<p>10 characters.... i have a 550, and i never read. Can i pull it up to a 650+?</p>
<p>It is a myth that you absolutely need life-long reading skills and a general love of reading to score very high on the CR section. Obviously a passion for reading can help, but it not necessary. I never liked reading. I never did any outside reading, and often didn't read all of what was required in school. Junior year was the only year I actually read nearly all of the books for English class. Yet I pulled off a 770 in CR on the May SAT. I recently scored 800 on the March 05 practice test.</p>
<p>It is certainly possible for you to pull your score up to a 650+. It will require a lot of practice on real tests though. Maybe you should start reading novels or editorials in your free time also.</p>
<p>I have a 350, and I never read. Can I pull it up to a 550+ by the March exam? I started reading novels and stuff now.</p>
<p>lil_killer: yeah u can. novels wont help much try reading magazines like Scientific American</p>
<p>Thanks. I'll look into that.</p>
<p>Screw books, one thing that helped me immensely was debate. One year in LD actually trying boosted me up from a low 600's to close to 800 if not 800. Trust me it sharpens your analysis skills as well as makes you a faster thinker.</p>
<p>Also I suggest just doing a plethora of practice reading passages. After a while you'll be able to say 'Oh, it's this kind of question'. After doing a crapload I actually get the feeling of comfort when I do verbal.</p>
<p>its not entirely a myth</p>
<p>I started reading for a year or so and it helped me 700+
It also has to do with practice</p>
<p>One thing is for sure--it doesn't come right away. Unlike the other sections, CR takes a bit more time to get used to</p>
<p>yes its a myth.
I scored 570 on my first practice test and after 3 weeks of practice I scored 650 and English is my 3rd language.
I dont read that much either, but I agree with jooface: Debating really helps, I was in the debating club for 2 years.
so yes i think its possible to score pretty high even if you dont read a lot.</p>
<p>Generally, what is meant by "well" here is aroud 800. Bringing up your score to right under 700 can be done without intense reading.</p>
<p>Hey, it is defiantly not a myth that you can bring your CR up just by reading. Take me for example, on the March test I scored a 540 with no prep. </p>
<p>I prepped a little bit over the summer, but for the last two weeks Ive been studying for SAT's hardcore, and I manage to score a consistent 750 on the CR sections now. Only thing that is killing me now is sentence completions. But once you get the hang of the passages, it becomes almost dare I say, easy? And I am defiantly not a reader, I dont read books at all, besides Harry Potter. Thats whats sparknotes is for. ;-)</p>
<p>I agree that preping does more for your scores than reading will. I've always been a keen reader, first test I took was close to 600 (no prep) after a bit of prep for the second one it was almost 700</p>