[KiLLAH!]

Like the title says, how do you study?

I'm taking some SATs this year so I wanted study tips,
but then I realized that tips can also be for class tests and other tests.

What were/are you studying for you?
What helped you? What didn't?
How far in advance did you start?
Etc etc etc. Share!



Btw, I hope there isn't a thread like this already :/
I looked through 7 pages and didn't find one.. so yeah.

[KiLLAH!]

no one wants to share?

[`Star]

Well, I'm going to take sat prep classes starting in october.
I also got Barron's SAT Review book and Collegeboard's.
It's just the matter of working through them.. ><;;
But its difficult to since I have all this AP classes to balanace and everything!
I hope someone does give tips xDD

Have you taken the PSAT yet?

[KiLLAH!]

yeah, i took the PSATs oct of soph year.
but i didn't study at all for it cause it wasn't that important :/

[`Star]

Theres a link to Collegeboard on that paper of results for the PSAT.
They kind of explain where your weak points are and give correct answers/explanations to each.
Maybe it would help to go through it?

Review books help 8D I think. haha sorry I'm not much of a help.
Hopefully someone who has taken the SATs will be able to provide tips! ^^

[ltnd.]

I'm going to be taking SATs too pretty soon (I'm going to be applying to American schools even though I'm in Canada atm)..
Any prep books that you guys extremely helpful? lol

[Krazim]

If you think you won't do any good on the SATs (like me) and have some cash/cheque/whatever and time in your pocket, take some prep classes. I heard they do a lot wonders and help boost points up.

Also, I recommend buying some prep books and practicing some questions. Also, expanding your vocab is lovables too, but you don't need to. If you're not the idiot like me who has been failing a state test for three years, learn to critically analyse texts. I'm having some high hopes that I'll be able to pass it~! ^^;;

Gah, thinking of taking the PSATs for the third year since I still do have very high doubts of the real one. @-@;;

[`Star]

I'm going to be taking SATs too pretty soon (I'm going to be applying to American schools even though I'm in Canada atm)..
Any prep books that you guys extremely helpful? lol

I like the Barron's SAT Review book (:

[mojomunkeez]

10 Real SATs.
Prep classes are a waste.
Just get plenty of sleep.

..and don't be stupid.

[`Star]

Prep classes are a waste for some people.
They can actually help you as well.
Depends on how much you put into it.

[Yuenie]

^ Prep classes can also depend on where you go to to learn SAT. from what I've seen... all the cheap ones I go to are useless since they basically teach straight out of those official SAT books and just assist in telling you how to get the answer - but I'm too cheap to pay for those hundreds of dollars ones. My friend was in China though and went to a sleep-in SAT class there and it proved to be very helpful. (She's helping me now and giving me some of her notes The writing+grammar notes are like amazingly analytical and actually make sense w/o having to REALLY know proper grammar.)

As for studying tests in general.. my neurology instructor told me some studies proven method on a good way to study efficiently and retain information. She said that you should study in bursts of 20min and take a 5-10min break in between each 20min studying; supposed to help you remember things you read better and so that your brain doesn't overload with a lot of information at once. But this studying method means you actually need to study ahead of time so you can actually set time off to do this. Thus I haven't tried the method yet since I'm a lazy procrastinator

[tammy05]

Regularly studying, read the chapter, outline it and then do the problems. Don;t just go over old hw, actually write them out and do them. Flash cards are also amazing.

[prechuz_azn]

I never study.

Maybe that's why I haven't gotten a hard earned A for the last 3 years O_O

[`Star]

^ Prep classes can also depend on where you go to to learn SAT. from what I've seen... all the cheap ones I go to are useless since they basically teach straight out of those official SAT books and just assist in telling you how to get the answer - but I'm too cheap to pay for those hundreds of dollars ones. My friend was in China though and went to a sleep-in SAT class there and it proved to be very helpful. (She's helping me now and giving me some of her notes The writing+grammar notes are like amazingly analytical and actually make sense w/o having to REALLY know proper grammar.)

As for studying tests in general.. my neurology instructor told me some studies proven method on a good way to study efficiently and retain information. She said that you should study in bursts of 20min and take a 5-10min break in between each 20min studying; supposed to help you remember things you read better and so that your brain doesn't overload with a lot of information at once. But this studying method means you actually need to study ahead of time so you can actually set time off to do this. Thus I haven't tried the method yet since I'm a lazy procrastinator

Wow! I'm going to try that method out. I really wish I took psychology or neurology or something.
Those brain memorization tips and such seem interesting (:

Yeah, i agree. Depends on WHERE you take classes.
I'm starting to take classes at Elite, starting in October.
I've heard they were really good!

[sweetiegrl168]

What were/are you studying for you?

Right now, last minute cramming for SAT II's, but in general, any kind of important test

What helped you? What didn't?

Helped: flash cards, rewriting things, re-reading/reviewing text, (for math) working out similar problems over and over again
Didn't help: DISTRACTIONS (aka computer, tv, books, manga, ...the wall.. >__>), force memorizing

How far in advance did you start?

lol i usually tell myself to study a few days before the test, but i'm a major procrastinator so i usually end up starting 2 days before the test.

[freetshirtsorg]

I go to a cram school in Queens the teacher is uberhelpful but maybe I absorb strangely... like I don't actually study but I do what he tells me to do and I create my own toolbox of techniques that work for me. I got like 5-6x in the critical reading==>1-2x last time. writing is different... like I got 3-4x and I still get around 1-2x if I don't pay attention. It depends on concentration. Essays also depend on the topic but I get ~11 or 10 if out of 12=complete mastery of English... which is pretty hard to live up to in 25 minutes.

I'm not sure what works. I've been trying to relearn grammar for the past two years. I would like some suggestions as well.

[jvchou1316]

take practice tests on a regular basis.
like one every week leading up to the test date (6 weeks is good)

//

for everything else ... (there's mastercard. xD)
um. lock urself in a room and study. there's no other way unless ur genius

and i think flashcards are a waste of time unless they're premade. hehe. like the sparknotes kind.

[hylxbabo]

Kaplan (medium), Collegeboard Sat book (easy), and Barrons(hard) are really great. I went from cover to cover of each book, and I did pretty well. (:
If you take Sat classes, you'll probably be well prepared. But you should always study on your own time too.

When you're at home, it's best to take practice tests and memorize vocab. Vocab should be done everyday, and practice tests once a week. I usually memorized 70 words per day. For vocab, I usually wrote out sentence, utilizing the particular word. Its tedious, yeah, but it worked for me.

Writing+math.. If you just practice solving loads of problems, you'll recognize a certain pattern. Reading is a bit more difficult to overcome, but you need to be careful and not think too much.

It's best to do all this over the summer or during a break, since you'll have a lot of time then.

That's all my advice for you guys, hahaha.

Good luck!

[AsianBamboo]

Thanks for all the advice everybody! I hope I get some studying done over Thanksgiving break since I have SAT on Dec. 6th and I'm horribly unprepared... >.<"