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My SAT practice scores seem to be too inconsistent. I currently work mostly out of Barron's SAT 1 prep, and also the 10 REAL book. I get anywhere from 500-620, and have a 56 Math PSAT score. Is there any way to feel more confident about the math portion (currently pretty confident with the Verbal section), and score higher? Thanks.

By Incognito (Incognito) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 08:55 pm: Edit

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! You didnt say you use Barrons for practice tests, did you?!??! Those are awful, and disgustingly inaccurate. Use 10 Real ONLY. The Barrons tests are much harder than the real thing, and they dont even come close to being like the real thing. Did you check out Gruber's for math help. I heard that PR is also very good for math (I only used it for verbal...I dont know what its math is like). What kind of prep did you do? Do you practice and then find out WHY you get questions wrong?

Anyways, here's some info I posted a long time ago that may help:

For math, several things:

I read four prep books for both the math section and the verbal section (Gruber's, Kaplan, Barron's, and 10 Real SATs). I took notes on everything that I needed. For example, if I found a very useful formula in Grubers, I wrote it down. I did this with all of the books, and studied these forumulas. I think that the techniques in many of these books are obvious, and I knew many of them from testing experience in general. If you really want my opinion, I think that when it comes to math, Grubers is definately the best. It is EXTREMELY comprehensive. It covers pretty much everything you need to know. The techniques themselves are decent. But there is nothing too special about this book aside from the fact that it covers so much ground and gives you little material tests to strengthen your basic knowledge of certain concepts. The biggest problem with Gruber is that he is very very dry and boring. Reading his prep books is not exactly the funnest experience. People always say good things about PR overall. I bought PR, but have not looked at the math prep section of the book simply because I bought for verbal prep.

There are certain essential techniques that you can learn, pretty much all of which can be found in Barron's and/or Grubers. For example, there is the technique of avoiding doing algebra by replacing undefined variables with real numbers and seeing what works out. A lot of people (for reasons I have yet to understand) dont do this. Instead, they try to solve (sometimes challenging) questions via algebra when they can simplify everything for themselves. This is just one example of a needed technique. There are plenty of others. I just wanted to give you a taste.

I have always been pretty good at math (despite the fact that I am in the "slow" math class). I think that one of the reasons that I did well was because of the fact that I learned the right material in my "slow" math class not too long before I actually took the exam. I always do very well on tests in math class, and I cant really remember a time in which I havnt done too well. In other words, what I'm trying to say is that I have a very strong "math" background. If you dont have it, then it may not be as easy.

Also, one of the most important things of all: PRACTICE! And do NOT use the practice tests in prep books that are not published by the College Board, because those stupid synthetic tests are NOTHING like the real thing. Use "10 Real SATs" only. Do as much practice as you can before you take the real thing. At the end of each test, go back and see what you got wrong and why.

Pace yourself. In a 25 question set, you can spend an average of 40 seconds for the first 15 questions. If you do this, then you'll have about 2 minutes average for the remaining 10 questions (which really is a LOT of time). If you allot your time properly, then you can gain much more time for really hard questions if you solve others very quickly. You need to learn to pace yourself like this, and one of the best ways to do so is to practice.

If you read the "SAT/ACT" forum on this site every now and again, you may get more info. There's lots more out there. Good luck.

As for careless errors on math:
Yes. One method is practice. When you do this, you essentially learn about your own carelessness. You learn about how you are susceptible to such careless errors, and you begin to appreciate the fact that being careful is EXTREMELY important. After taking practice tests, go back and see how many careless errors you made. See why you made them. Was there a careless error in terms of calculating? Then be more careful about what buttons you push on the calculator. Did you say how many apples were in box A when the question asked for how many were in A and B together? Well then be sure that you read the question carefully, and make a note to answer the right question. Did you circle A and fill in bubble B because you were rushing? etc. You get the idea. The best way for you to learn about the nature of your own carelessness is to practice and go over your work. The good thing about carelessness is that it is VERY easy to correct. Just work on it. There's no magic forumala. I used to get about 4/25 question wrong about a yr ago, now I rarely get many (if any at all). The reason is that by realizing that careless errors can and do get me down, I became more carefull. Dont rush too much, because a lowered score due to careless mistakes is tragic.

By Nyyankees408 (Nyyankees408) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 09:14 pm: Edit

Thanks for the comprehensive follow up Incognito.

Well, I have a private tutor,which has done wonders for my Verbal score, but I can't same the same for math. We go through the sections in the Barrons books, yet it seems like Im more often bombing sections then actually doing decent. I have started browsing Kaplan's book, but if do you think I should order PR and/or Gruber? I have about a month till the test. As for my math background, I have always been in the college prep classes, maintaining a B+ average about. Right now I am in Pre-Calc, which definetly is helping me with things suchs as Special Right Triangles. Thanks a lot!

By Incognito (Incognito) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 10:27 pm: Edit

Nyyankees408 ~
First off, I'm not too sure about precalc's benefits in terms of the SAT I. As for Grubers or PR, I would order one of them first, not both at the same time. Try one out, and if it doesnt help much, then try the other. But I am trying to figure out WHY you bomb the math sections. What kind of mistakes do you make?...

(BTW, I live in NY too!)

By Xiggi (Xiggi) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 10:54 pm: Edit

>>>A lot of people (for reasons I have yet to understand) dont do this. Instead, they try to solve (sometimes challenging) questions via algebra when they can simplify everything for themselves.<<<

This is true. I used to do this because I thought I could solve it fast and "nail" the answer. But it makes no sense.

After taking all the practice tests I could find, I went back to the tests. I started to trust the techniques as well as some visual tricks. After a while, it becomes easier and easier and in some cases it becomes second nature to check for shortcuts FIRST.

Next week, I will start paying with the calculator and see if I can work out some shortcuts. In my practice test, I tried NOT to use any calculator. There is probably no reason to do that as calculators are admitted and will help a lot to save time.

I am sure that in the next ten days, I will bombard Quarky and Dxiw with questions about the TI89.

By Nocalguy (Nocalguy) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 11:47 pm: Edit

I gotta agree that Barons' questions are horribly inaccurate and HARD.

By Crypto86 (Crypto86) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 09:47 pm: Edit

Maybe for SAT I Barron's is hard, but for studying for the Columbia SHP test bio section, I took a general Bio practice test, and without any re-looking of facts and not being in a bio class for over a year, I still got a 660. Maybe that's because science is my niche, maybe not.

Oh, when is a good time to really start practicing for the SAT I (at an average of a practice test or part of a practice test per weekend? I don't plan on taking it until spring junior/fall senior, and I am currently a sophmore.)

By Axfeaver (Axfeaver) on Saturday, March 29, 2003 - 11:55 pm: Edit

I usually get a score higher than 700 in math, and what I usually struggle with is not answering the question they are looking for, rather than answering a question they are not asking. Well practice will help. When you look at the question you got to ask yourself what way do they want me to use to solve this problem. Using common sence is an important factor.

For example: if Tony drove at 20 mph for 60 miles, and than 40 mph for the next hour, what was his average speed. Well the answer is NOT 30 mph. He drove 20 mph for 60 miles, so it took him 3 hours. Than he has 40 miles left for the next hour. So in 4 hours he drove 100 miles, so the whole trip was 25 mph, that is the answer.
Why the answer is not 30 mph. Cause he didn't drive one way at the same amount of time with the other, that makes the whole difference. And if you knew that the answer was not 30 mph, you already figured that by common sence. So use that common sence, and try to find your ways into making your common sence much sharper. That is my advice. Common Sence is also the way I save time for school, improve my grades, and get all around to be a satisfied person

By Curiousone (Curiousone) on Sunday, March 30, 2003 - 12:29 am: Edit

Crypto86,

I definitely wouldn't worry about SAT's right now as a sophomore. I took the PSAT as a sophomore and got a 1300; then again as a junior and got a 1370 (with a really bad prep course that seriously didn't change my math score at all and was probably not a huge contributing factor to my increased verbal score). I started preparing for the April 5 SAT by myself (without a tutor or prep course) roughly two weeks ago, and have been maintaining (with two oddball scores, but I am hoping those were just sleep deprivation!) above 1450+ on most of the practice tests. Please remember that 10 Real SAT's only HAS 10 SAT's in them - and that is basically one of the only truly reliable sources to go to for preparation for the actual SAT - so within 10 weeks you'd be out of tests to take, and even if you had both the 2nd and 3rd editions that would only be about two or three weekends difference (as there are three different tests in the third edition). At earliest, I would take some practice tests before the PSAT junior year, and then also begin really preparing 1-2 months before the actual SAT, with a tutor if necessary.