Successful SAT Strategies For Harvard Admissions
July 3rd, 2009 | by John Chang |The SAT test is well-known to all high school students. You’ll need to get a good score if you want to attend Harvard.
In this article I will share two effective strategies for getting the best score possible on the SAT.
First of all, you may be wondering exactly what score you need to get into a school like Stanford.
Additionally, it is easy to be puzzled about the best way to get ready for the SAT. Surely you want to prepare in the most efficient way without spending money needlessly.
1. Clearly, you want to get a high score on your SAT, but how high should you shoot for?
My best advice to you is to score 2100 on your SAT. Shoot for 700 across the board if you want to be accepted to an Ivy League school. Your application will not be looked upon favorably with anything less than a 700 on any given section.
In my experience as an admissions officer, I can tell you that applicants with a score of 2100+ on the SAT are seldom rejected. This would only happen if there were some very negative academic aspects to the application - like very weak transcripts.
2. Document your improvements. If you make a low score the first time you take the SAT, try again. Be sure to document your score each time, and of course, work hard to improve it each time.
Discover more SAT and SAT II secrets here!
3. Remember that the SAT is preferred over the ACT.
Even though the ACT is a very good and very challenging test, if admissions officers must choose between two candidates who are equally qualified, they will look to see what kind of qualifications test the student took. The student who took the SAT will be chosen above the one who took the ACT every time.
As you prepare, you should keep your focus on two priorities: Early start and sample tests.
1. While you are still in 7th grade, take the SAT for the Duke TIP. Be sure you take the PSAT at least one time before taking the NMSQT. By doing this, you can practice without taking a chance.
2. There are a lot of prep courses available. Choose carefully. Take the time to sit in on some sample classes before committing to any. I took the Kaplan courses when I was preparing for the SAT. They had some good flash cards that helped me with my vocabulary a little bit. It was hardly worth the thousand dollars my parents paid for it, though!
3. Haunt your local bookstore to get copies of all the tests. Take as many sample tests as you can. You can get them all, from Princeton review to Barron’s, so be sure to take advantage of this opportunity. Taking sample tests will make a big difference to your score. The more comfortable you are with answering the types of questions asked on the test, the better your score will be.
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