Compiling Vocab From Previous SATs - A Good Strategy?

<p>I have this book which has 7 previously administered SATs. Jan 07, May 07, Oct 07, Jan 08, May 08, Dec 08 and Jan 09. A local academy probably took it from students who had ordered the QAS and I bought it from them. I was thinking about writing down the definitions and memorizing all the words from the Sentence Completion sections of these tests which I didn't previously know or which aren't in the Sparknotes 1000 words book, which I'm using to memorize words. Do you guys think this is a good strategy or is it a waste of time since these words have already appeared on previous tests and are unlikely to appear on the 10th of October?</p>

<p>The best vocabulary books are not those which compile words that have appeared in the past, but rather those that do the best job of predicting what words will appear in the future. </p>

<p>In any event, memorizing vocab at this point in time is unlikely to change your score much. Just relax.</p>

<p>I disagree with the second part. The words I’ll memorize in these days will probably be the ones that I’ll most likely recall easily if they appear on the test since they would be fresh in my mind.</p>

<p>I say it’s a good idea.</p>

<p>they use the same words a lot. I’ve done something similar and it’s helped</p>

<p>Yep, good idea. But, I know there’s books/websites out there that do the same thing, and could save you some work. But maybe the act of writing out the definitions is a way to study, so if that appeals to you, knock yourself out! Good luck.</p>

<p>I have to choose between compiling vocab in the way I mentioned here and revising/completing the Sparknotes 1000 word book. If I do both, I’ll be spending too much time on vocab and not on Practice test and if I do all three, I’ll feel really exhausted. But I seriously need to step up my vocab. What would you guys choose?</p>

<p>my direct hits books just came in yesterday… i have 120 words memorized already… and i’m sure they’ll be fresh in my mind for saturday, so i think memorization now is okay if you are truly TENACIOUS about it =]</p>

<p>compile past vocab that absolutely puzzles you. if you kinda know the meaning of a word, or if you know it is a positive or a negative word, skip it. but only the words you don’t know at all. you should compile less than 100, which shouldn’t be too difficult to memorize.</p>