Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

I dont believe this. After i took the test, i was like thats atleast a 1300. Though i skipped a couple especially on English section, but still.
I just checked my score online, and i got a freakin 1200. Im so upset.
If i wanna get into a good college, im gonna atleast need 1350+.
Math: 690
English: 510

What should i do to prepare? I admit i didnt prepare enough on my first try. And i def am no genious, so i guess the month of July and the month of August are all about Test Prep.

After reading a couple of posts. I have decided to get Gruber's Book for Math Prep. For english, i photocopied the 800 Word List from the Barrons book. Do u guys recommend anything else?

Thanks guys! Appreciate it.

By Sunshine916 (Sunshine916) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 04:52 pm: Edit

i have a 3500 Barron's Word List. lol.

By Virgo007 (Virgo007) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 04:56 pm: Edit

I have a question as well.

These are my scores:
April- 610/610 = 1220
June- 590 M/700 V = 1290

Do you guys think I should take it over?

By Arora00 (Arora00) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 05:04 pm: Edit

Damn! 700 on Verbal.
Well, if i were i would def take them over.
1290 is a pretty good score depending on where u wanna go.
But i would def take them over, another 70 points and ur at 1360.

Btw. Sunshine where did u get that list.

By Eecs (Eecs) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 05:07 pm: Edit

it's from the book Barron's How to Prepare for the SAT I. just search for it on like bn.com or amazon.com and you should find it.

By Xiggi (Xiggi) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 05:19 pm: Edit

I do not believe that word lists are the best tool but here is a very comprehensive source:

http://www.freevocabulary.com/

Also, a few months ago, I posted a list of the words that showed up on the 10 REAT Sat tests.

http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/messages/69/9808.html

By Arora00 (Arora00) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 05:23 pm: Edit

Xiggi, then what should i do.
I was about to order three books on amazon.com
Just wanted to be sure though.
#1) How to Prepare for the Sat I (Barron's How to Prepare for the Sat I, 21st Ed)
#2) Gruber's Complete Preparation for the SAT (9th Edition)
#3) Up Your Score: The Underground Guide to the SAT, 2003-2004 Edition

By Arora00 (Arora00) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 05:42 pm: Edit

Lol guys cmmon.
Im stuck here. Should i got ahead with the order?
Or u guys can provide me with a better plan.

By Sunshine916 (Sunshine916) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 05:50 pm: Edit

yeah ummm this 3500 word list truly sucks. i am about 1/10 through it and ready to quit lol. memorizing vocab is a nasty business and a waste of time because most of the words on here wont appear on the SAT's. i guess enlarging your vocab will be good for the future though.

i'd say for you,since your verbal is 510 (fairly average), to do something reasonable like memorize a 500-1000 word list at the most which should include the most common words on the SAT's (dogmatic, augment, banal, deprecate, etc). i know most of those words but trying to fine tune my vocab so i will have every chance of knowing every word on the test because i want a 700+.

also read read read read. dont just read fiction books. reading the newspaper and literature that is similar to the type you will find on the SAT should help a lot.

another thing-practice. by practicing, you keep on becoming more and more familiar with the test and learn how to budget time and stuff. i know people who raise their score 100+ points just by practicing.

look at your score report, and see which sections you missed the most on (vocab? critical reading? geometry?) and focus on that.

By Arora00 (Arora00) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 05:55 pm: Edit

Well, i memorized a couple of 100 words from that 800 word list. And ill tell u it def upped my score by atleast a couple 20 points.
You havve to be willing to work though.
Well, im gonna go to borders. I cant wait 5-7 days, and dont wanna pay extra for shipping.

By Number9 (Number9) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 05:59 pm: Edit

Grubers for math.
Barrons for vocab.

10 Reals to practice after you mastered math and vocab, so you can improve then on.

By Arora00 (Arora00) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 06:02 pm: Edit

Number, what if u already did the 10 reals. I did basically all the math sections.
Only a couple english sections.
Should u do the tests over? Is that a good strategy?

By Sunshine916 (Sunshine916) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 06:03 pm: Edit

Kaplan WOrd Power was a great book for vocab before i got ahold of this ridiculous 3500 word list.

i spent $100+ at borders a few weekends ago on SAT II prep books and summer reading books for AP Eng and AP Gov. book stores are so addicting lol.

yeah ummm dont waste your money on prep classes. stupid $800 later, my score increased by 10 points....

By Arora00 (Arora00) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 06:05 pm: Edit

Yeah i know.
I never even planned on taking the classes.

PS - Book stores are addicting.

By Sunshine916 (Sunshine916) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 06:05 pm: Edit

do you have both editions of 10 REal SAT's??? if not, get them. also, if you want more Real SAT's to practice with, you can actually order real disclosed SAT's from College Board for a mere $4 each. check out Xiggi's HUGE thread about ordering real SAT's. i just got the 13 i ordered a few days ago.

By Xiggi (Xiggi) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 06:48 pm: Edit

Arora. People have given you very good advice in this thread, especially Sunshine.

You cannot go wrong by buying the various books you selected. If all fails, you can always sell them on Amazon for a minimal loss. One other option to go sit down at a BN or Borders and check them out.

With the exception of REA, I think that all books are quite helpful but in the end it is matter of individual perception.

I swear by spending a lot of time on the real tests as preparation and then go back and forth to find strategies that work for ME. Finding strategies that work well for math is a bit more straightforward than for verbal. IMO, that is the reason why you will find so many divergent opinions on the BEST prep for verbal.

I do no think that people lied when reporting different levels of studying for the verbal sections. You need to find out what appeals to you. I did not like reading lists unless the words are set in some context but some people have reported great success with the "boring" lists.

However, one thing that I do know is that there are no magical shortcuts.

By Arora00 (Arora00) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 08:56 pm: Edit

Thanks guys.
Im gonna go ahead and get two of those books, and sunshine i will get the other Sat Prep Book. I had no idea there were two.

Guys, this forum ownz. Hopefully now, i can get atleast above a 1400 score.
I really wanna get into a good college, and my 11th grade year has seriously killed.
3.95 GPA -> 3.6(after 11th grade)

By Arora00 (Arora00) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 09:00 pm: Edit

White book is completely different than all red book.
Im confused now.

I have the all red book.
for 10 Real Sat's that is.

By Apguy (Apguy) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 09:58 pm: Edit

The red book has 8 of the 10 tests from the white one. If you currently have red, buying white will give you two more (old) SAT tests. There is a new red one now also, the "third edition" which contains another two new tests.

1st edition=white
2nd edition=red
3rd edition=also red

Each edition drops two of the older tests and adds two newer ones so all 3 of these books together have 14 tests.

In each book 8 of the tests overlap with the previous. Every new edition gets a mere 2 new tests. Hope that makes it less confusing.

By the way- Up Your Score is the easiest way to memorize 600 SAT vocab words. They have great techniques to remember each word and it is funny. So I think those 3 books will be perfect! Good luck!

By Sunshine916 (Sunshine916) on Monday, June 30, 2003 - 11:42 pm: Edit

Up Your Score is hilarious but i didnt check out the vocab list yet. i got it in 8th grade and read it in one night. i dont think it helped me at all but it was great reading anyways.

oops i didnt know there were 3 versions to 10 Real SAT's. i still have the WHITE one. haha got that in 8th grade too. im a little *behind*

anyways i was flipping through my 2938479234 books in my SAT prep collection and i noticed that Petersons has a nice list of vocab, although i hate the book.

have you tried software? i hate it personally but some of my friends love it. Kaplan or PR software would be good...cant go wrong with either.

i think bottom line is that verbal is goign to require heavy-duty reading and heavy-duty vocab upgrades. also-find a plan that suits YOU (like Xiggi said). i am still in the middle of that process.

i cant say much about math prep. never did any, never will do any. math is my strong point.

i have practically studied verbal prep like a science. i hope the plan works for the both of us!

By Apguy (Apguy) on Wednesday, July 02, 2003 - 08:01 pm: Edit

>>i got it in 8th grade and read it in one night.<<

Then you have a REALLY old edition. Why did you get so many SAT books so long ago?

By Sunshine916 (Sunshine916) on Wednesday, July 02, 2003 - 10:31 pm: Edit

APGUY, took my first SAT in 7th grade. got random books just to get "familiar". actually only 3-Up Your Score, 10 Real SAT's, and Petersons. didnt really look too much at any of them...