Improve SAT Score? Answered
Hello, I am a junior in High school currently.
I got back my first SAT scores recently and they were VERY bad. I was crushed to say the least.
Due to the current global situation, there is no guarantee that anything will be open any time soon, including my school.
Even though it is unfortunate, I still want to practice to improve my SAT score in any way possible.
I am using Kahn Academy, but I wanted to ask for any other high quality free resources?
Thanks.
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4 answers
I'm a junior/rising senior as well, and as far as I know, Khan Academy is the best free resource out there in regards to full length practice tests and overall informative content. Not only do they have the free practice tests, but last time I checked the website they also had smaller diagnostic quizzes to help gauge where you are as a student, and potential test weaknesses to cover/practice on. The videos can also offer some really helpful test taking tips.
As for smaller, (free) resources, I know there's mobile apps specifically for SAT/ACT and offer plenty of smaller practice questions and diagnostic quizzes; I have android but I think "SAT Up" and "Ready4SAT" are available on iOS as well. These are just some convenient apps, and if you're ever bored during quarantine and need some way to kill time, these are great to work with!
SAT Review books aren't free, but they may be really useful as well; I'm not sure if your local library has an online catalog to access books through, but if they do, you can try checking SAT review books out if it's possible.
I wish you the best of luck w/ your SAT!!
Khan Academy is more or less the best free option—there are other free resources (I'm not super familiar with Magoosh, but from what I can see it looks pretty good as well), but most of them aren't going to give you the volume and level of content that Khan Academy would. If you have the resources, I'd heavily suggest shelling out $20 for a book of practice tests; College Board releases one every year, and more or less the best way to improve at these exams is to take as many practice tests as you reasonably can.
I will say though that, if you're a current junior, it's highly, highly likely at this point that most schools will go test optional for next year's admissions cycle. That means that, if your SATs are particularly bad (and I'm not sure what you mean by bad, because SATs that are "bad" for top schools might still be better than 80% of the people taking them), you can apply to those schools based entirely on your GPA and coursework. My general recommendation if that comes to pass would be to only report your SAT to schools where your scores are above the 50th percentile for admitted students, as that means they'd be near the lower end of students without some kind of hook (legacy, recruited athlete, etc.), but still above the overall academic threshold. You can find info on percentiles and the like in a bunch of places: PrepScholar, CollegeSimply, etc. Most schools will even release their data from the previous year on their websites.
I know that this question was asked a while ago, but I figured I would add my two cents. Let me start off by saying that no one could have predicted what this year would bring. Though this situation is unfortunate, like you mentioned, you may actually be in an advantage regarding your preparation. One resource I recommend is 1600.io. It is ran by a Yale graduate (he earned a math degree). He offers paid subscriptions, as well as a free bundle. This includes four practice tests (though two of them have been retired by the College Board), as well as playlists of videos of him going over each question from beginning to end. Also the "Applying to College" subreddit offers useful advice. One piece of advice I would give you is to go over your score report and devoting your time to the subject you need the most help on, while still paying attention to the subjects you did better on. Best of luck to you on your SAT prep!
Links:
Try Magoosh
https://sat.magoosh.com/lessons
and by the way, college board posted that they will make tests in August and September
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Try Magoosh
https://sat.magoosh.com/lessons