How can I increase my chances at an 800 SAT Math?
Wow, well done so far! Here are some post-test tips so you don’t end up remembering that one question for the rest of your life: – Call Grandma. Tell her how you feel, pretty much what you said here. She might give you advice like you’ve heard above, that no matter what your test scores are, you’re still a crazy-smart person who’ll go far in life. – Decompress. Get a massage, head out to a beach, have a zombie-movie party with your friends the next weekend. – Don’t neglect the rest of your work too much. Once a huge hurdle has been crossed, it’s tempting to rest on your laurels, but remember that colleges want you, not a test score. You might also be interested in this article, about a guy who tried to use his knowledge as a neuroscientist to do well on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Given all that, though: perfection is rarely attainable, and being human means we never stop wanting some
As long as it’s just for personal pride–because if you worry about college admissions with that kind of score, you’ve got bigger problems than one question–it’s all about focus and luck. Get a good night’s sleep, eat a good breakfast, have a coke slurpee before the test, and don’t sweat it. Or have a smoke, if you don’t habitually. Nicotine, in non-smokers, is great for relaxed concentration. (YMMV; give it a shot beforehand; don’t smoke; etc.
Wow, some great advice here. nasreddin, thanks. You *all* are right in that it’s an irrational, never-useful-again number. I probably have put too much importance to it. I’m not applying to a perfectly top school, somewhat of a mid-selective school. Obviously, I’m applying to more than one, but that’s the one I want to go to. I’m quite confident I’ll get in, I have a ~3.94 unweighted GPA, 4.3’ish weighted. Top 2% out of a large school (so no impressive top 10 numbers). Fairly decent community service, I’ve won some contests/awards in my field of study (computer science), I play varsity tennis. I wouldn’t say that I “coached” myself up to this level–I’ve always been good at math, I just really blew off my first SATs. I pulled myself up to 760-800 level within (seriously) four practice tests of serious prep, and haven’t dropped below 760 since. The thing that really frustrates me, and
Well, to follow up, I took the test today, and the general consensus among my friends/among online message boards is that the math sections were the hardest of all the tests this school year. Most people who usually score 780/800’s had to skip 1-2 questions, and most missed another. Most people estimate that the average 780/800 did so bad on today’s test that no curve they’ve ever applied will make up for it. So either, they’ll throw out a question or two or this’ll be a down month for scores. Either way, I’m not too worried anymore. Not stressed at all. I’ll take my 740-760 I estimate, I think I owned the critical reading, 780+, and my writing scores were already good. I’ll retake in October for math. Thanks all!
If you want some extra math contest practice, write the Euclid, the Fermat or the Hypatia. (no, not that Hyapatia). If you can ace those you can ace anything. The format may be too different from the SAT to be directly useful, but think of it as cross-training.
