Today, I took the August SAT at a school half an hour from my home.
Overall, I had a solid performance. Both modules of math were easy, as expected, even though they were harder than those of the June SAT. I finished the first Reading/Writing module with six minutes left, but I had to guess two questions on the second module.
Regardless of my actual score, I’m pretty sure that I improved from the June SAT. Despite the few harder questions that sunk my time, I felt more confident answering the questions that I could answer. In retrospect, I could have skipped more questions to save more time for the grammar questions, but nonetheless I was a bit surprised to have time remaining after some tough Reading questions. Additionally, I read a lot over this summer and worked on vocabulary over the summer, which significantly enhanced my intuition for the English language.
SAT’s taught me to worry less and do more. It’s also taught me to manage my expectations and confront reality. I recall how in the past, I’ve had such high expectations that I would be disappointed in my scores and entirely neglect the effort I’ve put in, as well as the improvement that occurred. Learning isn’t easy, and it’s hard to come to reality and humbly accept that you’re at level X, so let’s try to improve from there, instead of crying about why you aren’t at level Y yet.
Unfortunately for most of us, learning isn’t linear. In fact, it may even be a while until you hit the high expectations you’ve set for yourself. But celebrate the growth, since that is the indicator that shows you’re on the right track. Most of us aren’t patient enough.
This is also why I get pissed when people say that you “cap off” at a certain point, meaning that you hit your maximum score at some number of attempts. That’s ridiculous, since the actual point that you “cap off” is when you physically stop trying. If you stop trying hard, you’ll fail hard.
Here’s my story so far.
Today was my fourth time taking the SAT. I started with a 1390 on both the PSAT 10 and the SAT, taken in the fall and summer of my sophomore year. Considering that most of my peers at my highly competitive school score above a 1400, I was disappointed. I also overestimated my abilities: I thought I could score over a 700 on the Reading and Writing section. But no – a measly 610 was returned to me.
I read some books and in the winter of my junior year, I scored a 1500. I was genuinely happy that I increased by over a hundred points, but since I was aiming at top-tier institutions, I still wanted a score in the 1550-1570 range.
2024 came around, and so did the Digital SAT. Goodbye paper (unfortunately), and greet a brand-new digital test that has a format nothing like the paper SAT. Knowing that I had to switch from paper to digital to meet my goals bothered me, but I knew that I wanted to improve and achieve my goal. I knew that my reading abilities can be brought above 700, in some way or another.
Even though I signed up for the June SAT, I forgot about it for three months. In the month leading up to that test, I extensively prepared for AP exams (especially English) and ran for math club president. Then the test came around, and I got a 1490 (690 in Reading/Writing, 800 in Math).
Seriously? 10 points lower than 700?
This was, of course, a major blow for me. But as you know, that ain’t stopping me.
The day after the test, I signed up for the August administration and started to seriously prepare. Some of the time went towards ACT. But most of the time, I was trying to improve my overall reading comprehension skills and vocabulary skills. I’ve already finished Bluebook Practice Tests 1-4 in the week leading up to the June SAT (a bit unwise), so I had to preserve Bluebooks 5-6 for the first two weeks of August. I’ve also ran out most of the Khan Academy questions. Thus, there wasn’t much actual test practice I could do without resorting to tutors.
No, I don’t resort to tutors. I haven’t had a single private tutor in my entire life. I was determined to push forward on my own.
In the few weeks before this test, I whipped up a 750 on Bluebook 5, but a 700 in Bluebook 6. Unsurprisingly, I was exhilarated by the former score but unsatisfied with the second. Admittedly, I did cry a bit after the second – failure does sting. But from both of these tests, I learned from them and carried on. I’ve already done a lot of work, so if anything, I’ll at least have better reading and writing skills going into senior year. And from this process, I’ve learned a lot that will inevitably benefit me in the future.
Since scores come out in about two weeks, I won’t be getting my scores back immediately. But all I’ll say is that I’ll look back and be proud of the effort I’ve put in. Getting here wasn’t easy, and I could’ve been happy with that 1390. I could’ve never touched a single article or book this year. I could’ve never learned any new words this past year. I could’ve listened to those braggadocios who tell me to stop taking it.
No. I’m getting better.