Calling all 750+ Verbal Scorers

<p>How did you guys prep for the CR section? What novels and books do you recommend? Is it worth reading the long classics ( 600+ pages) or the shorter ones ( 250-400 pgs)?</p>

<p>don't bother. just do a lot of them (practice), and underline. </p>

<p>use all the prep books out there.</p>

<p>or if you really want to, read the short classics but i dont think it'll help much.</p>

<p>Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. I read it in between a 710 V and a 790 V, take from it what you will!</p>

<p>Read books, newspapers, and other print materials regularly.</p>

<p>Is George Elliot's MiddleMarch worth reading?</p>

<p>personally, I never read books. I don't know, it's just me. I wish i had gotten into the habit earlier to improve my vocabulary but reading just never was my thing. Unless you've been an avid reader for a long time, starting to read now wont necessarily help you on verbal. I'd say just stick to practicing the problems, learning the tricks, learning how to find the answers, etc. If you learn how the ETS thinks, you can defeat the test. I practiced for 1 month b4 the test and ended up getting an 800.</p>

<p>Or if you have lots of time to burn you can go to sparknotes and memorize the 1000 most common words on the sat.</p>

<p>does memorizing words really help? what are the chances that the ones you actually memorized will appear on that small portion of the sentence completion [& analogies if on the old sat] question? of course memorizing is better tha not memorizing. but still, what would be a more effective way in improving to the maximum in the shortest amount of time?</p>

<p>i personally would suggest to learn tips on getting more of the critical reading passage questions right. that's just for me though.</p>

<p>"does memorizing words really help? what are the chances that the ones you actually memorized will appear on that small portion of the sentence completion [& analogies if on the old sat] question?"</p>

<p>Well, memorizing definetly helps since 95% of the vocab words on the SAT come from a group of 1000 words. And you probably already know 2/3 of the 1000 words so you really only have to worry about 250-350 words.</p>

<p>"i personally would suggest to learn tips on getting more of the critical reading passage questions right. "</p>

<p>Yeah, I need help with that too. Most of the problems that I get wrong on the practice verbal tests come from critical reading passages.</p>

<p>I despise reading. The only way that I managed to get a high school on the verbal is by "cracking" it, meaning... there's a trick to the verbal. It's hard to explain, but once you start practicing in the RIGHT way, you'll certainly begin showing great results. It takes a lot practice. All I remember is that almost every question had a clue that pointed to the right answer or the answer was obvious if you're in the right mindset. That's all I remember. I probably won't be able to get an 800 if I took it now.</p>

<p>wow y00nsk, I just scrolled up, saw your comment, and realized that THAT is what I've been trying to say. Basically, "learn how the ETS thinks."</p>

<p>Im a sophomore by the way</p>

<p>For critical reading, all you have to do is realize that there has to be something in the text that either explicitly (usually) or implicitly (sometimes) points to the right answer. ETS can't leave it up to inference or value judgments because they have to prove why their answer is the right answer. I realized this during my first few practice tests and, on the real SAT, got a 780, then a 790, then an 800 on the verbal section.</p>

<p>Oh yeah, I've never been an avid reader but I did read consistently freshman year and more in middle school. Dont know if that helps</p>

<p>I found that reading cereal boxes really works....</p>

<p>I memorized a boat load of words, got 19 SC and 19 As right. I guess I got lucky on the reading. I just practiced and practiced. But there is definetely a feel for questions that you have to get a grip of.</p>

<p>plz give me tips to get atleast a 780</p>

<p>Read a whole lot. I went from a 690 to a 790 with no prep (ok, I did get a little lucky on the words they chose), but during that time I had a US History course (up to 1865) at UVA, and we had about 1000-2000 pages of hard, complicated, in depth text, only 450 or so was of the textbook, the rest was made up of primary sources, which suck, but I guess are good for learning to understand complicated ideas quickly. So yeah, in the period in between the 690 and the 790, I did the most reading I've ever done in my life reading the hardest material I've ever read. Go figure.</p>

<p>If you can read "Heart of Darkness" with no trouble, you will have no problem with any CR questions you encounter for the rest of your life. Also recommend "Catch-22" and "Divine Comedy"</p>

<p>So which word list is the most accurate in terms of appearance on teh sat? I have the kaplans 3000 word list from the prep book which seems 2000 words too long. should i just stick with the sparknotes list and the 10 real sats list? Thx.</p>