<p>i have a question,for those of u who got a 600 something on the sat critical reading, how did u do that? how much time did u guys spend on this section everyday. because i know that getting a higher than 600 on reading is really hard for an international student.</p>
<p>For me, it was like a cumulative effort. I’ve been reading English novels since I was a kid and I guess that is why I scored high. I didn’t put in much effort into the actual SAT preparation. Just 6 or 7 practice tests. That’s all.</p>
<p>i didnt do much actually. because english is my first language, i didnt have much trouble. the main problem was that the SAT format was very different compared to my national exams so i had to do several SAT practice paper and surprisingly, it was not as easy as i had thought. i didnt do as well as i had expected because of the lack of practice. i think you need to get use to the styles of the questions and this requires a lot of practice. so start cracking your books i would advice. good luck!</p>
<p>I did memorise 500 words from the barron book- that helped since i didn’t get a single vocab word wrong. Like skunk said- I am really into reading so that helped i guess. As for the passages- i practiced some techniques abt skimming the passage then reading the questions then reading the passage again. I got caught in the trick where you think an answer is correct because of ur interpretation of the passage. I just managed a 700 which i desperately needed to apply to Amherst without Toefl.</p>
<p>i never read a book till my 11th and i still scored a 650.well what i did was the vocab from barrons and approximately 20 papers.</p>
<p>Like skunk said, CR wasn’t very difficult to practice for. I just learnt half the words on Barron’s hitlist and did timed tests.</p>
<p>Like everyone else here is suggesting, you should get the Barrons book. Do as many practice tests you can (from that book and others) and you should eventually get the hang of it. :)</p>
<p>Build your vocab by reading Novels and the words from any SAT book you get, and take practice tests from all the SAT book you find because on every test you’ll build your own strategy. For Critical Reading use any method that you find comfortable i.e. like shreya.iitk said about skimming the passage first or understanding the passage first or any other method you find comfortable. Well I did it like shreya.iitk, skimming first and then peering into the passage according to the questions!</p>
<p>There no better alternative than reading. I was one of those people who practiced a lot but never got over 650. The majority of people who do well on critical reading are either inherently good at English or read a lot. I can’t emphasize more on reading; all those practices are useless if you’re not reading on a daily basis. Fortunately for me, reading’s compulsory because of school work.</p>
<p>English is my first language… recipe for success. ;)</p>
<p>the key is practice, more practice and more more practice… :)</p>
<p>I managed just 500 on my first SAT on October 07. I was not a reader by any sense then. When I got my socre on Oct 25, I literally freaked out. With that score my dream to attend good colleges wud never materialize. So, I started reading sat hitlist, and practiced about 6-7 CR tests…and u know what, I increased my CR score to 620 in 8 days…my next SAT was on Nov 3. So, as u see here, one can certainly raise the CR and SAT score through practice…I managed to remember over 1000 sat words in this 8 days…</p>
<p>So, let me underline the fact again…practice does increase ur SAT score..</p>
<p>@badassmonkey yes, there is contrary to every thing. Many people get good just by practicing whole others who read extensively score bad. Anyway like i told before it’s upto you to score well or bad.
Summing up: read extensively and practice a lot!</p>
<p>^Cannot agree more. By the way, reading Brinkley (APUS textbook) does help, I think.</p>
<p>i got 800.</p>
<p>5 steps to CR Success
- read, reread and read some more and reread books even before you start talking
- read the new yorker (each and every issue that you can lay your hands on)
- read the blue book
- practice practice practice practice practice practice
- eat vocab like mo: mo:s (a type of dish equivalent to the Chinese’s “ugly” dumpling)
P.S. in the mean time do not, by any means, forget the other two sections
but even then you wont know what u will get!!! ;)</p>