiety will lead to score improvements. I think I improved about 100 points total between my first and second scores.

Originally Posted by rastasteez

go to www.freerice.com

it helps you really practice your vocab and everytime you get an answer right they donate 20 grains of rice through united nations to help end world hunger.
its good because it gets really tough, helps you practice your vocab/expand, and you do it for a good cause! we did this in english class for a little bit one day and donated 2 bowls of rice! it was a lot of fun for class!

I'm guessing they didn't teach you capitalization yet in English class?

www.freerice.com cares little for capitalization.