<p>Guys (especially the ones who received 700+ on the Cr sections.), can you post any strategies you have when you take the Critical Reading Sections. Any tip that will help me get 700+. I previously scored a 600. Any tips on sentence completions to passage reading will be much appreciated.</p>
<p>to be honest i believe the best thing to do is read a lot, and read challenging material. however i feel like your in a bit of a rush and that may not help you very much. for me it was a matter of feeling really confidant and allowing my mind to relax during the reading section. your brain doesn't work well under stress.</p>
<p>well, the first thing you want to do is to read the whole passage through one time. this may seem like common sense to you, but i have talked to people who told me that they only read the excerpts that were mentioned in the questions. yeah. don't do that. if a question focuses on a certain excerpt, don't ONLY re-read that excerpt. read at least 2 or 3 of the sentences preceding and following it in order to understand the context.</p>
<p>if you're looking for a more long-term solution, i have to agree with the other post. read a lot. focus on reading quickly and accurately.</p>
<p>Reading is the best solution. But why not cut right to the heart of it? READ SAT PASSAGES. Yes, that's right! Do lots of tests -- CB or otherwise. This will expose you to both reading AND the question types so that you can really be prepared for the exam. </p>
<p>CR used to be tough for me. On practice tests, it would habitually be my lowest score (by a good margin; on old practice PSATs I would score high 70's in math/writing and, if I was lucky, a 70 flat on the CR section) . However, after doing a slew of old exams and really getting my reading skills up, the CR section became the most pleasant section of the SAT.</p>
<p>So, yeah, do a lot of practice tests, read the explanations (or if they're not there, figure them out yourself), and you'll begin to build up your reading ability. </p>
<p>I do think there's a high correlation between reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge, so make sure to look up any words that you don't know when you do practice exams. The answer choices depend highly on your ability to discern precise meanings (which is why a lot of people narrow it down to two and then guess wrong). The reading passages, too, require this, but it's the answer choices you must really learn to comprehend. </p>
<p>On the real PSAT (2007) I scored an 80. On the SAT a few months later, I got a 760. </p>
<p>I did a few practice exams for the Dec 2008 SAT and always got 800's on CR. (I cancelled my Dec '08 exam 'cause of math...gahhh two stupid mistakes!)</p>
<p>Another piece of advice: don't treat the SAT as a test. Treat it as a...game or competitive sport. Just strive to do your personal best. Just like not everyone can be an all star NFL player, not everyone can be a CR superstar -- but you can sure as hell work to get your best score, which, if you're motivated, will be higher than 600. </p>
<p>-Arachnotron</p>
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Another piece of advice: don't treat the SAT as a test. Treat it as a...game or competitive sport. Just strive to do your personal best. Just like not everyone can be an all star NFL player, not everyone can be a CR superstar -- but you can sure as hell work to get your best score, which, if you're motivated, will be higher than 600.
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<p>Agreed 100%. It's so weird to me when people talk about extensive studying for the SAT, learning lists of vocab, getting tutoring etc...to me it seems so, so far from the true point and purpose of the test. Treat it like a challenging puzzle, not a boring test!</p>