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Sats
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vegita1220
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I got a max math by being careful more than anything else. I TRIPLE checked that portion of the time. Unless you still have trouble with trigonometry as a HS junior, there's no good reason you shouldn't top 700 in math. And after you do, if you look closely at your mistakes, you'll find that most of them will be b/c:
A)you were careless-multiplied by .01 instead of .001 or something else equally inane. Probably the biggest reason for losing points in math.
B)you didn't bother studying that part. Also fairly common. For example, when I first took my PSAT in jr yr, there was a problem type I completely did not remember how to do. So before I took the SAT two months later, I studied the material and made sure I could do it in my sleep-had terrible dreams as you can imagine.
Maxing verbal was a lot harder, and I don't recommend it. Generally, at the jr yr level, it's hard to work on your vocabulary. There's plenty of other more important crap to worry about(the opposite sex, your REAL classes, APs, college apps, varsity sports, etc.). On the other side of the spectrum, you could make some SERIOUS improvements. I highly recommend studying the most frequent words of the SAT in either Princeton Review's book or 10 Real SATs...knowing most of those(the important ones-not knowing "didactic" will cost you 10 pts-big friggin deal) will guarantee you a 650+ on your verbal.
It's true, College Board exams don't measure crap. I got an 800 in math, but right now I'm borderline failing diff EQs. My roommate got a 670 in math, and he's getting straight As in the same class. I got a 5 on the AP Calc exam, got a C+ in BC Calc. Yeah I maxed verbal, but I got above a B in English only once through 4 yrs of high school-and that was the FIRST year.
Anyway, enough with the soapbox. I'd recommend to anybody stressing about the SATs, study really really hard for a summer, take PSATs-learn from your mistakes, take them once or twice during fall/winter of jr year, and be the obnoxious ******* who laughs at his friends studying for SATs before semiformal.
Oh yeah, like H20Man said, take em early...before they get harder to ace.
And bobster:
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but SAT scores don't count till junior year I believe? I know my 8th grade one didn't count on my SAT record. Anyway, if you're class of 2006, that means your first SAT will be jr year...meaning 2005.
Oh...and on guessing. I call it "common sense." SAT books call it "POE." Whatever the #### you wanna call it, it really should be common sense.
There are 5 choices(or is it 4? it's been a while). Knock at least 2 off. You have at most 3 choices.
You have 4 questions to guess on. Now you have 3 choices on each. Guess wrong, you lose 1/4 point. Get one right, get 1 point. Guess 3 wrong, guess 1 right, you have a net gain of a quarter point, right?
If you can eliminate some choices are being quite obviously wonrg(and there always will be), guessing puts the odds in your favor.
However...I'm of the opinion you should be consistent in your guessing. There's always what I call the "retard X-factor," meaning when you guess, you tend to go for the OBVIOUS choice which SEEMS right...which the College Board loves to put in to take your attention from the right one(This really works on reading comp...by then your mind is numb from all those boring passages-and it's usually pretty damn early in the day too). So make your guessing COMPLETELY random it'll work out better in the long run-meaning look at the answer sheet and pick choices from the remaining ones.
Oh and I think C is the statistically most common answer.
Btw: I spent time tutoring SATs and got some outside help of my own when I was prepping. Just being able to ask someone for outside perspective on a Q you got wrong is really beneficial. Even your friends if necessary-they may be better at some things than you are.
A)you were careless-multiplied by .01 instead of .001 or something else equally inane. Probably the biggest reason for losing points in math.
B)you didn't bother studying that part. Also fairly common. For example, when I first took my PSAT in jr yr, there was a problem type I completely did not remember how to do. So before I took the SAT two months later, I studied the material and made sure I could do it in my sleep-had terrible dreams as you can imagine.
Maxing verbal was a lot harder, and I don't recommend it. Generally, at the jr yr level, it's hard to work on your vocabulary. There's plenty of other more important crap to worry about(the opposite sex, your REAL classes, APs, college apps, varsity sports, etc.). On the other side of the spectrum, you could make some SERIOUS improvements. I highly recommend studying the most frequent words of the SAT in either Princeton Review's book or 10 Real SATs...knowing most of those(the important ones-not knowing "didactic" will cost you 10 pts-big friggin deal) will guarantee you a 650+ on your verbal.
It's true, College Board exams don't measure crap. I got an 800 in math, but right now I'm borderline failing diff EQs. My roommate got a 670 in math, and he's getting straight As in the same class. I got a 5 on the AP Calc exam, got a C+ in BC Calc. Yeah I maxed verbal, but I got above a B in English only once through 4 yrs of high school-and that was the FIRST year.
Anyway, enough with the soapbox. I'd recommend to anybody stressing about the SATs, study really really hard for a summer, take PSATs-learn from your mistakes, take them once or twice during fall/winter of jr year, and be the obnoxious ******* who laughs at his friends studying for SATs before semiformal.
Oh yeah, like H20Man said, take em early...before they get harder to ace.
And bobster:
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but SAT scores don't count till junior year I believe? I know my 8th grade one didn't count on my SAT record. Anyway, if you're class of 2006, that means your first SAT will be jr year...meaning 2005.
Oh...and on guessing. I call it "common sense." SAT books call it "POE." Whatever the #### you wanna call it, it really should be common sense.
There are 5 choices(or is it 4? it's been a while). Knock at least 2 off. You have at most 3 choices.
You have 4 questions to guess on. Now you have 3 choices on each. Guess wrong, you lose 1/4 point. Get one right, get 1 point. Guess 3 wrong, guess 1 right, you have a net gain of a quarter point, right?
If you can eliminate some choices are being quite obviously wonrg(and there always will be), guessing puts the odds in your favor.
However...I'm of the opinion you should be consistent in your guessing. There's always what I call the "retard X-factor," meaning when you guess, you tend to go for the OBVIOUS choice which SEEMS right...which the College Board loves to put in to take your attention from the right one(This really works on reading comp...by then your mind is numb from all those boring passages-and it's usually pretty damn early in the day too). So make your guessing COMPLETELY random it'll work out better in the long run-meaning look at the answer sheet and pick choices from the remaining ones.
Oh and I think C is the statistically most common answer.
Btw: I spent time tutoring SATs and got some outside help of my own when I was prepping. Just being able to ask someone for outside perspective on a Q you got wrong is really beneficial. Even your friends if necessary-they may be better at some things than you are.
snizo
Supply Officer
(Ace said)
The SAT's are supposed to tell you how well you would do in college -- they aren't meant to tell you how much you know or have learned in high school. BUT ... I do know of plenty of cases where someone with a 1200 SAT score outperforms someone with a 1600 in college. So I agree that it isn't much of an indicator for anything...
SATs are changing, huh? I suppose they have to since more and more universities are ignoring SAT scores these days.
Seems right about the reading, though. I've always been told that is the best way to increase vocabulary, etc.
Good luck, rubicon.
The SAT's are supposed to tell you how well you would do in college -- they aren't meant to tell you how much you know or have learned in high school. BUT ... I do know of plenty of cases where someone with a 1200 SAT score outperforms someone with a 1600 in college. So I agree that it isn't much of an indicator for anything...
SATs are changing, huh? I suppose they have to since more and more universities are ignoring SAT scores these days.
Seems right about the reading, though. I've always been told that is the best way to increase vocabulary, etc.
Good luck, rubicon.
H20man
Drill baby drill!
yeah borders, barns and noble. any of those places.
i went and picked my book up from borders one day just to get my parents off my back, but i think that the book really helped. Depending on what you need buy the specific books, dont buy the broad based ones. For me i just picked up ther Barons Math SAT book, i think that was it.
Also i found that the books are better than some of the computer learning they have, as being one CD i got from a book seemed to have been made when windows 95 was around. Plus with a computer i cant concentrate on studying.
i went and picked my book up from borders one day just to get my parents off my back, but i think that the book really helped. Depending on what you need buy the specific books, dont buy the broad based ones. For me i just picked up ther Barons Math SAT book, i think that was it.
Also i found that the books are better than some of the computer learning they have, as being one CD i got from a book seemed to have been made when windows 95 was around. Plus with a computer i cant concentrate on studying.
American_Ace
AFROTC
This is what my friends and I thought of the SAT (and to a lesser extent, AP Physics).
http://www.x-plane.org/users/americanace/other/takethatbeeotch.jpg
and yes, I did take that picture.
http://www.x-plane.org/users/americanace/other/takethatbeeotch.jpg
and yes, I did take that picture.
JWallAvionic
Registered User
Amen brother Ap Physics... :icon_rage :icon_rage :icon_rage
American_Ace
AFROTC
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this. In that picture the bar codes on the SAT book are AP labels. Lordy I love that photo.
vegita1220
User
If your future college accepts it...AP Physics C...8 ugly science credits done before you hit the campus.
And I hear the grading is the most generous of the APs.
And I hear the grading is the most generous of the APs.
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