<p>Alright thanks for taking a look, the sections I have difficulty with are CR and writing.</p>
<p>Critical Reading- I do excellent on the passages, but the vocab kills me, and this is especially surprising because I love reading, I'm always doing it. I'm taking the SAT in May so I have some time to memorize vocab. Is memorizing vocab likely to help me out, and if so, is there a list of words (I don't know how much I'll be able to memorize before May?) that has helped you in the past and you would recommend for me to study?</p>
<p>Writing - Alright this is my worst section by far. I got a 9 on the essay before and I'd really like to bring it up to double digits. Any advice and also in my essay I used a personal experience as evidence in a body paragraph, should it only be historical/literary references? Next is the choose which word is wrong section. I cannot seem to do well on this at all. Is there a list of grammar rules I should be studying and is there any list of words that go together such as "either...or" (an easy example I just don't know what to call them)?</p>
<p>Writing - PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Find an essay formula that works for you (and stick with it) and also get a clear idea of the kinds of questions that CB might ask you. (sub-verb agreement, diction, idiom, parallelism, etc.)</p>
<p>For vocab, I would say to read a lot. I know this is cliche, but I have been an avid reader for so long, and I never had to memorize words for the SC. You say you love to read, so it shouldn't be too hard to do this. I would just pay special attention to how difficult words are used in the context of the sentence, and what they mean. </p>
<p>As for writing, I'm in the same boat as you. I got an 8 on my essay (argh). I'm convinced it's because I used a personal experience as my only example (bad idea, evidently). Anyways, good luck!</p>
<p>JIB: the guy who runs the website (who is a poster on CC, though I forget his user name) is an SAT tutor and at one point made a database of dozens of past SATs and PSATs... that's where all his words are from.</p>
<p>Just surfing CC and found this post. The Government is right re: the method of creating the list (I'm the tutor/poster who compiled it). I'm really glad to hear that it's helping some of you guys out: that was my hope in making it public. If you have more specific questions about the method I used to compile the list, PM me or post a follow-up question here and I'd be glad to answer it for you.</p>
<p>For the essay, the types of examples you use are really irrelevant. Although I usually avoid personal examples in my academic writing, I used one on this last SAT simply because it was the first thing that popped into my head and got a 12.</p>
<p>There really is not magic structure or anything. Vocab in essay is also vastly overrated. If you are capable of putting the ideas together well enough to get a 12, your diction should be fine without trying too hard. The main point is that you develop your ideas very well, connect them, and make them meaningful (or interesting or poignant - the point is to make your essay reader glad he read it). In my opinion, a good way to think of your essay is as a road rather than a web. You want to get from Idea A to Idea B, not simply explore everything around a topic.</p>