NationStates Jolt Archive

As someone living in Canada I'm kind of at a disadvantage in terms of SAT resources =/

Anywho though, for those of you in the states who have taken it (or who are also preparing to take it, I'm writing it on January 21st), what advice would you give for it?

Also, does anyone know what an average SAT score is, and what's a "good" SAT score?

I'm going for 1500 or over (yes I know... that's going to be hard)... but yeah...

Any tips/advice?

Average is 1000.

Don't drink the day before.

A "good" SAT score depends on what college you're applying to, really.

They're changing the SAT format this year.

Something about being prejudice against minorities (again). :p

I always thought it was just too easy.

They're changing the SAT format this year.

Something about being prejudice against minorities (again). :p

I always thought it was just too easy.


I still remember part of the English section. I had to read about gardening. Utter crap.

I still remember part of the English section. I had to read about gardening. Utter crap.
I f**king hate standardised tests. Almost as much as I do pundits.

Average is 950, although after Jan 05 the new SAT's will be a lot different and are going to cost you around 41 USD to take which in my opinion is just plain wrong. ETS should be brought to trial for being a bunch of greedy A$$Holes.

Advice: Pray. These new SAT's are weird, and no one really knows how to prepare for them, or how well they will work out. Have fun being a guinea pig.

Reading lots of books and the New York Times is what prepared me to get 800 on the verbal half.

Taking math up through calc got me a 710 on the math.

I dont know how you can really study for the verbal part, it is material of which you need a sort of intuitive grasp.


I think just studying math problems would be good for the math half.

Topic creator, you taking the current SAT I or the new SAT?

I dont know how you can really study for the verbal part, it is material of which you need a sort of intuitive grasp.
You know, it really is amazing how actually reading helps one's verbal capacity and vocabulary. I'm currently in 10th grade, but I remember taking a test in 8th that said I had a post-graduate level of vocab...that was as high as the test went. I personally think just studying for tests like this is corrupt--all it does is evaluate people's test preparation skills, not the actual knowledge and reasoning ability that they will retain.

The SAT does a really good job of testing how well you take multiple-choice tests. Spend half your time studying math/vocab, and the other half practicing taking multiple choice tests (you can even try ones on subjects about which you know practically nothing).

Don't bother. I scored a 1490 while still slightly intoxicated from the night before. It's crap. I took it three times, and I did better the less I prepared for it. 1170, 1340, 1490.

So get drunk the night before. You'll do better.

If you take LSD while taking the test you will get a 1600. If you only have ecstacy you will get a 1500. Shrooms 1400. I assure you this is all scientifically proven.

Haha not a huge fan of drinking the day before a test :P Doesn't help that the weekend I'm writing the SAT is also the weekend right before my exams start.

Anyways though, the test date I'm writing is the absolute last date for the old SAT I. The new SAT reasoning test is going to be put into circulation right after that one. Hopefully I won't need to redo it and I'll do well the first time around, but if I do it a second time I'll be writing the new one then.

I'm going to apply at UCLA, UC Berkeley, 2 Canadian universities (UBC and another crappier school as a safety), and depending on my SAT score I may try a shot at Yale or Browns. Anything beyond that I'm not really sure of.

Haha not a huge fan of drinking the day before a test :P Doesn't help that the weekend I'm writing the SAT is also the weekend right before my exams start.

Anyways though, the test date I'm writing is the absolute last date for the old SAT I. The new SAT reasoning test is going to be put into circulation right after that one. Hopefully I won't need to redo it and I'll do well the first time around, but if I do it a second time I'll be writing the new one then.

I'm going to apply at UCLA, UC Berkeley, 2 Canadian universities (UBC and another crappier school as a safety), and depending on my SAT score I may try a shot at Yale or Browns. Anything beyond that I'm not really sure of.

I'm telling you, the SATs are crap. 1490. While drunk.

Good luck getting into those schools.

Well the thing is, I want to major in Biomedical Engineering (first choice) or Biochemistry, and it's not exactly like biomedical engineering is exactly a common major in alot of universities....

I also want to go into politics later in life, and having connections from a nice, prestigious university would go a long way for that. *cough* Yale *cough*.

1500 is a bit out of range for most I'd suspect. But I can't tell you anything, becuase I took it prior to the installation of the new SAT. I'd say rest for the night before, and hype yourself up on caffeine at the beginning, the more the better. My best work on those damn tests was in the first quarter and third quarter (timewise, that is) of the tests, because I was able to load up on caffeine befor the test and during the break. Or at least that's how it seemed to me.

I was nice and happy with my 1300, and that got me accepted to an Ivy league, just didn't get me enough scholarships to pay for ivy, hence I am at a state school.

Well if you don't go my "drunk" route, at least don't stress out about it. You're apt to do worse the more you worry about doing badly.

Andaluciae, yeah I realize 1500 is a bit tough to get, but on those "practice SATs" (the one from 1996 anyways), I took it without any preparation or anything, finished it in half the time (didn't really bother to check answers, I was talking to friends in class), and my score totaled to an estimate of ~ 1400. So I'm thinking if I can get 1400 doing that, then 1500 when I'm actually concentrating and after studying and preparation should be possible.

Out of curiosity, what Ivy League were you accepted to off 1300?

Heh sdaeriji, makes sense I guess. Stress = bad, unavoidable though.

Andaluciae, yeah I realize 1500 is a bit tough to get, but on those "practice SATs" (the one from 1996 anyways), I took it without any preparation or anything, finished it in half the time (didn't really bother to check answers, I was talking to friends in class), and my score totaled to an estimate of ~ 1400. So I'm thinking if I can get 1400 doing that, then 1500 when I'm actually concentrating and after studying and preparation should be possible.

Out of curiosity, what Ivy League were you accepted to off 1300?

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Columbia. And I also got into some fairly elite non-ivy schools.

And if you got a 1400 on the PSAT, I'm sure you could get a 1500 on the real SAT.

After all, the devil PSAT/NMSQT said I'd get a 1050-1100 on the real test, just a bit wrong on that...

Heh we don't have any of those up here in Canada :( In my entire high school, we have 3 people writing the SAT... One whom wants to go to the same ones as me (basically, she wants to go for Harvard and Stanford too though), and the other one wants to go to M.I.T.

Basically what I've been doing is going to the library to get SAT prep books and doing the practice SATs in them. I've only done 1 so far, I'm pretty much planning to do 1 a week until my actual test, and I got ~1400 on the one I did so far.

schools also like a kick-ass essay on the apps, that's what got me my columbia acceptance, because I know a dude who scored higher than me and had better grades, but he got waitlisted. Maybe the fact that teachers hate him came into play with his recommendations, but who knows.

I'm going to apply at UCLA, UC Berkeley, 2 Canadian universities (UBC and another crappier school as a safety), and depending on my SAT score I may try a shot at Yale or Browns. Anything beyond that I'm not really sure of.


Oh God, ucla and cal? Ugh. Well, good luck in any case.

Overpreparing might be bad. Anecdotally, at least, I didn't prepare at all and got a perfect score.