Earning a perfect SAT Chemistry score is not easy.
One reason is not knowing where the questions will come from.
If you are already excellent at Chemistry, that may not be a problem,
but few students are. First, you need to understand the exam’s format and patterns,
yet SAT Chemistry past-paper analysis is difficult because materials are limited.
When students begin studying SAT Chemistry, the first thing they do
is probably start reading Barron’s and Kaplan carefully.
Unfortunately, those books
can run to 480 pages. That may not sound enormous: at 20 pages a day, read carefully, it would take about 25 days.
But how many hours would 20 pages take? Even assuming students can read and understand the material on their own,
Chemistry cannot be their only subject every day, and they need days off. I think it could take two months.
After studying the content, they still need to solve the questions. That takes another month or more.
Even then, many questions may remain unclear. Starting without foundations and studying this way may produce a score around 650.
That is the path many students experience when studying alone.
What does private tutoring or a class look like?
I will leave large lectures aside. In individual tutoring or a small class, the teacher can focus on what is necessary.
For example, I consider several dozen pages at the beginning and end of Barron’s unlikely to appear on the exam.
Textbook passages rarely appear exactly as written, so much of the reading is not directly needed. You must understand the principles and how to solve questions
with them. Simply reading the book may achieve little; your score could even fall. Know the principles and anticipate how they will be tested.
The material above is Organic Chemistry. Would a beginner want to memorize all of it? Learning it is fine, but leaving some of it aside can also be reasonable because it rarely appears. Still, studying it does no harm. Haha.
An instructor beside you can explain that.
If you have unlimited time and memory, learn everything. Most students do not. Selecting what to memorize saves time.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to make those judgments when studying alone.
Some students do not want an academy or tutor. Here is the best approach I can suggest for independent study.
The book shown above provides official past questions.
Buy it and first learn the exam’s patterns. Then choose a thin introductory book and cover the foundations quickly.
Next, use Barron’s and Kaplan and work through all their practice tests with as much understanding as possible.
Once you are faster and stronger, organize your notes in the core textbook for a final review before the exam.
My main point is to look at official past papers. If Barron’s difficulty is 10
and Kaplan’s is 11, I would put the actual exam around 6. Understand that difference and prepare accordingly.
The 800 that students want is not an impossible score if they know how to study.
But learning that approach is easier with a good instructor beside you.
To be honest, an 800 also takes a little luck. A teacher who can give students the right support helps.
That teacher may not be cheap, but finding one is a real advantage.
Finally, I think the easiest route to an 800 in SAT Chemistry
is to understand the direction of study and approach it correctly from the beginning.
And honestly, finding a good instructor helps with that.