#janiposts

can’t believe i forgot to tell u guys for this long but i’ll be going to princeton university to study public policy and polisci next year!

Hi guys! Seeing that the August SAT is right around the corner, I thought I’d give my two cents for which studying tips helped me do fairly well on the SAT (if you want to know my score, shoot me a message! otherwise, I don’t think I really need to tell everyone publicly).

I did an SAT course with a CBO for five weeks in July last year and did not improve At All from the first to last week, but I went up 80 points when practicing by myself in the weeks before the August SAT, so here’s what I did!

Take full practice tests. So much of the SAT is just measuring your ability to take the test itself -- your skills and intelligence can only take you so far. Knowing this, it’s so important to take as many full practice tests as you can in order to get the gist of the types of questions they ask and to be more familiar and comfortable with them.

Study in a testing environment. Go to a library where you can sit for 3-4 hours and take the test. Do this with breaks and everything -- try to mimic the test day as much as possible. This is so you can be as comfortable as possible when taking the actual test, and nerves won’t be as big of a deal, which is extremely important. 

Go over the questions you get wrong. We generally get the same types of questions wrong -- whether they’re words in context or geometry -- and because of this, you should recognize them and work on them. You’re not going to improve until you nip these types of problems in the butt.

Learn techniques that work for you. As aforementioned, the SAT is pretty much all about mastering the test -- from the timing to the types of questions. There are a ton of techniques, and you need to find which ones will help you get the test done most effectively. Personally, I use my calculator A Lot during that portion because I’ve been using a graphing calculator since seventh grade and I’m used to that, whereas I know a lot of people who would rather do it mentally because that’s faster to them. Both are valid, but they work differently for other people. I can make another post on the techniques that helped me in each section if you guys want, or you can message me to talk about it!

Study as often as you can. This is more during the school year, but take this from experience -- studying consistently really really really helps. Especially because a lot of these techniques only work for a standardized test like the SAT, you lose some of these skills if you don’t practice them. I went down A Lot from the first time (August) and my second (December) simply because I hadn’t touched the test more than three times within those months (which I don’t suggest doing). Try to make time for studying in your schedule; do what works for you, whether that’s studying grammar rules for half an hour to doing a no calculator math section during your lunch.

Read more. It’s really easy to get bogged down by the dreaded classical lit passages in the reading section (PLUS the fact that it’s the first and longest section of the test), so it’s useful to be well read and familiar with those types of passages. Last summer, I threw Pride and Prejudice and Anna Karenina in my mix of books to read, and I’m sure it really helped.

Spend more time on your tough sections. This is pretty much the same reasoning as tip #3, but it’s important anyway. Why spend time on the writing section everyday if you’re averaging 2 wrong when you can devote that time to math? Just be sure to still practice them, but not fuss over it.

Take breaks. This is important!!! Don’t spend a billion hours studying everyday; it’s useful to have a fresh pair of eyes when looking at a new test. Before the August SAT, I went to the library everyday to take a practice test from 8-12 and had the rest of the day to chill and not worry about it (unless I got a lot wrong -- then I’d go over a few questions). Find a balance.

Be realistic. Finally, don’t expect to go from an 800 to a 1600 in a month. I have a friend who went from averaging in the 1100s to the high 1300s at the end of the five weeks because she studied a lot every single day. If you’re not doing that, don’t expect a super high increase (unless you get lucky hehe). Additionally, given the curve, it’s much easier to go from a 900 to an 1100 than a 1400 to a 1600, so keep that in mind before you beat yourself up about your score!

july 12, 2018 

july 14, 2018