<p>So I have a question. I am on my way to my junior SAT and I have 2 months. Probably, this will be my last SAT because I will apply as ED and I will take SAT II's during my serior year. As of now, I have memorized both of Direct Hits volumes. However, I expected my CR score to change drammatically, but it didn't, probably because I am not a native. With no doubts, "Direct Hits" vocabulary has improved my CR performance, especially on sentence completion questions. Simultaneously, I can hardly do passage based questions. </p>
<p>A couple of days ago, I found an interesting advice online (can't remember where exactly), and that advice claimed that there is no way to get a good score on CR without Barron's 3500 list. I was very upset with my CR scores, so I adhered that suggestion. Even though I have had memorized about 30% of Barron's 3500 by now, my scores are even worse. This is terrible. I have 2 months, what do you want me to do as to enhance my CR? More precisely, should I continue my Barron's 3500 studies? Or is it better to dedicate my time and effords to reading? If yes, what books? </p>
<p>What problems do I have with passage based reading? The answer is simple: I don't understand about half of words and that's why I can't answer the questions correctly. Honestly, I do need solid a 550-600 range. As to find a way out from this situation, what I should do? Had I known that Barron's list is useless I wouldn't waste my time learning it. Am I wrong? </p>
<p>Replying to ur thread! Um, I got a 800 CR with no studying so I’m probably not the best person for advice. But I have to say, don’t memorize vocab words. theres no point. Memorizes derivations of words, like the common roots of words, and get a “feel” of the words. Usually, just by knowing if a word has a positive or negative tone, you will get the question right.</p>
<p>Memorizing 3000 or so words is pointless. I would say memorizing Direct hits is slightly beneficial ( taking practice tests I would say it helped me answer A few questions). So if your having trouble with the passage based reading just keep practicing. What’s the problem? Understanding the passage? The questions ?</p>
<p>If you dont understand half the words in the passage maybe you need to read more, to become more fluent with english vocabulary. Just practice doing SAT’s and reading the passages, and hopefully you’ll begin to pick up on words you didnt know. Before I took my SAT ,I always had my dictionary (itouch :P) next to me, and I would look up a word immediately if I had any doubts of its definition. That helped me a lot more than memorizing a hit list.</p>
<p>Memorizing any vocabulary for the SAT is a massive waste of time. Only a few words come up on each test, and vocab questions are only worth a few points. Most of the words you memorize will not be useful.</p>
<p>Plus, even if you learn a word, you may forget it when it comes to the test. On top of that, you might not even have had the words that show up on the test on the list you memorized.</p>
<p>As mentioned above, understanding word construction is far more useful than memorizing words.</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p>If you know all of the suffixes and prefixes (which are pretty quick and easy to learn), you’ll be able to use them with any roots you know (or can guess based on other words you know that use them) to understand pretty much any words with those roots.</p>
<p>Thus, memorizing one root could give you 10 or 15 words, so you’re getting far more for your time spent studying.</p>
<p>That said, foregoing the vocabulary points and guessing your way through them is also an extremely viable option unless you’re seeking a perfect score. All you need to do is know 1 word to eliminate one choice, making it worth a guess.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Don’t waste time on vocab questions.</p>
<p>^^Based on personal experiences, I’d disagree with RedSeven. The reason that the SAT’s are so widely accepted as a universal indicator of ability is its validity (i.e. its standardization). The fact that the scores need to essentially be the same if a person took 3 different forms within 3 days means that the tests cannot vary greatly in between months. It’s no secret that Direct Hits is so widely praised on CC–they compile a list of the words that have most often appeared on the CR sections (that, consequently, are very likely to show up again). I’d personally thank DH for getting me an 800 on the CR section.</p>
<p>As for the prefix/suffix approach, I’d be wary of it. Some of the words on the CR section are pretty weird and cannot always be traced to a specific root/prefix/suffix. You may be able to get most of the questions right using that method, but you’d need some luck not to miss any SC questions without looking at some word lists (i.e. DH).</p>
<p>As I mentioned before, I have already memorized both of D.H volumes. Although I concur that vocabulary is pointless, I think that the best way out of my situation is to review Barron’s 3500 list and write only important words. To show how bad my situation is I will tell my scores on practice tests:
Math: 720-770
WR: 680-720
CR 350-450
It sounds crazy but it is like this. As for WR, I have memorized all concepts in Silverturtle’s guide (first-second line in a forum threads list) and that helps/helped/will help me a BIG time.
I am strong at math so I miss only 2-3 questions on it.
Now CR:
I don’t understand 50% of vocabulary used in passages
I can’t even get all sentence completions correct. Let’s get straight:
there are 19 sentence completion and 8 questions related to the short-passage based reading. In total it makes 27 questions. This means that if I master those 27 questions, then I will be able to get a 500.
Don’t forget the fact that I am not native and I am not in the international school. </p>
<p>I’m an international student from Scandinavia. Thus I first started learning English at the age of 10. I haven’t studied intensively or anything - just read a bit through my adolescence.</p>
<p>As preparation for the SAT I, of course, did a lot of critical reading sections. For my first SAT test - I memorized all the words in Direct Hits Vol. 1 & 2. I got a 680. Can’t remember how much it helped me. I only memorized the two volumes just before the test, so not sure if I<em>really</em> learned them. </p>
<p>For my second test, (a month later) I got an 800. (2 missed SC). But I wouldn’t have missed only 2 on sentence completion if I hadn’t studied Direct Hits, that’s for sure. So anyone who says it’s pointless is ridiculous. I would never have gotten an 800 without studying vocab in DH 1 & 2.</p>
<p>I refused to continue my Barron’s 3500 studies–too many words. I am back to DH and Sparknotes 1000.
As for CR, I need at least high-500’s and low 600’s. Today I also tried some passage-based reading and I don’t know why, but I feel like it won’t cause problems in my practice tests.</p>
<p>That statement is true, but only because few things we do are pointless. Every second we spend working on the SAT or reading a book is helpful, and thus not pointless. </p>
<p>The real issue is about effectiveness. For starters, few people have unlimited time to review lists of words. Then, one should be aware that lists of words lack the context, and very often lack the secondary and tertiary meanings of words. In the end, atrociously long list of words a la Barrons are just that … atrocious. Shorter lists of words that attempt to add some context are better, but still only slightly better than simply reading past tests. There is NOTHING magical about lists of words; they all based on the principle of culling past tests for inclusion. </p>
<p>Despite the occasional reports of the “greatness” of this list versus this list on CC, the results are predictably abysmal. Most words that are used to show the statistical “hits” are words that should have been known by the average test-taker, especially one that had the time to “study” words. Many of the so-called “hits” are easy and common, and the fact that they were included in a level 3, 4, or 5 questions means little to nothing. </p>
<p>Is there a bottom line? Yes, a good knowledge of “words” is important on the verbal SAT and it does help to have a strong vocabulary. However, this knowledge is a LOT less important than possessing proper techniques, the capacity to concentrate, and a reasonable amount of reasoning aptitude.</p>
<p>Without the last three elements, no amount of slaving over asinine lists will help earn a high score.</p>