<p>I have 700s in both reading and writing and it feels like i'm stuck in a ditch.
For writing though, it's because I barely know any grammar (hell I don't even know what a participle/gerund/perfect tense/modifier is). I plan to study the Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar and Barron's Writing Workbook this month and I'll see where that gets me.</p>
<p>Now reading on the other hand is still killing me. I have my sentence completions down pretty solidly (only about 1 wrong every two tests). It's just 1-2 questions every long/short comp that leaves me switching between two answers all the time. Now I'm well aware that for every question, there is only ONE RIGHT ANSWER but how do I consistently choose that answer? Is there any technique or mindset that I'm missing?</p>
<p>My main technique is reading the question first and then finding the specified lines without reading the passage. I usually read 1-2 sentences above and below the specified lines to get a better idea of what the passage is about. When it does come down to choosing between two choices, I usually try to play devil's advocate but I always over think it and start finding reasons for why the right answer might be wrong too.</p>
<p>Any tips, books, ideas, stories would be helpful. (any other 700ers feel free to share your problems too)</p>
<p>Writing I primarily researched into the errors that are on the test (i.e. the Sparknotes grammar list), but that lost me points on those 2-3 questions where like, I had no idea how to distinguish the error between when to use “had been” and “was”.</p>
<p>Also idioms are a huge pain because I start panicking over anything that sounds weird to me even though it’s correct ):</p>
<p>You don’t need to know what a gerund/participle/etc. is to do well on writing. I took it twice, getting perfect writing MC scores each time, and I have absolutely no clue what any of those things are. All I really did was sound out each one, then look for the wrong answers and eliminate them. Simple but effective.</p>
<p>That’s it? You really just sounded it out?
What about those questions that sound weird but end up being correct? (or ones that sound correct but end up being wrong)</p>
<p>I have to agree with Jazzed, English is my second language and I just did one month of some strict prep before the exam and got a 780. I have no idea what most errors are called, I can just pin point them as I read the sentences(the SAT won’t be asking what type of error is it). I know people that spend like 80% of their time learning grammar rules and 20% practicing. From personal experience I can say that more emphasis should be placed on practicing and reviewing your errors. At least that’s how I went from -14 to -10 to -7 to -2 and luckily, but unfortunately, -1 on the actual test. I’m not sure if others may disagree, but those are just my two cents.</p>
<p>I think between questions 20 and 27 is where you will see some sentences that sound really weird. I feel as if those are just distractors to weed out the weak test takers. If you truly can’t find an error, don’t second guess yourself.</p>
<p>@kevin can you specifically explain on how you reviewed your errors, I have 6 errors right now but i can’t to get any less wrong, its always 6 or above. Can you go through an example of what you would do if you got a specific problem wrong?</p>
<p>Extra help:
Personally I used this website( go to Google, type in “SAT Habit” and pick the one that says Testive(dot)com). I would say that that and sparknotes helped me close the gap between 650-780. Most, if not all, questions have a video that tell you why the question is wrong. You get 10 free questions a day. Note: the sentences used are really helpful since they are pretty much reworded versions of those found in the Blue Book.</p>
<p>On top of this, I did 40+ writing practice tests. To give you a sense of my struggle, I got a 460 my sophomore SAT and 54 my junior PSAT; 4 months after my PSAT I got the 780 (-1 and 10 E ).
You should have no problem receiving an 800 with continuous and efficient practice :)</p>