<p>Hi guys. March one was my second take and I took one in October last year.
The score went from 2000 to 2060.</p>
<p>This year, I got..
580 reading
800 math
680 writing 69 mc 8 essay</p>
<p>My reading score DROPPED from 620 to 580 ..</p>
<p>How would I go about and increasing the reading score?</p>
<p>And what does 69 on mc on writing section mean? </p>
<p>Ty</p>
<p>I’ll let someone else answer the writing MC question, but I have some tips for SAT CR.</p>
<p>There are generally two (well, no, there are way more, but let’s just assume there are two major) strategies for approaching the SAT Critical Reading section.</p>
<p>I. Answer questions as you go
The first strategy is the one in which you mark up the text before diving into the questions. Skim through the questions first and underline any line references as quickly as possible. Then being reading the passage and answer questions as you pass the line references. Finally, answer any general questions, including tone, and attitude after finishing the passage.</p>
<p>II. Read first then reread portions and answer
The second involves reading through the passage quickly, but making sure you understand the main idea. This approach is more difficult because you have to be a really avid reader to absorb the passage with a quick read. After finishing the passage, go to any questions that have specific line references and answer them after rereading the relevant parts of the passage. Proceed to answer any remaining questions.</p>
<p>The second strategy is for more advanced, fast readers and generally guarantees a better understanding of the passage because you’re rereading something you already know about.</p>
<p>In any case, be sure never to give up on a passage. I think that’s the single most important part. If you don’t understand a certain aspect; don’t fret, just keep rereading it. Also, it’s important not to try to memorize every aspect of the passage. It is said that people have a short term memory of 7+/-2 (confirmation needed?), and many of these passages throw dozens of little details at you. Fortunately, almost all of these are inconsequential. Just try not to get thrown off by them. Your goal, really, is to take away the most important parts of the passage, like what the author’s intent in writing was, etc. To avoid memorizing little parts of the passage, I suggest being critical of what is said. Have a conversation with the passage.</p>
<p>A 40 point drop sometimes is within the normal range. You might have increased 40 points too. Sometimes you just have a bad day or stumble on a particular passage.</p>
<p>Also a 69 on the MC in writing means you got a score of 69 without the essay. Which is basically like a 690. It’s an estimation of what you would have gotten if you wrote an essay with a certain score, one that they think you would have received based on your grammar questions. Or just think of it as your score without an essay.</p>
<p>As far as reading goes:</p>
<p>Here’s the secret: SAT CR is NOT about analysis or interpretation like you’ve been trained to do in English class. It sucks, but you have to UNTRAIN yourself now for the SAT. If you do what you’ve been trained to do in school, which is to analyze and interpret, you’re going to get stuff wrong on the SAT.</p>
<p>This ain’t English class. This ain’t Ms. Holden’s British Lit class. This is the SAT, which is about finding the answer directly in the passage (not analyzing). It’s a giant open book test.</p>
<p>Here’s another secret: don’t justify your answer, identify the wrong answers.</p>
<p>Looking for the right answer is the WRONG METHOD for the Critical Reading section. Instead, you need to identify which four are wrong and WHY they are wrong. The reason you are debating between two or three choices is because something about each of them feels right; that’s why they’re still in the running. You can easily convince yourself that any one is right (this is called justification). But if you identify what’s WRONG with a choice, it’s game over for that choice. Identify four wrong choices and you’re left with the right answer.</p>
<p>There are 7 main reasons why something is wrong:</p>
<p>1) Not stated in the passage. Duh. The trap here is that some answer choices actually feel really logical and make sense to any smart-thinking student like yourself. But if it doesn’t say it directly in the passage, it’s wrong no matter how much that choice makes sense.</p>
<p>2) Opposite of what’s stated in the passage. Duh again. But they will try to trick you by mentioning something you remember reading about, and then contradicting what the passage said. Even small discrepancies can mess up the whole game and meaning of an answer choice.</p>
<p>3) Too extreme. Good writing is about grey areas, nuances, and subtleties. So the SAT probably isn’t going to make the right answer so black and white. Things like “extremely” or “absolutely” or “undoubtedly” or stuff along those lines are probably wrong. “Always” or “never” are usually bad too. The SAT is also part of the PC (politically correct) police, so controversial stuff probably isn’t right either.</p>
<p>4) Too broad. Good writing is about being specific. So if one of the choices feels too general or vague, it’s probably wrong (unless the question is asking for the main idea). This answer choice might feel true in a general sense, but it’s just too broad.</p>
<p>5) Too narrow. This choice might actually be true and stated in the passage. But it’s not the full reason, so it doesn’t completely answer the question.</p>
<p>6) True, but unrelated. This choice might actually be true again and stated in the passage. Unfortunately, it’s unrelated to the question, so again, it’s wrong. This one is a killer because if you read the entire passage at once, you’ll have all these thoughts about various parts of the passage in your head jumbled up. The SAT loves to ask something about paragraph 3 but have an answer choice reminding you of something you read about in paragraph 5. This is why you reading the passage all at once can be detrimental. </p>
<p>7) Only half true (or partially true). Remember, even if the rest of the choice is perfect, if there’s even ONE word that’s wrong, then the entire choice is wrong.</p>
<p>Note:
The answer choices themselves are not the only things to pay special attention to though. The question itself is quite deserving of your attention. Be wary of key words such as “primarily.” A choice might say “because Bobby was a smart guy.” There might actually be a specific incident in the passage where Bobby did something incredibly stupid like microwaving a metal fork. Many test takers would then say the choice is wrong because Bobby did that one stupid thing. But if the rest of the passage shows how smart Bobby was, then Bobby was “primarily” or “mostly” smart. You can’t cross this choice off as wrong anymore. </p>
<p>Again, don’t justify why something’s right…identify what’s wrong. What I suggest (and this will take a lot longer in the beginning…by like tenfold) is to create a Word document with the following:</p>
<p>A) _____________
B) _____________
C) _____________
D) _____________
E) _____________</p>
<p>Have A, B, C, D, and E for each and every reading passage question. You’re going to need a lot of paper. When you answer a question, write down the reason why the four answers are wrong. Print out the list of wrong answer reasons and refer to it every question. Just leave the right answer’s slot blank.</p>
<p>It’ll end up looking something like this:</p>
<ol>
<li>A) too extreme
B) _____________
C) opposite
D) not stated
E) half true</li>
</ol>
<p>Getting the right answer is good, but it’s not enough. To become a master, you have to know why ALL the other choices are wrong. It’s not hard to get the right answer by looking for it in the easy questions, but my method is going to train you for those tough questions.</p>
<p>Parting thoughts on the right answer: the correct answer should feel right easily and effortlessly. You shouldn’t have to force it to feel right. You shouldn’t have to say, “Well, if I think about it from this angle, I can see how it’d work.” No. If you have to look at it crookedly for it to make sense, it’s probably wrong. </p>
<p>The right answer MUST BE SUPPORTED by the passage itself. That means you must be able to point to a specific word, phrase, or sentence(s) that led you to your answer. Don’t let yourself off the hook with “Oh, I got the overall sense that she was feeling scornful.” Instead, be able to point to a sentence that says, “Those theories are all hogwash. The pioneers of those schools of thoughts knew nothing.”</p>
<p>No matter how attractive or logical an answer choice sounds, if you can’t support it with the contents of the passage, then you can’t pick it.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>