Austin Scholar #94: How I got a 1600 SAT score
& how your kid can, too
Hey, y'all!
This week from Austin Scholar...
Austin’s Anecdote: How I got a 1600 SAT score
How your kid can, too
Scholar’s Sources: What I’ve been reading…
It’s Stanford decision week!! I should also be finding out about UCL (one of my other top choices) within the next few weeks. I’ll have lots of updates soon, so make sure to stay tuned.
As a whole, I’ve had a pretty high-stress few days. I’ve literally woken up at 3 am multiple days in a row because of my anxiety – which never happens. But I’m just taking deep breaths and practicing some DBT radical acceptance to stay calm and continue to do great work.
Parents: if any of your kids are in the midst of college applications, please give them support and grace these next few weeks :)
Austin’s Anecdote: How I got a 1600 SAT score
On the topic of college applications, one pretty iconic part of mine was my 1600 SAT score.
I’d love to break down my journey to get that score, which will (hopefully) give you and your kid some tips on how to crush the exam.
Similar to the PSAT, I started studying one week before the test. This might seem like I procrastinated working on the SAT, but I promise, I didn’t. All of the work and mastery that I’ve done through my 2 Hour Learning journey has completely prepared me for succeeding. In some ways, my SAT studying started back in fourth grade when I began using online apps to master academic content.
But anyway, one week before the official test, I took two practice SAT exams. I then worked through every problem that I got wrong – and flagged any questions that I hesitated on while solving, and worked through those as well. Even if I just misread a question, I added that concept to my "to study" list. Because: mastery doesn't mean that you can get a question right. It means that you can't get it wrong.
From those questions, I tried to identify patterns in the topics that were tripping me up. For example, I realized that most of the math questions that took me a long time to solve were related to the roots of quadratic equations. Once I’d identified a pattern, I was able to look up “hacks” for those types of problems and wrote down the formulas (ex: sum of roots = -b/a and product of roots = c/a). That’s the thing about the SAT – it uses big words, but the solutions are simple.
I then created a little study guide of all of the things I needed to learn before the exam and carried it around with me everywhere.
Yes, everywhere.
So, whenever I had a spare moment (whether I was waiting in the Target bathroom line or going up an elevator), I would just pull out my folded study guides and go over the topics. Spaced repetition really does work.
As it came closer to the actual test date, I broke the test down by section and practiced the ones that were really challenging for me (like Writing & Language and the Math Calculator) a bunch of times.
And, if there were any final topics that I still struggled with after all of this studying, I would create mnemonics.
Mnemonics are phrases, acronyms, or other systems that help you remember specific concepts.
While I was doing Calculus, I could never remember which direction the second derivative parabolas faced. So, I found this catchy phrase to help me remember: up like a cup, down like a frown.
When combined with an image of smiles and frowns, I was able to ace all concavity questions.
Now, the night before the exam, I had a little checklist to go through:
Watch overall SAT review videos to re-familiarize myself with every concept
Go to sleep EARLY
Review my study guide
Get my bag (with my pencils, calculator, snack, water bottle, ID, and entrance card) ready
Super simple. I didn’t want to overwhelm myself.
And the morning of, on the drive to the testing center, I did a lot of square breathing (in four, hold four, out four, hold four) and did some planning for the worst.
Basically, I asked myself what is the very worst thing that could happen if I don’t crush this exam?
Well, I just won’t get a good SAT score.
Then, I asked myself how would I go about fixing that?
And the answer is very simple: take another test.
I took two SAT tests – neither of which was at my target score – before I finally crushed the third. There’s always the option to take another test, so make sure your kid knows that they’ll be okay.
How your kid can, too
If you want your kid to get a 1500+ SAT score, don’t tell them to learn Calculus. Tell them to master 8th-grade math.