<p>Please include previous scores and new scores.</p>
<p>Old scores:
Math:550 Critical Reading:490 Writing:460 [essay:6]</p>
<p>New scores:
Math:690 Critical Reading:510 Writing:590 [essay:8]</p>
<p>first test: 2040
800M, 590CR, 650W (8 essay)</p>
<p>second test: 2130
710M, 660CR, 760W (9 essay)</p>
<p>third test: 2320
780M, 790CR, 750W (8 essay)</p>
<p>superscore: 1590/2350! =]
800M, 790CR, 760W</p>
<p>I never really studied for the first two tests. Although I improved on the second one, I think that was just due to time and maturity. For the third test, I put a lot of time in. Unfortunately, math comes really easy for me so I don’t really have much advice in that subject. If anything, I think the most important thing is to read every question fully and really try to work carefully and avoid stupid mistakes/traps. Be sure to use all your extra time checking over your answers! </p>
<p>I didn’t ever study for writing, but my biggest advice is just read the sentences in your head and at least 3 of the choices will sound ridiculous. Also, the essay is really important if you’re aiming for the 800! I only got one wrong on the mc but an 8 essay brought me down to a 750. </p>
<p>Critical reading comes purely through practice. When I first took the tests, I used to be completely lost in the passages. I couldn’t focus, I thought every answer could work, I really didn’t understand how anybody could possibly do well on this section. I began taking a practice test almost every weekend, going through the explanations of everything I got wrong, really trying to understand the testmaker’s logic. Along the way I sort of had an epiphany: every test is more or less the same. Although the passages are different, they are always the same types of passages and the same questions. I soon became an “active reader,” a term which I never believed in up until that point. Reading the passages became more like a hunt, searching for things like the overall purpose, the tone, any sharp changes, etc. I began predicting what I would be asked, and I knew the answers to the questions before I even got to them! Above all, remember: any answer you pick MUST BE SUPPORTED BY THE PASSAGE. it’s really that simple. Go through the choices, rule anything out that you cannot find in the passage. Don’t try to reason why something might be able to work logically, if the author of the passage doesn’t agree with an answer choice then neither do you! With all of this in mind, I got a perfect on the passage-based portion of the CR section on my last test. </p>
<p>Now for the dreaded vocabulary: unfortunately, if you haven’t steadily built up a good vocabulary throughout your life through reading (like me, i always hated reading), then this part is kind of a killer. The only thing you can do at this point is memorize words. Even though people frown upon this, there’s really no other option. I personally went with direct hits and I learned the entire core vocab and a lot of the toughest vocab. Regardless, it all just comes down to luck on your test day. Either you know the words you’re given, or sadly you don’t. Learning 10,000 words isn’t going to prepare you much better than the 500 words in direct hits because in the end, it’s still a crapshoot on the test day and there will always be a word you don’t know.</p>
<p>Overall, I’m so thrilled with my improvement and I really think with practice, anybody can do it! Also, this is my opinion on SAT classes: i refused to take one, it just seemed like a wast of money to me. If you are motivated enough to get yourself to study on your own, then you really don’t need a tutor. Buy a prep book, read through everything it has to say, and then PRACTICE. You’ll begin making you’re own strategies and picking up on all of the subtleties of the test. But be honest with yourself, if you know you’re not going to study, then maybe a tutor/class is good for you because it will force you to practice!</p>
<p>I wasn’t really planning on writing such a long guide, but I hope this helps to anybody else who is more of a math-mind struggling with the critical reading section!</p>
<p>yoo Pianoman you’re the best. and YES I’m definitley a math-minded person [who struggles big time with critical reading]</p>