<p>I wouldn't say I'm bad at it, but its by far my weakest academic subject period. I haven't taken the SAT yet ( still a junior, taking it in March), but I really want to do well on it (of course). Right now, I'm in the 570-620 range (based on PSAT scores), and I want it in the 650-700 range. What are some good tips (and study books) that will help me? I hope no one tells me "well, you're just more of a math guy. You just have to accept it."</p>
<p>CR is usually everybody’s worst section. To improve, you need months and maybe even years. You can’t read a lot the month before the test and expect to improve-it just won’t happen. If you do have time, read Shakespeare and some classics (e.g. The Scarlett Letter, Jane Eyre, etc.) and WHILE you read, highlight any figurative speech or areas where the author has conveyed TONE or has revealed a THEME. It’s very important to read actively.</p>
<p>I’ve done many practice tests and 2 actual SAT exams and if I could give you just one tip, it would be this:</p>
<p>*Always select the BEST answer. There will be many traps that may “feel” right or “seem” right, but unless you have TEXTUAL EVIDENCE, do not choose it as the best answer. Even the tiniest word in the answer choice that is incorrect will make the entire answer incorrect-in this case, cross it out.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>Ok, months and even years… please. There’s no need to scare the kid.</p>
<p>I am going to suggest something that I did that is completely opposite of what rainbowspinky said. I have never read books except when they are assigned in school. I scored a 530 in reading when I first took it this past March as a freshman. After 3 months of hard work in the summer, I achieved a range of about 0-2 wrongs on the entire CR sections, averaging higher than 780 every time (since the summer, I haven’t done any SAT work and receded a little bit, but that’s ok). Have I ever read Shakespeare or any other classic in my free time? No. Have I ever annotated a book in the even the slightest way? No. </p>
<p>All I did was practice. </p>
<p>Oh and marking the questions before reading the story also helped me.</p>
<p>^No need to be defensive or rude, SandwichGirl. I’m simply giving him MY opinion and suggestions. It’s fine if yours are different than mine, there is no need to attack my suggestions. I’m glad 3 months of practice worked for you. I’m just saying that to get a solid foundation, people need to read actively and they can’t just read everything the night/week before. Reading is an acquired skill and it took YOU 3 months.</p>
<p>Well, I would just recommend learning a lot from your English teacher. See what they know and maybe bring your problems to them. I’m naturally good at CR, so I haven’t had any low scores in that area. The part I had to work on was my math, which I’ve improved from a 560 to 700’s just by doing practice tests over two weeks.</p>
<p>What I think you should do is use BB and once you’re done with a practice test, go through the solutions on collegeboard’s website very carefully and making sure you understand everything. The most important thing is to know why your answer is correct.</p>