<p>Hello Everyone, </p>
<p>Right now, I'm at around a 650 in CR, +- like 30 points.....I need help breaking 700, especially getting in the high 700s, because that's the only thing really holding me back from getting a really high composite score...maybe a little writing practice (because I got 3 wrong, and a 10 on the essay).</p>
<p>Can you please give any strategies/tips on what you did to get above a 700, or maybe even above 750?</p>
<p>On my SAT, I got 55/67 on the MC by skipping 5 and getting 7 wrong.</p>
<p>Breakdown: </p>
<p>Sentence completion: 1 wrong, 2 skipped</p>
<p>Passage-based: 6 wrong, 3 skipped</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>For CR there is really only one thing you can do. Practice. Since you seem to be struggling with the reading the only thing you can do is practice the CR sections of a SAT. In terms of strategies. Make sure you read all the answers and read slowly. We have a tendency to misread things. But yes try to slow down a bit and practice</p>
<p>A majority of the test takers actually lack in their CR score (not meaning it’s really bad), with scores in the 700s for writing and math, however a 650ish in CR. Well most of the applicants I’ve seen on ‘Chance Me’ threads are like that. But as the guy above has said, you need to practice taking these sections over and over. Looking at your Sentence Completion, you most likely have an understanding of roots/the actual definition of vocab terms :))</p>
<p>Passages test your ability to read through context clues and some questions ask what the author is referring to/inferring in the statement, so I would brush up on carefully reading each sentence (at a good pace, of course).</p>
<p>Uhm. You could also tell us if you usually run low on time and just skip them for later but turn out to have no time in the end?</p>
<p>thinking back to my own SATs I can offer one specific way to improve CR in particular. Do a practice section with a friend. If you come to a question where you are either unsure or both have conflicting answers then debate the question. If you do this you will find you work through the question. You will also find that you will see what a strong answer is and what a weak answer is.
Good luck </p>
<p>@existential12 @medicsz What scores did you guys get? Were you in the same situation as me, where Math is always like 800 (or close) and the Writing is like mid 700s, but like Reading always was quite dismal? </p>
<p>And although I guess I did okay on the sentence completion on my SAT, as mentioned in my original post, that might have been fluke because I thought it was WAYYYY easier than the practice ones…</p>
<p>For the passages, it’s never an issue of time…it’s like there are always just 2 answers that seem so perfect…but I know that only one can be right, and if I don’t skip, I usually end up picking the wrong one…but after spending like 2 hrs on CC today, I realized that even for the inference questions, the answer lies within the text…it’s just maybe a bit more elusive!</p>
<p>Any other tips/suggestions/personal anecdotes would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>@performante I haven’t taken the SAT yet, but I am prepping and I have gathered a rather good amount of prep advice for the section tests :)</p>
<p>Also, I have 2 older siblings who have taken the ACT and otherwise have given advice</p>
<p>@medicsz ah ok I see. For a person like me, would you recommend the SAT or ACT…I don’t really like the ACT because I feel that the timing makes it hard to do all of those critical reading and science passages (although I usually get like 36 in the math and like 35 english)…but I know that many more people get a 36 on the ACT than do people get a 2400 on the SAT. But I like the SAT’s generous time limits. Also, with the upcoming changes on the SAT, I’m not sure, but will the Writing and CR sections be consolidated? If so, that will definitely help me because I usually do pretty well on the Writing with a 10 on my essay and like -3 on MC…but I’m aiming for 800 in writing (and of course math) alone…and like 780 CR…because I want to get into a really top university for computer science!</p>
<p>@performante It’s best to try both; you will never know which you are best at. You should know that ACT has a science section though and is undergoing changes, similar to the SAT ^o^</p>
<p>So are you going towards MIT maybe</p>
<p>@performante I improved my SAT 300 points up to a 2150(780M 730R 640W) so I do have experience with this sort of thing. I think it sounds like you favor the SAT. Don’t spend the money on the ACT just because you want a perfect score. As long as you get into the range for the Uni you will be fine. A good score doesn’t get you in it just makes sure they won’t throw out the application completely so don’t sweat the SAT/ACT to much. </p>
<p>@medicsz I’m just looking at like the top 10ish…so like mit (although that is somewhat unreaslistic), stanford, caltech, carnegie mellon, etc… @existential12 Congratulations on your improvements (I wish I got your CR score)…and for you, considering your abilities in the reading part, you should be able to vastly improve your writing scores just by observing the tips on this link:</p>
<p><a href=“SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides”>SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides;
<p>@existential12 unless, of course, you are already in college</p>
<p>@performante I’m not in college yet. Thanks for the tip on the writing it has been my weakest link throughout high school!</p>
<p>@performante Although it’s good to have a high CR score (and composite overall), math and writing will look best for schools such as stated. Writing is something you’ll be doing a lot in college whether it’s an engineering course or statistics… (all pre-reqs for the track you’re aiming for)</p>
<p>I’ve also heard of the Black Book for CR, but I’m not sure of its overall reputation in raising scores… hm</p>
<p>@medicsz hmmm maybe?? I was just reading on CC posts about the Black Book, so its kinda funny you mentioned it I plan on doing SAT practice every day for the rest of the summer…hopefully I can do it like 2 or 3 times a week during the school year…although this might be hard considering I attend a highly competitive school where I will have little time to do many things…but at this school, the average ACT is a 31…so yea…just to give you an idea. I wonder how I’ll create all that time for myself…</p>
<p>@performante I know how you feel with my 5 months to prepare for the December SAT (funny cause most people are taking it in the OCT… that’s my PSAT)</p>
<p>Now do you mean average ACT as in whole, or the top 10%/5% etc…</p>
<p>My school’s top 10% holds 32 ACT Composite and 2278 SAT Composite</p>
<p>@medicsz I mean as a whole…I’m taking PSAT this year, too…so scary…Nat’l Merit stuff…I think I need like a 220 to get a semifinalist…</p>
<p>In order to get 700+ CR, a rule of thumb is to miss/get wrong 1 sentence completion AT MOST</p>
<p>CR scoring is a bit generous imo :p</p>
<p>@medicsz No! Sometimes it is emphatically not! True, there are times when -4 can still get you a 800, but also there are times when -1 leaves you a 780</p>
<p>I dont know why but the recent curves are getting increasingly harsh. Back in 2007-2008, even a test with all easy passages, the curves I found were always 800 800 800 800 790 for CR, but recently even with hard passages, I rarely see a generous curve like that. Normally it is 800 800 790…, sometimes even 800 780…</p>