Is it possible to raise my 1180 SAT score to 1500?

Answered

A lot of people at my school have achieved high scores by studying with Khan Academy. It allows you to email reminders to take study sessions, gives you placement with what you need help with, and lets you take mock tests every week to prepare for the SAT. This helps considerably and there are also SAT prep classes that you can sign up for in person through College Board.

Hello! I found myself in a similar boat a while ago, so I'm going to use my own personal strategy that has (so far) worked. First, figure out which section (reading/writing or math) you are better in OR naturally find easier. Work to get that section to ~700s first. For me, this was reading/writing. Once you get into 700s for that section, work on the section you are NOT better in or find more challenging. This section should use the bulk of your time. For me, this was math. Work until you have ~700s in this section, then review and take lots of practice tests to make sure you don't forget anything.

Some useful advice:

- No stupid mistakes. You learn faster if you can look at a mistake and try to figure out what went wrong instead of taking it personally (this one took me a while to learn).

- No evidence, not correct. This is for the reading. EVEN IF something is heavily implied, if there is no concrete evidence you can look at or think of to support the answer choice, it is wrong.

- Don't stress yourself out (my own major struggle). With consistency, you will improve.

- Don't buy any review books. You CAN, of course, but libraries often have plenty of resources for free that are usually up-to-date if you can get your hands on them.

Resources & other strategies I used:

MATH: Princeton review books & Khan academy.

PR: Princeton review books (preferably the GIANT ones with lots of tests) are incredibly useful for content review. In school, I'm in honors pre-calc, which meant a lot of smaller algebra II concepts needed refining. This book is great for a simple yet comprehensive overview of everything you need to know, plus drills. Highly recommend.

KA: Khan academy also totally saved me. What I find most useful from KA is that they offer explanations for EVERY problem, as well as step-by-step solutions. This makes learning (if you pay attention) a lot easier (as opposed to just guessing or not knowing what you did wrong).

READING/WRITING: KA & AP LANG

KA: This, once again, helped me more with little errors in reading rather than major problems I had, but I also recommend it for concise error fixing (PR also works for this).

AP LANG: I can only speak from my experience, but my (fantastic) AP Lang teacher goes over the grammar rules and common mistakes made on the SAT with a workbook. This worked like a charm, and my writing mistakes went from ~14-17 to ~3. If you are not taking this class, I recommend watching or looking up extensive grammar rules. Grammarly's blog can even be helpful, as you begin to understand why certain suggestions are made.

I would say you have much higher chances of success in the June SAT if you cannot find much time to study now, as this is going to be a lot of work. I myself went from 1150 to 1300 in October and will be taking the SAT in less than two weeks (wish me luck!). As an unrelenting optimist, I think you CAN do it, but it will be a lot of time and effort. All the best!