Went from 1080 to 1340 on the SAT in four months — here's what actually worked

So I finally got my SAT scores back from the March sitting and I'm honestly still a little shocked. I was pulling a 1080 on my first diagnostic in November, which felt pretty discouraging given I'm targeting schools that want at least a 1300. My math was okay-ish (560) but my reading and writing section was dragging everything down hard.

What actually moved the needle for me was being way more systematic about practice. I stopped just doing random SAT practice test after practice test without reviewing my mistakes. The real turning point was drilling argument analysis specifically — I'd been treating those questions like reading comprehension when they have their own logic. Honestly, working through SAT Logical Reasoning & Argument Analysis questions timed and then reviewing every wrong answer changed how I read those passages completely. I was spending about 90 minutes a day, five days a week.

Anyone else feel like the sat's Evidence-Based Reading section rewards a specific approach more than just general reading ability? Curious what strategies worked for others who jumped more than 200 points.