<p>After rigorous research on both books, I still don't know which one to get.
If you have studied both books, and if you were to choose only one book, which one would you choose and why?</p>
<p>After I received my SAT score today, and realized that I got at least 4 vocabs wrong, which could have boosted my marks by at least 70-80 points if I got them all right, I'm motivated to study lots of vocabs for December SAT.</p>
<p>Anyone? :)</p>
<p>DIRECT HITS DIRECT HITS DIRECT HITS
99.9% sure i only got one vocab wrong and that too was a silly mistake
i owe it all to direct hits</p>
<p>@scarlettlovesivy Thanks for the information! So by studying Direct Hits cover to cover, you only got one vocab wrong? Would you recommend Direct Hits Core or Toughest? Did you use both books when you were studying?</p>
<p>Use both books. I did both and got 800 CR easy peasy (Vocab had been a weakish point before). </p>
<p>@ifnt7ju Yes cover to cover both books really saved me this time. def. use both books. good luck! </p>
<p>I only used DH ( I got 800 on CR).</p>
<p>@scarlettlovesivy
@auditi5 </p>
<p>Were you guys still missing a couple sentence completions after only reading volume 1? I finished volume 1 and still happen to not know some words in the reading sections.</p>
<p>@kkpanu9 hmm, i don’t think i really have an answer to that. i bought both at the same time and read (and reread) them in succession of each other so i never really noticed if one affected my practice scores more than the other; it appeared both helped.</p>
<p>@kkpanu9 i agree i never really noticed when i did it that way but i would suggest doing both of them at one go</p>
<p>My D used Essential 500 Words on the May SAT and got all the sentence completions correct.</p>
<p>@scarlettlovesivy @auditi5 @SephardicJewESA Using the latest edition of Direct Hits, which is the 5th edition, would be better than using earlier editions, right?</p>
<p>@ifnt7ju yes! don’t worry too much, i will tell you that my score wasn’t 100% due to direct hits, obviously all of the words cannot be on it but you have to get better at making educated guesses and reasoning vocab. i also studied mcgraw hill’s 500 and a private tutoring company’s list. but direct hits is awesome and a great place to start. </p>
<p>The Insider’s Complete Guide to SAT Vocabulary: The Essential 500 Words…….This is by Larry Krieger, who also authored and founded Direct Hits. he since split with Direct Hits and now is writing the Essential 500. Because he is an expert on the SAT, i would recommend his new series over the old Direct Hits, which he no longer writes or researches…….just my two cents…….additionally, if you get his most recent book, he has added a complete section on reading comprehension. it’s great. :)) </p>
<p>I know it sounds old-fashioned but read a lot of books. If you see a new word make a mental note and maybe once in a while check its meeting, but don’t let that slow you down reading. Maybe jot it down on the inside cover and check it later. MY 2DS keep track of their titles for college on readingportfolio.com so they have verified lists for college. One of them has 27 titles confirmed. I promise you even reading a dozen books will improve your vocabulary - not to mention your ability to interview and talk with your college professors. Read. You will stand out. Just turn off social media for even a few weeks.</p>