<p>I got 800 the first time I took it without a reading list. Just read a lot, do any vocab your school requires and if you take practice tests look up ANY words you don’t know on it (answers or questions) because they will probably show up again.</p>
<p>English is my second language, and I got a 780. Like many of the others here, I don’t recommend vocabulary lists. They consume a LOT of time and, from what I’ve heard, are rarely helpful. Spend the time reading for your literature and history classes.</p>
<p>Hot Words for the SAT. Also, when you are taking practice sections be sure to write down and study any words you aren’t sure of. Reading helps a LOT too, so don’t neglect that.</p>
<p>so according to you ppl, learning vocabs should be my secondary priority if i am to do well in CR; Reading should be my first, right? </p>
<p>But then again WHAT should i read ? Classics ? NYT? New Yorker? And is it a good idea for me to look up words that i dont know while i am reading?</p>
<p>How much time do you have? When are you going to give the exam?</p>
<p>If you have a lot of time, I suggest trying to get into the habit of reading books, good books. Helps you in so many areas of the SAT: literature examples for the essays, quicker and more comprehensive reading skills for the reading section, and of course, the vocabulary. I got 19/19 on vocab just by reading a lot, but you need time to get to the habit.</p>
<p>I suggest reading the New Yorker/ Economist online, and more than looking up the words, try and first understand their meanings through the context of the sentence. Guess the meaning! This will help you develop good guessing skills for words in the sentence completion sections. And if you have the time, try and understand word roots, and prefixes and suffixes. If you want book recommendations, classics are good, but if they bore you, there’s stuff like PG Wodehouse (hilarious, and a goldmine of vocabulary) or Edgar Allan Poe out there, which is both intriguing and it teaches you a lot. Also-- Sparknotes has these online books with simple stories and SAT words meant for SAT vocab prep? Why don’t you check those out?</p>
<p>@meghnasridhar- i am going to take it next year, possibly in october. So i am looking for some long term strategies. the main reason i am focusing on vocabs is that i want to get a 19/19 on SC as well. are the sparknotes ebooks really that helpful?</p>
<p>I would just read a book. It’s really helpful to see the words in context and use google to look up the definition. Although, it might be easier for you to study from a study guide. Those things definitely do not work with me lol.</p>
<p>yeah…i got an 800 on CR but i didn’t really study any vocab words.
i read a lot though…like literature and stuff…so i guess if you could try to expand your vocabulary that way. but memorizing words out of context really doesn’t help that much. </p>
<p>good luck xD</p>
<p>It also helps to just simply read the daily news as you’ll learn a lot of words in context.</p>
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<p>Fringe is absolutely right. I actually underlined every unfamiliar word I’d come across during a practice test and look it up; I think that helped a lot more than memorizing an extremely long list.</p>
<p>Also, for those of you who like to read, I got the dictionary.com app on my ipod touch (you could get any electronic dictionary) and actively looked up definitions as I came across new words. (I learned “supercilious” from Pride and Prejudice!)</p>
<p>@Kafka911: Time magazine works as well. Or, if you’re interested in general global articles, try realclearpolitics.com. That has a great amalgamation of articles from all over, excellent for vocabulary. (as long as you keep looking up words as you see them)
Good luck!</p>
<p>I have another recommendation: subscribe to A Word A Day or Dictionary.com’s word of the day. They have some really nifty new words, and get a new one in your inbox every day. Try and use your word of the day all throughout the day. Find situations for it! That word will get drilled in your head. Excellent vocab builder.</p>
<p>Also, try out word games and crossword puzzles. There are books with SAT puzzles out there! But mostly, I stick to the advice I gave first: read extensively, and practise at understanding the words in context before picking up a dictionary. Words begin to start feeling or sounding right to you even if you don’t remember their meaning. As for which books, find what is right and comfortable for you. I can’t comment on Sparknotes ebooks, I’ve only heard of them and not used them, but I recommend stuff like PG Wodehouse, modern classics, and stuff like BBC’s top 100 books to read before you die, or something.</p>