<p>I am easily able to score 750+ in the Writing section, and Math I can do well, all I have to be is focused. The problem is with CR. I am about @ 75% based on passage reading, but my vocabulary...well...that's a different story. In fact, this past SAT I got a 430 in CR (it was my first take, and I experimented by...EHRM..answering every question)....but any ideas and how the hell do get this up?</p>
<p>Whoa, that's a big discrepancy. :)</p>
<p>Congratulations on your Writing score.</p>
<p>To be perfectly candid, in nearly four years of teaching exclusively the Writing/CR sections of the SAT (three of those years full-time and overtime), I have never seen a student get a low-400s scores on the CR section because of vocabulary alone. Vocabulary is likely to be only part of your problem. </p>
<p>The best list for low scorers to start with is called the Academic Word List. It's not an SAT prep list because the words are generally easier than most SAT prep lists. It was compiled by a linguist to help non-native speakers prepare for college-level reading. It correlates more highly to the SAT vocabulary than any other resource I've looked at, incuding Barrons, Princeton Review Word Smart, Kaplan Word Power, all the SAT High Frequency lists, etc. etc. (Yes, I did type all those words into my computer by hand; yes, it took hours. I wanted to do a good statistical analysis for once and for all). The reason I expect that not many people use it for test prep is because most of the words are just too easy. However, if you really think you are hitting a 430 mostly because of vocab, I would absolutely read over that list and make sure you know every single one. (You can easily find a copy by googling "Academic Word List.")</p>
<p>After that, I would look at the High-Frequency Word lists from a company like Barrons. . . the words that have really occurred a lot on the SAT in the past.</p>
<p>I have never seen a student with a Writing/CR spread like yours. Usually, to get a score in the 750+ range on the Writing, you have be at least a comfortable reader, someone who completes all his or her school reading and at least occasionally reads for pleasure. But your CR score suggests that's not the case. If you are not a comfortable reader, part of your solution will be to read. If you <em>are</em> a comfortable reader, it's likely that part or all of your problem is that you simply don't think about answer choices like the College Board does. You may be a global, holistic thinker. In that case, you will need to practice a lot. You should also try to break individual answer choices down word by word (try circling the nouns and verbs in each answer choice for a while) and eliminate answer choices looking at them piece by piece, instead of looking at the whole choice all at once. Look for the word or phrase that makes an answer choice wrong instead of looking at all the answer choices as a whole.</p>
<p>In your case, buying at least one session with an experienced, one-on-one SAT tutor might be a good investment because he or she could give you some insight into what's going on. Your numbers suggest that you may have a specific, perhaps easy-to-fix problem with the reading section, and an experienced tutor could help you figure that out.</p>