The Way To Get Good Scores In SAT

February 26, 2009

By shary

When it comes down to getting accepted into college, nothing matters as much as the SAT. Grades and GPA vary from school to school, as do extracurricular activities. The SAT, however, is standardized, and is universally used to sift who will be accepted from those who will be rejected.

Studying for the SAT is a long-term process that should begin in a student’s sophomore year when they take the PSAT. Not only does this make them automatically eligible for National Merit Scholar, but it gives a valuable score report showing strengths, weaknesses, and projected scores. From here, decide what you need to work on.

For a few months, work just on vocabulary. It will help on both the critical reading sections and the Essay in the writing section. For those good at math, vocabulary will be the difference between a 2000 and a 2200.

Keep taking practice tests as you get closer to your SAT test date. The SAT, remember, is standardized, so you will see the same questions on the real thing. This makes taking practice tests well worth your time. You can buy a book, or find some free online, SAT study material available online and ranks the best web sites by their ease of use, quality of test, and helpfulness as an education resource. There are 14 full SAT Tests reviewed, along with 1,300 Critical Reading questions, 940 Writing questions, and 1,610 Math questions.

With each practice test, you’ll find yourself becoming more and more familiar with the questions, and you’ll find it easier to concentrate for 4 hours at a time. Be sure to review the questions you miss. If you need help in a particular category, take quizzes only on that topic. One common area for improvement is reading comprehension and passage analysis. Don’t forget your teachers too! Many school teachers keep extra resources they would be glad to help you with. And seeing your determination may help later when you have an 89.9% and they’re choosing between giving you an A or a B in the class.

Once you know your strengths and weaknesses, it becomes very easy to focus your studying. There aren’t many different types of questions on the SAT, so this type of in-depth is incredibly effective. For example, you may be good at math, but not very good with geometry formulas. It’s much easier to study these narrow subjects. Simply Google “geometry formulas” and you can find the help you need.