I am trying to increase my SAT Reading point. I have been studying for the SAT for over 6 months now, and my reading section didn’t really improve much. Every time I solve a practice test, I make 10-12 mistakes. Always. My writing is not bad, I make from 1-4 mistakes. But I want my reading section mistakes to decrease to 4/5 mistakes. How can I do that? I never managed to improve it. English is not my native language so I think that’s one of the reasons. But people in my school who have similar English levels are way better than me in the Reading section. I need help because I will take the August SAT but my reading section is still not improving. I solved every Khan Academy reading test and every collegeboard practice test.
Outside of direct test prep, the other thing you can do (if you don’t already) is read a lot. It doesn’t matter too much what type of reading you do, but the act of reading itself should improve your reading comprehension. I’d check out the kinds of books that are assigned for AP English classes. If you need ideas, talk to a librarian or look for summer reading assignments on various high school websites. Selections can include fiction, nonfiction, sci-fi, magazines. As long as it’s written at a higher level and with some complexity, it will help. You could set a goal of reading at least one book per week over the summer.
@greengiraffe we recently covered this topic in a College Confidential article, which you can find here:https://insights.collegeconfidential.com/how-to-improve-reading-comprehension
You said you solved every Khan Academy reading test and every Collegeboard reading test. Here’s something important to remember: it isn’t how many problems you do; it’s understanding why you got the problems you got wrong, wrong, and why you got the problems right, right. Remember, reviewing what you do is the most important part. Flying through practice tests won’t help.
Try going back and practicing some passages you have done again and really learn why you got it wrong. Was there something that you overlooked? Then, maybe you need to be more attentive when reading that type of question.
Other than that, I would suggest underlining. It really helps in focusing your attention as well as knowing where to go back during the passage.
Echoing what someone else said, reading a lot is incredibly important to the SAT; you likely can improve your reading comprehension and understand a reading on different levels. Furthermore, you definitely need to internalize a key concept - every wrong answer is 100% wrong and there is a single absolute reason that an answer is correct. Make sure that you are using evidence directly from the text; often times, answers will be directly in the reading.