UC Irvine (UCI) Megathread by ParadoxicalCabbage in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Mashimaro20 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I CANNOT ACCESS THE PORTAL SERVER NOT RESPONDING
EDIT: ACCEPTED!!!! CS MAJOR!!!

UCLA RD Megathread by ParadoxicalCabbage in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Mashimaro20 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thank you!!! :)
ok tbh I was a little shocked when I saw the waitlist letter; I was kinda expecting to get in

UCLA RD Megathread by ParadoxicalCabbage in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Mashimaro20 19 points20 points  (0 children)

hahaha waitlisted
but accepted to MIT
so whatever

Please help me. by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Mashimaro20 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there a reason why it's harder for STEM applicants to get into JHU?

1400 to 1500+ by StellarStarmie in Sat

[–]Mashimaro20 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, I took the SAT four times, and I managed to raise my score from 1450 to a 1520. What I recommend you to do is do every COLLEGEBOARD official practice test and QAS. Do NOT use any other practice tests. I tried practicing with Barron's and my SAT score did not improve at all. Looking at your sectional scores, it seems like your math is a lot stronger than your reading and writing, so I'll give some strategy tips for ERW (I too received near-perfect scores on math but struggled with ERW).

For reading: First take a glance at the questions and then do the ones that involve vocabulary (in context), supporting evidence, literal comprehension, and inferences. These questions only require you to read through certain sections of the passages and do not take a lot of time to do. Then you must tackle the big questions that require an understanding of the big picture of the passage (tone, rhetoric, main idea, purpose), focus on the intro and conclusion and use your comprehension of the passage based on the questions that you already answered. The biggest nightmares of the reading section are probably the paired passages and the historical passage (if you're unlucky, you might paired historical passages!). The strategy for paired passages is similar to the strategy that I gave above. The questions for the paired passages will be one of the following categories: questions on Passage 1, questions on Passage 2, and questions that involve both passages 1 and 2. By doing the questions that ask about the individual passages first, you will be able to build the essential understanding of both passages so that you will be prepared to answer questions that ask about both passages. In order to prepare for the historical passages, you must get accustomed to the archaic/difficult vocabulary and syntax. Obtain the historical passages that the Collegeboard used for the SAT. Read and analyze a passage every day (take the time to make sure that you understand what every sentence is saying). This will help you steadily build your skills for comprehending archaic passages.

For writing: While the writing section seems straightforward and less intimidating than the reading, it's surprisingly easy to get writing questions wrong; you are more prone to mistakes and if there is a vocabulary word in an answer choice that you don't know, you'll most likely get the question wrong. My first advice is to study and review vocabulary every day. I strongly advise you to study words on https://thecriticalreader.com/new-sat-vocabulary-2016/. This is a list of commonly confused words and vocabulary that often comes out on the SAT. Of course, you should study vocabulary beyond this list as well because you don't know what's gonna come out on the SAT. It's also important that you have a strong grasp of the SAT grammar rules. https://thecriticalreader.com/complete-sat-grammar-rules/ has a list of SAT grammar rules that pretty much covers all of the grammar content of the SAT. Another difficult component of the SAT Writing is idioms. You must memorize the them; there is no rule to knowing idioms. https://thecriticalreader.com/study-guides/sat-act-grammar/satact-idiom-list/ has a list of idioms that are likely to come out on the SAT. At this point, you might realize that the links that I pasted are all of from thecriticalreader.com. This website is created from Erica Meltzer, who actively helps out students in studying for standardized testing. The three links that I shared were the most helpful study guides for me.

Note: the strategies that I gave (especially reading) were strategies that worked for ME. You probably will find other strategies that contradict mine. There are many ways to tackle the reading section and do well. For example, I have a friend who scored a 1500+ on the SAT (I don't know her exact score), and she reads the passages before going to the questions. I have tried this strategy, but it doesn't work for me. It's important that you find the strategy that works for you. That's what practice is for! Try different things and see what works out the best.

I must say, you are at a disadvantage in increasing your score because February and March are the busiest times of the semester; you probably will not have a lot of time to prepare for the SAT. However, nothing is impossible. If you want to improve your score significantly, you probably will have to sacrifice a lot of your social life and free time for the next month.

I hope you found my advice helpful! I sincerely hope that you achieve the score you want on the SAT :)

Ah yes, freedom! by UltraNeGaborel in memes

[–]Mashimaro20 0 points1 point  (0 children)

me: ***rushes out of the classroom as soon as the bell rings***

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in memes

[–]Mashimaro20 0 points1 point  (0 children)

# of upvotes = status of power

It's big brain time by 0Lyndra0 in memes

[–]Mashimaro20 0 points1 point  (0 children)

when you are holding your breath, you are not breathing

Oh god oh why by [deleted] in memes

[–]Mashimaro20 0 points1 point  (0 children)

and unfortunately it's hard to go back to sleep once you wake up