<p>Hey guys I have been looking at this site for a while and finally signed up. Im not a dumb kid, I am getting an average 720 on the math section but cant break 550 in the verbal. I want to get a better grade on that section for myself and my parents who are on my jock, but mostly for me.
I have taken many practice sats and i am never improving. I also do vocab words at times in my spare time. Im just asking for some advice from people who improved on the verbal section.
If you're wondering i want to get 600 on verbal and 750 on math.
Thanks.</p>
<p>I started off crappy in CR (mid-400’s) and improved to the low 600’s by just memorizing vocab. Make sure you read the passages slowly and try to retain enough information to answer the questions. Vocabulary is a huge portion of the questions, it comes up in the sentence-completions and the passage-based questions so make sure you sit yourself down and know your words.</p>
<p>Joey,
Try this approach to the reading passages:
Always read the passages first. On the first read through the passages, focus on reading for main ideas. Find the main idea for each paragraph, underline it, then move on. When you have done this for every paragraph, move to the questions. Answer the big picture questions first. Then move to the detail questions, working chronologically through the passage. When you do the detail questions, make sure you look back at the referenced line numbers (and the lines above and below). This should help you work methodically through the reading passages. And, keep working on the vocab sections. This should help with the sentence completion questions!
I hope this is helpful.</p>
<p>JoeyBay,</p>
<p>I was in a very similar situation to yours. On my first practice tests, I never broke 600; I consistently scored in the 500 range. I ended up scoring 590 on the January '09 SAT. </p>
<p>When I began studying for the SAT again, somehow it just dawned on me that every single answer can be found within the passage. Quite simply, do not choose an answer if you cannot directly support it with evidence within the text. I disagree with the strategy outlined by fasttrack236; maybe it may work for others, but I certainly would not be able to work like that. What I do is basically the opposite. Remember that the questions follow the logic of the passage. I usually ignore the first question to start, because it’s usually a “general” question. I skip to the first line citation question. I read the question, and I begin reading the passage up to that line (and usually a bit further) until I can answer that question. I then move on to the next question, and continue reading from where I left off. I continue this until I have read the whole passage. I then answer that first “general” question, which always seems to be quite easy once I’ve answered all the other questions. Also, utilizing this strategy eliminates the need to read the passage more than once, so it helps a great deal with time.</p>
<p>Using this strategy, I was able to improve my CR to a 790 in the January '10 SAT. But when it comes down to it, improvement comes from practicing and reviewing how and why you miss every question you miss.</p>
<p>How does one score that low on CR? Are you missing sentence completions or like passaged based stuff? CR has always came easy to me, but I got a 590 on the last SAT math :(</p>
<p>honestly, I am freaking out. I have the SAT in about to months and my score is about 1700. ( from the Kaplan practice tests that I have taken) I am so scared. I want to go to pre med, so Im looking for about a 1900!!!</p>
<p>dude i was in the exact position now can consistently score atleast a 620 </p>
<p>this is what I did: read questions first and dont look at the answer choices. Look at the specific lines the question lists and go back and answer with the evidence found there and makeup your own answer and see which one of the choices matches yours.</p>
<p>Thanks guys I am going to try to complete a couple of sections each way and see which way i do better at. I also read another thread about the verbal which gave me some tips.</p>
<p>Also do you recommend doing a bunch of vocab words or try focusing more on the passages. I do very well on the vocab in text.</p>
<p>Right now i get about 11/19(give or take 1 or 2) on the sentence completion, idk what that equates to but i figure it is around a 550ish. Also my the way i do the passages is by reading one paragraph at a time and underline the main idea. Then i look at the questions and see if one pertains to the paragraph i just read. If not i answer go to the next paragraph and do the same. Then i finally do the questions that were about the whole passage. Can you tell me how this strategy sounds.</p>
<p>Thanks agian.</p>
<p>If you need a really good strategy go to the featured discussions at the top where all the threads are, and there’s a great strategy from a guy who got an 800 on the CR with it. I was constantly getting scores similar to yours and then on my next practice test I got a 700. Try it, it’s amazing. I plan on reviewing it before I go take the test on 3/13.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/750399-how-attack-sat-critical-reading-section-effectively.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/750399-how-attack-sat-critical-reading-section-effectively.html</a>
there’s the actual thread, just click on it.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks matt that was a great help.</p>
<p>Not a problem, just a click or two. :)</p>