u/JAKEROONI309

I am currently writing my first draft now, and I can go the narrative or montage direction. Montages have seemed frowned upon compared to narratives because of how much harder they are. My problem is that I never truly had a singular, all-transformative experience, and most of my life went by multiple smaller ones. It just doesn’t seem right for me to go the narrative route but montages are riskier. Any help will be appreciated!

Demographics:

Half white, half Asian middle class US student (no hooks)

I attend a rural, non-competitive public school in TN.

Intended Major:

ChemE

Testing and GPA:

35 ACT Superscore (36M 35S 35E 33R)

1460 SAT (660R 800M, planning to retake)

UW 4.0 (school doesn’t weight)

99.54/100 GPA on 100 point scale (Probably best in my grade)

Coursework:

I’ve practically taken max rigor so far with every honors class my school offers.

I should have 5 APs by end of high school (school offers only 4 in-person). I just got a 5 in AP lang and a 5 in AP Precalculus.

School does offer self-paced online APs but I only have five class periods in a day, and are difficult to manage with the tight schedule so I’ll only do one (AP physics 1)

Extracurriculars:

Been Vice President on my school’s National Beta Club where I’ve lead in arranging service projects and annual state competition.

Every year for competition in Beta Club, I’ve always been team leader my school’s engineering team and even won top 5 in state for two years (a 2nd and 5th place title).

Active competitor for my school’s SkillsUSA club chapter, and I’ve attended National Skills Conference in Atlanta for competition for two years.

My school offers knowledge bowl and I’ve been a prominent competitor, and plan to continue, but it’s only county wide, and I did win 1st in individual performance last year and 4th this year.

Lifeguard at my local country club every summer since the summer of freshman year.

I’ve started my own independent tutoring for struggling students in math.

Used to do competitive swimming but practice pool relocated 40 miles away so I had to quit. Did cross country for one year but got sent to the hospital in one meet 😬.

Awards:

I’ve won many in Beta Club, even since middle school:

1st place in-state for ninth grade math

3rd place NATIONALLY in ninth grade math

1st place in tenth grade math

5th place in eleventh grade math

4th place NATIONALLY in eleventh grade math (locked in after that 5th place at state)

5th place in-state engineering team (I led as a freshman)

2nd place in-state engineering team (I led as a sophomore)

1st place in a regional chemistry competition hosted by a nearby university in Alabama. I competed against hundreds of other students.

1st place in regional Precalculus competition (waiting for state placements)

Gold medalist in Related Technical Math for SkillsUSA 2025 in-state, and bronze medalist 2026 in-state. Sadly didn’t place nationals either time.

Commended Scholar next year most likely (1460 PSAT)

School has a title called distinguished scholar and I’m practically guaranteed to be one.

I know I don’t seem to have passion projects and research but I’m just being true to myself and not artificial because it’s not right to force them upon yourself just for college app purposes. Also, those opportunities are scarce where I live, so I just utilized the best my school and surroundings had to offer. Some well-regarded clubs at my school dissolved before I even got the chance to participate.

I just got done with my first two APs as a junior (Precalc and Lang) and I got a 5 on both exams! I’m taking Calc BC, Physics 1, and Lit next year, which will total my AP count to be five by the end of high school. I know this isn’t much for this subreddit but my school only offers four in-person APs (I’m doing physics self-paced online). There are numerous other online APs offered but my school has a very small schedule with only five classes per semester, and almost every AP is yearlong. Freshmen couldn’t take any APs and sophomores only have the option to do online, but required classes took up much of my schedule. I have to take some required classes too during senior year and an engineering class for my future major, leaving practically no room for any other online APs. Thus, I’ll only have five by graduation. Will I still have max rigor by AOs’ standards based on my context?

Title

For context I have an 800 in math now and Reading is holding me back immensely. I plan to take the August test so I have lots of time.

Are objectively difficult questions always worth 10 points or can they sometimes be worth 20?

I probably missed at least like 7 questions or so after scoring perfect to near perfect on m1. I really just want a 700 🙏.

SAT is in 2 days and I’m absolutely dreading what R&W could throw at me. What are some of the best ways to make use of your time and maximize accuracy? Also, how helpful is it to highlight long questions as you read each sentence?