SAT advice and discusion thread

SAT I: Critical Reading 660, Math 800, Writing 720 (10/2008)
SAT II: Chemistry 800, Math Level 2 800, Physics 800 (11/2008)

And I got rejected by all my colleges, all 8 of them. I guess I can safely conclude that I suck at essays, big time.
 
SATs

I am in the 11th grade and I am about to take my first SAT on Saturday. I am a little nervous/worried, and if you guys have any tips or advice for me that would be great and much appreciated.

Also, if you want to post your first time SAT score and then your combined best score you can. I am just interested to see how other people in this community did.
 
blah said:
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11186

It's a good read. Some interesting stuff by Tyson Mao too. And my post (last one in the thread) pretty much shows how little your SAT score matters to colleges.
Click to expand...

Oh. Just found out today that I'm a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist. :D Apparently it was announced September 16th, I just got the news too late.

My advice is to study for it 2 months in advance, especially grammar rules, then take it, hope you do well, and never deal with the College Board ever again unless you have some AP tests. My friend who got a 2350 is taking it again this Saturday (his birthday) simply because he got a 760 on math due to one stupid mistake. Crazy. I could probably do quite a bit better on writing and reading now, but I just don't care enough to take it again.

Rest well the night before (rest your hands, no cubing marathons!). Good luck!
 
fanwuq said:
blah said:
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11186

It's a good read. Some interesting stuff by Tyson Mao too. And my post (last one in the thread) pretty much shows how little your SAT score matters to colleges.
Click to expand...

Oh. Just found out today that I'm a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist. :D Apparently it was announced September 16th, I just got the news too late.

My advice is to study for it 2 months in advance, especially grammar rules, then take it, hope you do well, and never deal with the College Board ever again unless you have some AP tests. My friend who got a 2350 is taking it again this Saturday (his birthday) simply because he got a 760 on math due to one stupid mistake. Crazy. I could probably do quite a bit better on writing and reading now, but I just don't care enough to take it again.

Rest well the night before (rest your hands, no cubing marathons!). Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks alot for the advice. ::D That is cool about being a semifinalist, it must have felt really good to have gotten that news.
 
You can take the SAT multiple times. This is your first time, so just relax and do your best. If you don't do well, give it a little more and take it again in a few months. If you do take it again, check your results and see which parts you need to concentrate on more than others. This is what I plan to do, I'll probably take my first one in November.
 
I'm in the 10th and I'm taking the PSAT the saturday after next.

I just found out today that's it's EIGHT days away, as opposed to the 15 I thought I had. =/

I have not had 2 months to study for this, in fact I haven't studied at all. 2 months ago I didn't even know I was taking it in October, but a few weeks ago I learned the month. I still don't see why I can't wait until the sping- I'll have a ton of time study then!

Yes, it's not as big as the SAT itself, but I still want to give it my all!

Advice? D:
 
IamWEB said:
I'm in the 10th and I'm taking the PSAT the saturday after next.

I just found out today that's it's EIGHT days away, as opposed to the 15 I thought I had. =/

I have not had 2 months to study for this, in fact I haven't studied at all. 2 months ago I didn't even know I was taking it in October, but a few weeks ago I learned the month. I still don't see why I can't wait until the sping- I'll have a ton of time study then!

Yes, it's not as big as the SAT itself, but I still want to give it my all!

Advice? D:
Click to expand...

As above, you can take it multiple times so just relax and do your best. Get a good nights sleep, have a good breakfast, etc.
 
My best advice for you is this:

Though you may think this is the biggest deal ever, it's really not. You will do more than fine and go to college and it will literally never matter again. There are about a billion things that will be a bigger deal in your life, so really don't worry about it. Just take the test. You'll be fine. I hate to see kids worrying so much about it.
 
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I'm in 8th grade, and I haven't taken an SAT or practiced or anything. I go to a high end private school, and while some kids took the SAT in 7th grade, I decided to enjoy my saturday. Should I regret that decision, and do I need to start studying? (Oh and I dont know if this makes a difference, but in my school, high school begins in 9th grade...)
 
Oh wow, why would you even think of taking it in 8th grade?
I didn't take it until 11th grade and did decent my first time and did wayyyyy worse all the other times.
I definitely want to echo what Kian has said. Don't freak out. Your whole life does not depend on this test. Your life is not over if you don't get a perfect score. Study, try your hardest, but don't have a heart attack.
 
MichaelP. said:
I'm in 8th grade, and I haven't taken an SAT or practiced or anything. I go to a high end private school, and while some kids took the SAT in 7th grade, I decided to enjoy my saturday. Should I regret that decision, and do I need to start studying? (Oh and I dont know if this makes a difference, but in my school, high school begins in 9th grade...)
Click to expand...

No, there is quite literally no reason at all to even think about the SATs in 8th grade, or ninth grade, or even in tenth grade (or at least the first half of it.) As flawed as it is, the SAT is for the most part a test of general skill, not an information test, so the only studying you really need to do is just getting used to the test.

Also, just as a general note, I encourage people to check out the ACT. It's become pretty popular in my area in the past couple of years. Most colleges count the ACTs the same as the SAT, so you don't lose anything by not taking the SAT (although there is nothing stopping you from taking and sending both.) A lot of people like the ACT better, and a lot of people, including myself, like the ACT better. Check out both of them when you're at the age where you need to think about these things.

Also, what Kian said. Every college I've visited has said that they care much more about good grades, and the SATs/ACTs don't mean nearly as much.
 
June 25th actually, for SAT scores online. June 28th to August 6th for online ACT scores.

I took both, am trying not to look forward to the dates too much. I feel like I did rather well but I'll have to see the scores to decide if I'm retaking in the fall or just need to do SAT subjects. I felt good about everything except the ACT reading, I did the first two parts rather slowly and was rushed for the last two...
 
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I myself took the ACT on the 12th (Finally!). I wizzed through the math pretty well, did good on the English, (didn't finish it though). I did bad on the reading, & did... well... okay on the science... I think I'll get a score from 23 to 25... Just a very rough estimate though.

The only test I was able to get through with time to spare was the math. After doing Calculus, it seemed like 3rd grade math :p.

I have know a family where the brother got a 35 on the test, & the sister got 36, a perfect score on the ACT! :eek: They each took the ACT & SAT twice.
 
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