<p>@314jason sucks, doesn’t it? But it seems to be easier when I treat every question like a small passage question, and when I get to the global questions, I skim through and take notes on the paragraphs that I might not have gone through yet. I’m still not sure if this is an excellent method, but this saturday I’m taking a practice sat, and I’ll tell you how it goes. Sorry for the late post, I’m new to this forum thing…</p>
<p>I meant 2012 edition</p>
<p>Great guide and congrats on your amazing improvement Noitaraperp! What is your approach to the double passage questions?</p>
<p>Noitaraperp:
Thanks a ton. I’ve been in the high 500s and I hope to reach 700, or more if possible.
I really couldn’t find anything better. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Oh yeah, what about the double passage questions?</p>
<p>This method actually helped me. I went from missing 3-4 questions on each section to missing 1-2 per section and the critical reading section is the hardest for me.</p>
<p>@Noitaraperp
Thanks a lot, man. That was really helpful. I keep getting 700+s on the other two sections. CR was my biggest problem. I hope that’s gonna change now!</p>
<p>Thanks a lot I shot from low 600s to high 600s on my first few CR tests after using this. I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>Thanks OP!! I improved my scores (though not dramatically) in a day! XD</p>
<p>i get your method eventhough i don’t make notes but my problem is always with the general question:tone, meaning, purpose::the options look all the sam::what to do then??</p>
<p>^ Prove that each answer choice is wrong through the passage until you’re left with one or two reasonable choices left, then utilize your intuition and make an educated guess.</p>
<p>Good method since it helps break the passages into smaller manageable chunks. Although this is good i havent had any results. Ive done a lot of sat critical reading passages n hvent been improving, constantlyive been reviewing trying to find out the evidence supporting the right answer n ive been understanding it but i feel hopeless like i will nvr improve. Sorry to poor out my views on cr but i was wondering if u can help me find out my problem and why im not improving.</p>
<p>This method is wonderful… although I’ve heard similar advice before, I tried to follow a sequence like this for each long passage:</p>
<p>1) Read the blurb
2) Draw sidebars for ALL line references
3) Read paragraph-by-paragraph, stopping to answer relevant questions after reading any paragraph(s) with line references
4) Answer general questions at the end, referring back to passage as needed</p>
<p>I took the October 2011 SAT, so scores haven’t come out yet, but I certainly felt much less frustrated going through the new passages than I would have had I read through each passage without stopping at intervals.</p>
<p>TO EVERYONE: Use this method, practice with it, and make sure to use STEP 2 THE MOST. It is inevitably the most important piece of advice you can get. It is the best of the best, the only thing you need. Oh, and of course both volumes of Direct Hits.</p>
<p>I’m going to try out your method in a minute considering that I’m extremely perplexed at how polarized my scores are right now. I’m just a freshman, but so far I’ve taken like 3 practice writing tests and 1 critical reading test. My writing score was 680 at first, which made me angry considering I felt that all of the questions were extremely ambiguous. But then I looked up all of the questions I got wrong and I suddenly felt super confident. I took the test again, expecting a perfect score… And got another 680. Then I took it yet again out of pure anger and suddenly I had an 800, and I now feel 100% confident in the writing section.</p>
<p>However, in the reading section, I took it only once because I hate critical reading tests of all kinds… And I felt extremely confident once again but scored a depressing 630. I got all the sentence completion correct so apparently I’m an idiot when it comes to the passages. I’ll try your method, and hopefully hit 700.</p>
<p>I took all 3 CR sections for Test 1 in the BB. I got a raw score of 49 last time which is a 630, and this time I got an extremely dismal and further depressing 620 with a raw score of 48/67. I used the strategies shown in noita’s first post, but I guess they weren’t as pertinent since I wasn’t taking the test timed, though I did try to move quickly. 5/15 questions I missed this time were vocab. I think I’m going to get the BB explained book, because about half of the extended reasoning questions I missed are so ambiguous! I hate it! I’m a perfectionist and I am most displeased hahah. Some of the ones I got wrong I was about to punch a hole through the book because I maintain that my answer is at least as good as college board’s :D. Friggin critical reasoning… I hate how it seems like it’s going to be quite hard to improve my lackluster extended reasoning skills since that portion of the test is entirely subjective. At least the math is objective, and the writing is almost entirely objective if you know what the criteria are.</p>
<p>I first read the blurb. </p>
<p>Then the topic sent of each paragraph, if long I read the last sentence too.</p>
<p>Then I would go to the question and read it. I would restate the question. </p>
<p>Then I would go to the passage and read the line reference with the 5 lines up and down. </p>
<p>Then I would answer the question in my own words, if impossible I would sum up what’s going on.</p>
<p>Then I would look for the answer similar to mine and take choices out based on, extreme news and wrong detail, wrong words, etc.</p>
<p>I get like a 600 b/c I just started to do this .</p>
<p>I need your help and advise on what I should do?
should I follow your method or mine?
How can optimize my performance?</p>
<p>Help PLEASE!!! I got like 6 weeks left to get 750+ in CR…</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Can you please send me your revised document as I could not find it on eHow? If you can, please email to me. I can send my email id</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I made a 750 (4 questions incorrect) with no studying at all, on my first try… I can’t really give you a full strategy lesson, since I have no strategy, other than to say that… </p>
<p>You shouldn’t leave any questions blank as long as one answer even if you have no clue; if you have no clue, and one answer so much as SOUNDS better than the others, put it. </p>
<p>And to tell you do NOT read the passage until you NEED to read it. Most questions tell you the line number of the piece they’re asking about, so just forget reading the passage. Look at the question, jump to the line number, and answer the question. Only when you get to a question asking you about mood, tone, or purpose, do you need to read the passage. Saves a lot of time, prevents a lot of uncertainty(:</p>
<p>Also, I know you’ve heard this before, but READ A LOT on your own! On weekdays I read at least 100 pages a day (during school, when I’m not busy) sometimes as many as 400 (reading outside of school as well), and I made a 750 without any studying, other than taking one practice test (which I made a 720 on), so I’d definitely say that just reading helps. </p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>I took the PSATs this year and I got a 212
Math: 80
Writing: 76
Critical Reading: 56 </p>
<p>I know my writing/math will be 800 by the time I get into Junior year, but will my reading score also get to an 800??? What are the chances??? I worry a lot because my friend, who is also a freshman, got a 233. (Math: 80, Writing: 80, Critical Reading: 73) I did significantly worse.</p>