<p>I took the SAT in March & even after doing all 8 practice tests, it would be a miracle if I got above 700 in reading (got it once in 8 practice tests).</p>
<p>What's the trick? I started off prob better than I ended up...I think I started overthinking the questions.</p>
<p>Anyone in the 650-690 range that went to a 700+, 750+, or even an 800? what did the trick for you?</p>
<p>i got 510 first time..
will tell you how much i improve in 2 weeks..</p>
<p>hey stambliar41, so did u order for the answer key when u took the test? i'm takin the new SAT, too..well, it's kinda hard over here(UK) since we don't reallie have that much infor abt SAT and people don't reallie take SAT as they're going to UK uni over here..</p>
<p>have any trick or stories to tell abt the new SAT u took?</p>
<p>thanks loads!</p>
<p>study vocab... it hella helps for improving verbal score</p>
<p>should we memorize like, lets say, a list of words (5?10?15?) a day, etc.?</p>
<p>What's your problem area? Sentence completions? Words in context? General comprehension? </p>
<p>SC's would be the easiest to fix, as you simply have to know the definitions of a lot of words. Nothing that a little cram session can't fix. Words in context are similar, if a little trickier as you have to read into more than just the word in quotations. As for general comprehension, you have to use process of elimination. There are usually 3 really obviously wrong answers, then 2 potentially right ones. But you have to know which one is the weaker and which one is the stronger. It's not as much knowing the right answer as knowing all the wrong ones. </p>
<p>Do you find yourself running out of time? Sometimes books advise you to read strategically, but if you are a decent reader, you should read the article once before you delve into the questions. It helps to get a sense of the whole article as opposed to little snippets. It's good to cover your bases.</p>
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study vocab... it hella helps for improving verbal score
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<p>I don't know, the new SAT's have de-emphasized the word marathons by eliminated the analogies. All of the words in the SC's have been rather rudimentary compared to some of the ones in the analogy sections of the old SAT. Anybody who reads newspapers and has picked up a few novels should be well-suited to the task.</p>
<p>this is probably good advice for any multiple choice test.. first look at the question without looking at the answers. think to yourself what the answer is if you know it. then if the answer you thought it was isn't there as a choice use process of elimination. if you don't know how to answer the question you can just skip to process of elimination... it's usually easier to find wrong answers than right answers when you're unsure of an answer</p>
<p>Read - more than just for school - something that interests you, but it needs to make you think. That is, read intellectual works (literature, magazines, newspapers) - I prefer science related stuff. I also started reading philosophy after I joined debate; my scores gradually went way up. It just helps you overall - makes you more efficient in terms of time, helps you with vocab, context, critical thinking....</p>
<p>and then just practice, practice and more practice....</p>
<p>I personally don't think there's any easy way to raise verbal scores. Math scores are far easier to fix up.</p>
<p>I find sentence completions to be really easy compared to critical reading. It seems like I have to go back and read something from the passage for every question. I get a lot right, but I'm probably taking too much time. Review books give very different advice. Princeton Review says to read the first sentence of every paragraph (basically skim it...), while The Official Guide says to read the paragraphy thoroughly. I can't figure out what to do...the Official Guide says to improve reading comprehension skills by basically reading a lot...It does work (well I kind of have to read because of AP english and History...like 15 books over the summer : ( ) So basically I agree with LadyinRed; read a lot. lol...</p>
<p>Do more practice reading questions. Try buying a verbal workbook such as Barrons.</p>
<p>The advice given here is good.</p>
<p>Memorizing words isn't going to help much. The best route to take for learning new vocab is to read a lot. You'll come across the common uses of words and you'll know the meaning of common vocab words. Don't forget to look up words you don't know while reading.</p>
<p>Then sentence completions are many times solved by process of elimination if you don't know the words.</p>
<p>For Critical Reading, keep in mind that all the answers are in the passage. If you don't find anything in the passage to back up the answer choice, then look your choice over. Many times if you guess without having proof from the passage, you'll get it wrong.</p>
<p>And most of all, practice and take this practice seriously. If the day you take the test is the first time in a while you take the SAT, then you'll have to take a little while to "get back into the groove."</p>
<p>I can't speak from experience for the SATs (as I've taken them once only), but I can for the PSATs. Sophomore year, I got a 66 on my verbal, and that was a bit of a pleasant surprise. Junior year, I got a 73, and I could've done better, it was certainly within my range. </p>
<p>What changed? I don't know. I didn't do PSAT practice tests all throughout the year. Practice tests are the most effective tools to get you prepared, but you can only get so familiar with the test, and I was thoroughly familiar with it already. The first practice test I took after the sophomore year PSATs yielded something like a 74. </p>
<p>I can't say for sure how that happened, but I did develop my writing skills a lot over the course of sophomore year, in the most peculiar manner. I'm on a free-form roleplaying game called [url=<a href="http://nationstates.net%5DNationstates%5B/url">http://nationstates.net]Nationstates[/url</a>], in which you free-form roleplay about your nation. It's a lot of creative writing and even more reading. I'm not suggesting that you go spend five hours a day playing a game, but work on your reading and writing once you've familiarized yourself with the test. Constantly develop your critical reading skills.</p>