I took the SAT for the first time in June, got 1650, with 420 in CR. I was a sophomore, and I have to end up getting 600-700 before the new SAT. Any hints? I really need help because I’m kind of stuck in this score when solving practice tests.
Don’t see it and ignore, I really do need help. I don’t read at all. Any books to read, anything or whatsoever just give me hints 
Reading any form of literature will help you raise your CR score.
Reading is key, but so are practice tests. Get the SAT blue book and take the practice tests.
I have the same problem as you. My reading score is the lowest out of my math and writing. When I do not like the passage I am reading I tend to do worse, and vocab is another issue. I suggest you prepare by studying for vocab. Getting all the vocab right can help you so much. In addition, since you are penalized for wrong answers, if you do not know the answer, leave it blank.
Practice tests will help you the most. You need to expose yourself to the SAT reading section.
I have managed to get by SAT for reading from 490 to 680 in a year.
Study a lot of vocabs!!!
Flashcard sites such as quizlet help tremendously.
Do a lot of practice exams!
Do a lot of practice questions!
Keep working hard and you’ll see a jump in your score!
Good Luck!
Vocab is ~1/3 of the test. Get that down, and you should hit right around 600. If you take AP Lang and Comp next year (which I would HIGHLY recommend), that will help tremendously too with the passage readings. Doing both of these things, you can hit upper 600s without having to study anything else.
which words to practice? or even flashcards
Princeton Review has a pack of 300-500 flashcards you can study. It should be available at a local Books-a-Million or Barnes & Noble.
Read. Go to the library and find some books that you like. Talk to the librarian. Ask friends for some recommendations. Some libraries have websites with recommendations from teens to teens. The newspaper is another option.
If you keep consistently missing the same number of questions, you should look at strategies and tips for approaching questions rather than just doing more practice tests
Erica Meltzer’s Critical Reading book is excellent. Also Direct Hits books for vocab. Read, read, read. Try to read an article a day from the newspaper. Identify the main point and look up any vocab words that are unfamiliar. Take practice sections from the Blue Book, and review what you got wrong. Take the sections untimed until you improve your accuracy and then take them timed to work on your speed. Good luck!
Well, I have heard decent reviews on Meltzer’s book but I live in the middle east and I have no chance of getting it… I can’t even find a pdf version
It really depends on where you focus your effort in studying for Critical reading that will determine if you increase your score or not.
I have a flat 600 CR on the SAT. I only got 2 questions wrong for vocab and the rest were from the passages. I got nearly all vocabulary questions right. Im retaking the SAT in october, and am focusing all my effort in CR on passages because i do really well on vocabulary anyways so studying for that won’t drastically increase my score.
Find your weakness then practice that. I recommend buying the “10 Real SATs” Which is the Collegeboard study guide for the Old SAT and using it for additional practice. I don’t use the math sections, i only use it for CR. When using CR, complete only the vocab and passages since those are the same as the current SAT
Also, make use of CR guides written by others on this forum:
Thank you all, I really find the short/short paired passages the easiest in the section. Long/paired passages and vocabulary completions are really confusing and challenging…
The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to read anything and everything. I would particularly recommend articles from sources like Popular Science, the Washington Post, the New York Times, etc. Read carefully, and look for themes, contrasting opinions, author’s purpose, tone, and other characteristics of passages that often appear as question in the CR section. Also, definitely try to build up your vocabulary. The articles will help, but also try to read lots of books, especially ones that are often taught in high school or college as they contain lots of vocab words. I got a 770 in CR when I took the SAT in May, and this is what worked for me. I was a sophomore as well.