The first time I took it was in Janurary, and honestly, I didn’t do any practice tests (I just went over a Kaplan study guide):
Critical Reading: 510
Math: 590
Writing: 530
Total: 1630
I took it again in May, and this time I took 4 practice tests from the Princeton Review, and for those, I got at least 2000s. I heard that the questions from Princeton Review are easier than the actual SAT, and my scores seem to prove this:
Critical Reading: 540
Math: 650
Writing: 610
Total: 1800
My scores are extremely disappointing, because I have been working my butt off at school, earning me a weighted GPA of 4.3 by the end of junior year. I am aiming for the top schools, my first choice being Duke University. I’m an international student, so I know that the colleges will expect a lower score from me than they will from American citizens, but I also need financial aid so I need to get the highest score possible (at least 2000).
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Since I am very satisfied with my extracurriculars and GPA, it is very disappointing that my SAT score drags it down.
I bought a College Board study guide and I plan to go through the whole book this summer.
I am pretty good at math, but I just can’t seem to get the hard questions on the SAT correct. I’m supposing it’s because of text anxiety, since I get really nervous on tests, especially for math. At my math level, I should be getting perfect scores.
As for Critical Reading, I really don’t know how to improve it. I suppose my vocabulary is quite weak for the SATs since the I struggle the most for the sentence completion questions. Is memorizing vocabulary words the only way to improve my score? I am required to read 6 assigned books for the summer, so I’m guessing that should help my reading comprehension?
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I am really aiming for at least a 2000, and I’m thinking of taking it a third (and final) time in October or December. Which do you think will be a better time for me to take it? I can’t take it in November since I’m taking the listening test. The only thing about taking it in December is that I won’t be able to apply for early decision. Should I give that up and have an extra 2 months by take it in December? Also, do colleges take the best individual scores from the 3 times I take it and add them up or not? Please help!!!