Hi!
I'm Greg, and I'm just finishing up my first year here at Princeton.
Right now, I am standing in front of one of my favorite places to be, Laurie Love Walk.
And today, I want to teach you how to ACE your standardized test scores so that you
can go to the college of your dreams.
I'm going to be honest, the SAT is a drag.
So, to get you in the right mindset, I want you to imagine this: You hit submit on your
college application, knowing that the admissions officer on the other end is going to see a
perfect 1600, a score that less than 2,000 people get every year.
Imagine receiving mail from a ton of colleges every week, offering you scholarship money
because of how well you did on the PSAT.
After a lot of research and hard work, I scored nearly perfect on the SAT, and all of this
became a reality for me.
Let's make it a reality for you.
When I got the results of my first SAT practice test back, I was pretty bummed.
I took the test when it was still scored out of 2400, and I got an 1860.
For reference, that's about a 1320 on the new SAT.
It took me just three months to improve my score to a 2290, which, in today's SAT, would
be a 1560.
How did I do it?
Good question.
There are two major standardized tests that high school students take to get into college,
The SAT and the ACT.
So, before I bought any books, any tutors, watched any videos, anything like that, I
took an SAT practice test AND an ACT practice test.
Why?
Well, because the SAT and the ACT test very different skills and have very different formats,
most people end up doing much better on one of the tests.
And, basically every college accepts both, so why not give yourself an advantage from
the start?
I mean, you want to do as little studying to get your results as you can, right?
Personally, I think that taking an SAT practice test and an ACT practice test will save you
a ton of time.
I've included links to both tests in the description.
So, I took both practice tests and I realized that the SAT was best for me.
Now this is the part where I started studying.
After taking that first practice test, I flipped to the first answer I got wrong and I took
out an empty notebook.
In that notebook, I wrote down the question number, a paraphrased version of that question,
and the answer that I chose.
In about a sentence or two, I wrote down why I thought this was the answer.
Then, I checked the answer key, and wrote down the correct answer.
After thinking for a while about the right answer, I wrote down another one to two sentence
explanation about why I was wrong and I went through that process for every question on
that test.
It may seem ridiculous and tedious, but even after doing this for one practice test, you'll
begin to see which types of questions you tend to get wrong.
You'll see patterns, and be able to correct them very quickly.
As you might imagine, figuring out the explanation to every problem you get wrong on every SAT
can be difficult.
In order to do this, I spent hours doing research online and looking through dense SAT practice
books.
The whole time, I begged for a tutor because I wanted someone who could guide me through
this process and help me save time.
However, my parents refused to get me a tutor because they believed it was a waste of money.
Since then, I've been on a search to prove them wrong.
If you'd rather not spend all your weekends studying for the SAT like I did, I recommend
getting a tutor from Crimson Education.
I'm recommending Crimson because a lot of different SAT tutoring companies have offered
to sponsor me, and, Crimson is the only company that I feel comfortable recommending to you
guys, because I have had first-hand experience with their tutors.
One of my best friends here at Princeton actually works for Crimson.
And he told me that before working for Crimson, he ran an entire ACT training camp over the
summer.
So, he's the real deal.
Once I heard that he worked for Crimson, I asked him to sort of walk me through what
a typical tutoring session looks like.
Now, I can't get into too many details here, because I don't want to reveal Crimson's secrets.
But, the SAT strategies and planning that he laid out for me really made me jealous
that I didn't have a tutor when I was going through this process.
Also, Crimson tutoring is 100% online, so your location does not matter at all.
And, they'll schedule a tutor for whenever you're available.
So, if you want to give Crimson SAT tutoring a try, and support my channel, there's a link
in the description where you can fill out an interest form.
Now, I know that some of you would rather not spend the money on a tutor, neither did
my parents.
So for you, studying for the SAT yourself is basically the only option.
To be honest, you have to be very self-motivated to make this method work, but if you're watching
this video right now, you are motivated enough to learn about the SAT, so I believe that
you can do it.
One very useful research is the College Confidential forum.
There, you'll find plenty of other students who are going through the SAT process, and
I recommend making a GroupMe with a few of them and going through practice tests together.
That way, you can each correct each other's weaknesses, and build on each other's strengths.
I will give a warning that some of the users on the site are very competitive and toxic,
so take what you read with a grain of salt.
Now, I'd like to give you some book recommendations, but first, heed this advice.
Never take a practice test that isn't written by the College Board.
There are virtually unlimited SAT and ACT authentic practice tests online; you just
need to do a quick Google search and you'll find them.
The best way to use SAT prep books that are NOT by the College Board, is to do the exercises
and learn the tips.
Their practice tests are not standardized like the College Board's, and practicing using
those can give you a false sense of what the test is going to look like.
In order to self-study for the SAT or the ACT, you're going to have to buy the authentic
practice test book.
The next most important book to buy is the Black Book by Mike Barrett.
There's a version for SAT and ACT.
This book completely changed the way that I approach standardized tests.
Instead of teaching you how to deal with individual problems, Mike talks about how the standardized
testing process itself works, allowing you to take advantage of the weaknesses.
For example, he gives a great guide on how to write a formulaic essay that will always
earn you the maximum score.
Barron's is fantastic for SAT math, but it may overprepare you, as there is a lot of
material that isn't really even covered on the test that much.
Also, Erica Meltzer is a standardized test grammar God; please read her stuff if you
have problems with critical reading or grammar.
I've included links for everything in the description so go click it.
Now, for a few miscellaneous tips.
I recommend for the SAT or ACT over the summer after your sophomore year, and taking the
test at least twice during the first semester of your junior year.
That way, you'll be able to get it out of the way, and focus on your junior year grades
and extracurricular activities, which are most important to your college application.
Also, if the essay section is optional on the standardized test that you're taking,
you should still take it.
Top colleges pay a lot of attention to detail, and not taking the essay will make you look
like a lazy student.
That's about all I've got.
If you follow the advice I've given you, you should be calm, ready, and prepared come test
day.
You should give yourself a few days to relax and not look at anything SAT, ACT related
for the few days leading up to your exam, because you want a clear mind and a positive
attitude once you go in.
While standardized test scores certainly don't define you as a person, raising them can certainly
improve your prospects of getting into your dream school.
Once again, I'm Greg, I really hope you enjoyed my video today, If you liked it, give it a
thumbs up, if you want to see more, subscribe, and that's about it.
Thanks!