<p>I am always scoring horribly in CR.</p>
<p>My vocab sections are always good, but I really struggle with the passage-based reading.</p>
<p>Sometimes I almost feel as if I don't understand half the things they are saying in the passage and asking in the questions, so I end up almost guessing on a good deal of the MC due to the time limitations...</p>
<p>I scored a 490 on my last practice test with 15/19 SC correct (so 4 vocab wrong).
I had 30 other questions wrong in the passages/short passages/etc (and they were mostly consecutive).</p>
<p>Is improvement POSSIBLE?
I am losing hope after not improving after my first practice test. lol</p>
<p>I just don't think I am understanding what I'm reading in those darn passages because I'm so pressed for time!!
HELP!</p>
<p>What grade are you in? Yes, it’s possible. Just keep doing it.</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore.
Will I eventually get the hang of it through practice and review?</p>
<p>It sounds to me like you’re trying to memorize the passages 
If you’re that time pressed, you’re probably spending way too much time reading, and not enough time with the questions. The thing to remember is that you don’t have to understand every word of the passage to be able to answer the questions. There’s going to be jargon-y parts that are meaningless, but can cost you a lot of time. If you haven’t tried it, do a practice passage reading the questions first, then checking out the passage, keeping the questions in mind as you read. You may surprise yourself at how little of the passage you have to understand to answer the question. Hope that helps a little.</p>
<p>Thanks swans!
I pretty much do Noitaraperp’s method by marking up the lines that have questions attached to them, and answering them as I go along reading the passages. I do the general ones last. </p>
<p>I always run out of time and have to go overtime on the last 2-3.</p>
<p>I look at the collegeboard online explanations when I’m done. What is the best way to make sure I understand what I did wrong, so I don’t make the same error in the future?</p>
<p>Don’t rely on someone else’s explanation Try figuring it out on your own before resorting to the College Board. It’ll definitely make sense to you that way!</p>
<p>Try and figure it out yourself before resorting to a formal explanation.</p>
<p>Since I will be seeking improvement through practice tests, how often should I take them?
If I have time to do a CR section every 3 days, is that too often?</p>
<p>Also, I am doing this prep for the October SAT. Is it too early to start doing practice tests out of the BB?</p>
<p>nothing is too often. but don’t JUST do the BB book, do others like Barron’s, PR, etc.</p>
<p>(I know the guys who got 2400, like Jersey13, say that all they did was the BB, but, for most of the population, 8 tests are not enough)</p>
<p>I’m going to tell you something most people probably don’t agree with.</p>
<p>Don’t focus on the doing the section mechanically. Instead, read one passage over and over again until you understand it 100%. It could take you 30 minutes; it could take you an hour. Then answer the questions.</p>
<p>If you get all the questions right, KEEP doing that to each passage. You’ll eventually develop a confidence in your critical thinking and ANSWERING ability. Your skill. Eventually, and naturally, your timing will improve.</p>
<p>If you keep doing timed sections where you are racing against the clock, you will not learn as much. Doing NUMEROUS tests OFTEN just means that you are racing through sections, constantly making the same mistakes over and over again. By blindly doing as many tests as possible, you are making the assumption that you will maximize improvement. This is simply not true. Focus on ONE section, take the test with NO time limit, and I guarantee that you will figure out what’s wrong with your thinking and you will improve drastically.</p>
<p>In other words, don’t focus on your score or your test-taking abilities. Focus on your REASONING, your LOGIC, your THINKING. That seems to be the biggest problem for most people. They rely on mechanical processes (i.e., a specific method/strategy) as opposed to simple problem solving.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, this is essentially what Noitaraperp’s method accomplishes. Instead of focusing on the big picture by taking the test with a time limit and doing the same thing over and over again, work on each question, paragraph, etc. on a stricter basis instead.</p>
<p>Thanks so much crazybandit!
Are you saying that I should try and take my next test without marking up all the lines, etc? Just focus on the story and thoroughly digest it, then go for the questions? I will give it a try.</p>
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</p>
<p>Wait, no. I’m not saying that. That is a good strategy to practice and eventually use on the real test. What I’m saying is that there are TWO problems that you have: TIMING, and actually ANSWERING the questions correctly. Why focus on both of them at the same time when you could focus on only one?</p>
<p>By taking the test with the regular time limit, you are SACRIFICING learning how to actually answer the questions for TIMING. Just think about it. You obviously learn more, and improve upon your SKILL if the timing isn’t constantly on your back. Work on your skill first; as skill improves, your timing naturally improves.</p>
<p>EDIT: Some people can spend 2 hours on one CR section and still not get every question correct. This means there is something wrong with their thinking ability. You have to first work on THOSE questions that you get wrong no matter what, because those are the hardest to overcome. If you can’t get those questions right even in 2 hours, how will you get them right in 25 minutes? Timing should be the last thing you specifically work on.</p>
<p>Thanks, understood :).</p>
<p>Interesting advice bandit. I’ll give it a shot also.</p>