How to get a 1500+ on the SAT

Answered

as someone who got a 1520 on my SAT, what helped me the most was doing princeton's SAT summer program. but since it's super expensive, here are a few tips i learned there that can help:

0. first, look at your scoring breakdown on the bigfuture app and look at which types of questions (reading and math) you struggled the most on. this will help you figure out how to approach studying for the next SAT you take.

1. focus on test-taking strategies. SAT questions are neatly categorized into large groups, and each subcategory has its own specific method to answer with a high chance of being correct. (prepmaven.com/blog/test-prep/sat-reading-writing-question-types-strategies/ is a good place to start.) some of my personal favorite strategies include:

a) using the desmos calculator for every math question possible, even if it was something i could do on paper. don't bend over backwards too much with this, but it was incredibly helpful, especially with systems of equations.

b) answering grammar questions first before anything else in the reading modules. if you speak english regularly, grammar comes more naturally to you, so doing this first is the easiest way to rack up points quickly and get in the flow of testing.

c) process of elimination for both sections.

2. for practice, the College Board has a great SAT question bank with thousands of practice questions from past exams (satsuiteeducatorquestionbank.collegeboard.org/digital/search). you can select questions based on category (or randomize them) and create a pdf or printout to practice and then check your answers. this helped me target specific weak points while studying.

they also have a "SAT question of the day" feature on the website, which i did every day for roughly 1.5 weeks leading up to the exam (qotd.collegeboard.org/).

the college board additionally has an official SAT guidebook that you can purchase for $35 and go through physically.

you can also use khan academy, since it's officially endorsed by the college board to target specific topics in a category, especially if you need to review something.

3. take practice tests at least once every 1-2 weeks leading up to the exam, especially ones that give you a scoring breakdown afterwards. the easiest way to do this is by downloading bluebook and going through the college board's provided practice exams (satsuite.collegeboard.org/practice/practice-tests). after each, see how you did and which questions/categories you need to work on. this will continue guiding your studying.

for any college board test, be it AP exams, the SAT, ACT, etc., the best way to tackle it is to treat it like a game more than a test. getting a tutor can definitely help, since you'll have someone to talk to and interact with, but the college board has plenty of really helpful resources that you can easily use to improve your score.

last but not least, good luck!! you got this! a 1500 or higher is achievable for anyone as long as you work hard, stay consistent, and believe in yourself. you can do this <333