SAT prep is meant to do one thing: improve your SAT scores. Anything else is a waste of time. If you're looking to get into a better college, then improving your objective metrics (i.e. the measurements of your success based purely on numbers) is the only guaranteed way to improve your chances.
There are lots of SAT tricks out there, but if you want to improve your SAT score by as much as possible, I've found that one trick is best: timing your SAT speed on a question-by-question basis.
Your SAT Score is a byproduct of your accuracy and your speed. If you correctly answer every problem you attempt, but you only answer 1/2 of the problems, you're going to get a terrible score. Conversely, if you fly through the entire test and answer every question, but you only get 1/2 of them right, you're going to bomb. How do you walk the fine line?
The most important SAT Prep that you can do is under timed conditions. If you time your prep properly, you'll improve by hundreds of points. Here's how:
1. Buy yourself a big, noiseless digital watch. You'll want to practice with it and take the test with it, so make sure it doesn't beep and that it doesn't have any calculator functions. Noises and extra functionality are banned by the SAT.
2. Start taking as many practice SATs as you can and time EACH QUESTION that you answer. There's no point to looking at your overall time left - this doesn't help you. When you're on question #16 and you see that you have 12 minutes left, what's the meaning of that? You want to build awareness of how long EACH PROBLEM is taking you, and not how long each section is taking you.
3. Figure out the average time/problem on each section. On math and writing this is easy: just divide the number of minutes allotted by section by the number of questions per section and you have your result. On Critical Reading, it's a bit tougher. You need to figure out how long, on average, it takes you to read through the passages in each section. Once you do this, subtract that time from your total time allotted, and then divide the remaining time allotted by the number of questions per section.
Critical Reading is the only section with supplemental information, so you will have less time per Critical Reading problem than you do for any other category of problem.
4. Compare how long each question is taking you with how long it SHOULD be taking you. Example: if you have a twenty-problem math section and twenty-five minutes to complete it, then each problem should be taking you, on average, 1.25 minutes. You cannot spend too much OR too little time on any problem. If you're spending too little time on each problem, you're going to make mistakes. If you're spending too much time on each problem, you're not going to finish each section.
5. Match your time per question to your time allotted per question. If each problem is taking too much time, force yourself to choose your answers faster. If each problem is whizzing by, force yourself to slow down and invest more time in your accuracy. This process will be different for each student, but it all comes down to timing yourself on a problem-by-problem basis, identifying your timing issues, and then correcting them.
If you want to improve your SAT scores, perfect your per-question timing. I time all of my clients on a question-by-question basis, improving both their accuracy and their speed. It's no surprise that they improve by 350 points on average - they're taking into account both of the factors that improve SAT scores: speed and accuracy. I'd suggest that you do the same.
Get yourself a clock, take plenty of practice tests, and perfect your timing. It's the difference between a mediocre score and an acceptance to your dream schools.
There are lots of SAT tricks out there, but if you want to improve your SAT score by as much as possible, I've found that one trick is best: timing your SAT speed on a question-by-question basis.
Your SAT Score is a byproduct of your accuracy and your speed. If you correctly answer every problem you attempt, but you only answer 1/2 of the problems, you're going to get a terrible score. Conversely, if you fly through the entire test and answer every question, but you only get 1/2 of them right, you're going to bomb. How do you walk the fine line?
The most important SAT Prep that you can do is under timed conditions. If you time your prep properly, you'll improve by hundreds of points. Here's how:
1. Buy yourself a big, noiseless digital watch. You'll want to practice with it and take the test with it, so make sure it doesn't beep and that it doesn't have any calculator functions. Noises and extra functionality are banned by the SAT.
2. Start taking as many practice SATs as you can and time EACH QUESTION that you answer. There's no point to looking at your overall time left - this doesn't help you. When you're on question #16 and you see that you have 12 minutes left, what's the meaning of that? You want to build awareness of how long EACH PROBLEM is taking you, and not how long each section is taking you.
3. Figure out the average time/problem on each section. On math and writing this is easy: just divide the number of minutes allotted by section by the number of questions per section and you have your result. On Critical Reading, it's a bit tougher. You need to figure out how long, on average, it takes you to read through the passages in each section. Once you do this, subtract that time from your total time allotted, and then divide the remaining time allotted by the number of questions per section.
Critical Reading is the only section with supplemental information, so you will have less time per Critical Reading problem than you do for any other category of problem.
4. Compare how long each question is taking you with how long it SHOULD be taking you. Example: if you have a twenty-problem math section and twenty-five minutes to complete it, then each problem should be taking you, on average, 1.25 minutes. You cannot spend too much OR too little time on any problem. If you're spending too little time on each problem, you're going to make mistakes. If you're spending too much time on each problem, you're not going to finish each section.
5. Match your time per question to your time allotted per question. If each problem is taking too much time, force yourself to choose your answers faster. If each problem is whizzing by, force yourself to slow down and invest more time in your accuracy. This process will be different for each student, but it all comes down to timing yourself on a problem-by-problem basis, identifying your timing issues, and then correcting them.
If you want to improve your SAT scores, perfect your per-question timing. I time all of my clients on a question-by-question basis, improving both their accuracy and their speed. It's no surprise that they improve by 350 points on average - they're taking into account both of the factors that improve SAT scores: speed and accuracy. I'd suggest that you do the same.
Get yourself a clock, take plenty of practice tests, and perfect your timing. It's the difference between a mediocre score and an acceptance to your dream schools.
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