Anyone who's scoring well on CR..

Test Preparation
1

<p>I’m a junior and I’m taking the SAT on January 24th. These are my average scores based on 8-10 practice tests.</p>

<p>MATH-740
WRITING-720
READING-600</p>

<p>As you can tell i’m not doing well in the Critical Reading Section. I would like to reach at least 720-750 by January and I was wondering…</p>

<li>Is it possible?</li>
<li>ASIDE FROM VOCAB, what is the most effective way to increase my reading score?? </li>
</ol>

<p>Everyone has told me to increase my vocabulary, and I’m definitely doing that. But I’m wondering what else can I do. Because I miss many more passage based questions than vocab questions. Usually i only miss 2-4 vocab ones. I know that’s a lot, but then I miss 10-14 passage based questions? What can I do? </p>

<p>Please and Thank you</p>

2

<p>Besides studying vocab, you should simply do more practice in passage based reading questions, though that hasn't been working for me.</p>

3

<p>okay, i guess practice makes perfect</p>

<p>but i agree, I mean I've taken so more 15 practice tests and my score has increased by like 30-40 points. :(</p>

4

<p>Do more reading, period. </p>

<p>Books, magazines, newspapers, whatever. As long as it's not complete trash, it'll help.</p>

5

<p>
[quote]
Do more reading, period. </p>

<p>Books, magazines, newspapers, whatever. As long as it's not complete trash, it'll help.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Exactly. Practice reading and writing and just enjoying it - don't think of it as a test.</p>

6

<p>what more specifically do you guys recommend, in terms of magazines and books? It doesn't seem like books that are purely for enjoyment will help very much, so are there any suggestions as to which ones?</p>

7

<p>The Economist, The New Yorker, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are all great for improving CR scores.</p>

<p>Also, I don't know if you do this but if you're reading the entire passage then answering the questions that can really do you in. I was using this method and it was giving me a lot of trouble in CR too. A change in reading method may help a lot! It brought me up about 70 points!</p>

8

<p>READ READ READ.</p>

<p>Both my kids, even the math geek had very high (or in the latter case perfect) CR scores. They read. Every day. Nothing fancy - both tend to read 99% sci fi and fantasy which tend to have reasonably adult vocabularies. The older one read a lot of computer manuals, the younger one reads Air and Space magazine and Scientific American.</p>

9

<p>Take some AP English Language practice tests. They helped immensely with my score. If you become good at those, then the CR will most likely be a piece of cake :)</p>

10

<p>Read, read, read. All of the listed magazines are excellent. Try a Russian novel if you have the time. Use big words when you talk and come off as a pompous ******. It'll help, trust me.</p>

11

<p>so i guess its unanimous, i need to read more. I can't say i'm surprised. Thanks for your input. Does anyone have any suggestions as to novels that may help me become a better critical reader? or just anything that catches my attention?
 </p>

12

<p>Name some novels you've enjoyed and it will be easier to suggest other possiblities. This list might help: ATN-reading-lists</a> » Read Alikes</p>

13

<p>I am certain that being a Jane Austen fanatic has really helped me - the writing is sophisticated and the stories are very enjoyable. But there are many, many good books out there; it all depends on your taste.</p>

14

<p>all the answers are in text. dont ever answer a question if u can not see it clearly in the passage.</p>

15

<p>I went up 13 points in the PSAT (130 points in SAT) by doing basically nothing. I went from a 570 to 700. I think reading helps a lot.</p>

16

<p>super sunny...you gotta do the grunt work...the classic novels, the newspaper, the Economist magazine. i moved from a 670 (missed about 10 passage ?'s like you) to an 800 over the summer because i had to read 6 classical books (a good thousand plus pages total) for my eng class over the summer (charles dickens, thomas hardy). if you just start reading now, i guarantee your score will improve :). (you ahve plenty of time since you are a junior :))</p>

17

<p>i can't make a convincing claim until my SATs scores come back but what i did was take the online course offered by CB and also take every test in the blue book. I went over every problem that I didn't understand with the solutions manual and made sure I understood every question I got wrong. Hopefully this will increase my critical reading score from a 680 to 730+ (but I'm hoping for 750+ of course)</p>

18

<p>It's very possible as long as you read alot and begin to understand the logic behind the CR passages. I went from 650 --> 800</p>

19

<p>Also try to take ACT.
For my D. CR was a killer also, with almost perfect math and writing scores she couldn't even break 600 on CR. She took ACT and got 36 out of 36 on CR section. We decided to forget her SAT scores and sent ACT to universities.</p>

20

<p>well i don't read that much so its hard to say, but I do like psychological thrillers as well as medical thrillers. I've read almost all the books Tess Gerritsen has written. any advice?</p>

<p>The hardest part for me is when two or more answers seem correct, I know I'm supposed to pick the one that is more directly stated from the text and the one that BEST answers the question, but does no one else feel as if it seems like it just the test-makers' opinion sometimes?</p>