<p>800 CR and 690 Writing, don’t know if you should be asking me, lol.</p>
<p>For CR, sometimes there’s no way around knowing the vocab. But then I did guess some vocab and got them right. The passage readings, I just go by instinct. First I go through the passage to find the “marked” lines, such as “In line 9…”. I skim the “unmarked” part to get a gist of the passage (always read the blurb). Always read first paragraph, and last paragraph. Make columns and marks to indicate the “marked” lines so you’ll pay attention to them more as you read.</p>
<p>There are a lot of obviously wrong answers in the multiple choice because CB doesn’t want people calling them about “but this answer could be right too!” (lifted this advice straight out of a prep book). Instead of asking yourself what IS the right answer, ask yourself what CAN’T be the answer. Then eliminate those, and even if you have no clue, look at your remaining 1 or 2 choices, and if you’re really not sure, look at the text again. The answer shouldn’t be too elusive. </p>
<p>One word of advice though, never just read 1 answer choice, see an answer that “feels” right, and put it down. Seriously. There might be a “better” answer. Read all choices. Also, you should read those interpretative questions in the context of the whole passage: “What fact, if true, would best support x’s rebuttal?” Put the question in simple terms. What is X trying to say? Use simple language in your head. So what directly supports what x has to say? A lot of skimming ahead of you. I believe this approach got me 800.</p>
<p>Oh yeah. Don’t panic. DON’T PANIC. If you do, you’ll lose it. I know I did once. If something is really unsure, just move on. Time is of the essence. If you really don’t understand something and it’s not the last section, come back to it later (but make sure to do that). If it’s your last passage, take a deep breath, and try again. Always practice active reading, and interact with what you read because that’ll help comprehension. You should be having questions along the way, and really interacting with the author. But don’t let your prejudice get in the way.</p>
<p>And as for voracious readers: Reading a lot does help, but it depends on what you read. Classics will be better for SAT CR, and pop books, not so much. Also, SAT is shallow reading. It’s not meant to be deep. It’s supposed to be done in a time frame. Don’t think too much (this is my problem with CB. Unthinking gets you good scores! What?!). That’ll screw you over.</p>