<p>What is the best book that covers the grammar lessons?</p>
<p>Rocket Review</p>
<p>I completed eight College Board practice tests for the W section (and wrote three practice essays). I did not utilize any outside supplementary materials although Rocket Review seems to be popular for the W section to the same degree that Direct Hits is regarded for the CR section (which I did not utilize either). I suppose I already had a fair sense of proper sentence structure and grammatical conventions before I began preparing for the test.</p>
<p>If I were to offer any advice, I would try Rocket Review (but again, I cannot endorse it since I have personally never used it) and complete and review every College Board practice test available, which is the most effective strategy for guaranteeing any improvement on the SAT.</p>
<p>Yes, find the CB Blue Book and practice.</p>
<p>I too did not use any supplementary materials. Just the eight blue book tests.</p>
<p>I scored a 600 with a 10 essay in December. With studying, I can get 640 or higher. Use the blue book.</p>
<p>Getting an 800 on the writing section takes practice if you are not one of those lucky people who can naturally pick out the errors in sentences by a mere glance. Do alot (not a word) of practice tests, which will help you notice more and more which errors they frequently. If anything ever sounds the slightest bit awkward, it’s probably wrong, unless you can determine that’s it’s one of those obscure rules not followed in regular speech. Also you will notice how the right answer is not only grammatically correct, but also concise. Anything that spunds like it has no error deserves at least 3 more readthroughs to ensure NE. Also, if you find an error in each sentence, you are most likely getting a few incorrect, as I personally have never come across a writing section (practice or real) in which there was fewer than 2 No errors (many have 3 or 4). </p>
<p>Now, you can’t get an 800 in the writing section if you can’t write an essay, or write it well. Two years ago I got a 770 on W, with one omit (0 incorrect) on MC, but a 9 essay. So nce again, practice. Read up what they are looking for in the essay, the nuances (such as how the overall feel is very important), and the examples. Read actual 10-12 essays to gauge your own writing based on them. But don’t forget, you can do all the practice prompts in the world, but if you can’t go in there on test day and answer the prompt they give you…tough. </p>
<p>And remember: it has been said that the essay graders have about as much time to grade your essay as it took you to write the first two sentences.</p>
<p>The essay is also important, scoring will will give you room to make mistakes on the MC. Review this process for writing a better essay, it suggests preparing ideas in advance and a simple, formulaic writing style:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html</a></p>
<p>I am a strong writer and got a 9 my first try without preparation (670 total). The second time, after studying, I got a 12 essay and two wrong on MC, still an 800.</p>
<p>So you used the thread you linked to get a 12 essay?</p>
<p>Reading the thread didn’t get me a 12 essay, but understanding what it was saying and applying it to my writing style did. Being a strong writer to start with helped, but the ideas AcademicHacker posted helped a lot, and I’d suggest reading it to anyone taking the SAT.</p>
<p>Essentially, fill both pages (longer essays almost ALWAYS have top scores) and research possible examples before test day. It’s okay to make up facts (and even books if you can pull it off, I’ve heard some crazy stuff). </p>
<p>As for the MC part of Writing, lots of practice and reading explanations for the right answers are the best ways to improve-- they can only have so many grammar errors to test you on, and after a while you’ll pick up on them.</p>
<p>Write a solid essay (10+) and don’t think about it again.
Memorize the 16 grammar rules, and I mean MEMORIZE. Dedicate 5/6 hours in one sitting if that’s how you work, or an hour a day for a couple of weeks if that’s how you roll.</p>
<p>Then it’s just practice from there, shouldn’t take much.
I speak from experience (80/12)</p>
<p>Just do all practice tests in the BBs (11) and the official online course (10) and the yearly official practice tests. I can glance at a sentence and identify errors without much difficulty so MC is my strength (only 1 wrong in Dec test). To write good essay (I got 11), follow the “How to Write a 12 Essay in Just 10 Days” link above. It’s formulaic but it WORKS. Of course a bit of luck, esp on the essay prompt, is needed but not essential for a good score (I’m an international student)</p>
<p>Those e-mailed College Board Questions of the Day work all right too. Since the grammar stuff is just a matter of getting used to them, work as many practice questions as you can find. I wrote an 8 essay, but still got an 800 with no MC errors.</p>
<p>The only significant practice for Writing I did (for a 150 point increase, from 650 to perfect) was writing a 3 paragraph version of an SAT essay. The main thing was learning what the College Board wanted in its essays and then giving it to them. That section accounts for a large part of the Writing Score, and doing well on it allows for you to miss quite a few on MC.</p>
<p>As for MC, I, like every normal 14 year old girl, greatly enjoyed reading books on English grammar. I read, more than once, June Casagrande’s Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies, which I’ve heard has some errors and thus don’t necessarily recommend, along with some other “classics” like Strunk & White. I once read a book of English grammar while lying on the beach in the Cote d’Azur in Southern France. See, perfectly normal ;). Basically, liking grammar was a huge help.</p>
<p>The essay is pretty learnable, as you can tell from the advice in the posts above mine. However, some more pithy advice: write a lot. And use big words. I’m not saying these are the only things that matter, but they matter a heck of a lot.</p>
<p>About the multiple choice–I used Barron’s 2400’s practice questions. Barron’s 2400 is generally ridiculously difficult when it comes to all sections, so working with it will push you past your prior limits. I think that’s what happened in my case anyway. =)</p>
<p>To be honest, I never learned any grammar rules or anything like that and I got an 80MC. What I did do was read an average of two hours per day since elementary school and take a bunch of practice tests.</p>
<p>I just feel for what I like to call “bumps” in the sentence, thing that just don’t seem right. I’m not always thinking, “hmm, well that looks like non sequitor subjugation with prepositional deficiency and a grade 4 ambiguous verb”.</p>
<p>um i am not actually a 800er, at the same time: i am not native english and never lived in an anglophone country. i read the guide on sparknotes and improved 40 points without studying anything else…from 700 to 740. just because i raised my awareness for the sort of errors the cb puts into the questions.</p>
<p>link: [SAT:</a> Improve SAT Score with SparkNotes: How to Score . . . the Writing Section](<a href=“SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides”>SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides)</p>