Hi, I am a junior in high school now and am planning to take the march sat exam. I have been practicing several tests with maximum 3 mistakes in all sections EXCEPT READING which has 12-13 mistakes always. This makes me land in the 1470-1490 score every single test and it’s really frustrating.
Any idea how to reduce reading mistakes because that’s the only section holding me back It is not like I am not practicing but I need a better way to practice that will ensure less mistakes
If you want a 1550 you would need to get about 3 mistakes on the whole test. I got 5 questions wrong on the whole test (1 in math 3 in reading 1 in writing) and I got a 1540. Of course, curves vary.
Unfortunately, the people who do best in that section have been avid readers their whole lives. They just have a both speed, vocabulary, grammar, etc. all just stowed in their minds from endless reading. You can’t really fix that in a short period. Do your best on the other sections. Follow the tips in your study books. Not much else you can do.
Is there a type of question that you tend to get wrong, or is it random? Are your mistakes due to rushing (and making errors in material that you do understand) or are you lacking some knowledge or skill? Are the mistakes stemming from your conceptual interpretation of a passage, or something else? Grammar? Vocabulary? I think that understanding the pattern and nature of the mistakes would be the only way to address the issue at this point. Some of the study books (and maybe Khan Academy) can help you to identify the problem areas.
OTOH, 1490 is still a fine score, and if it is a true assessment of your skill level going into college, it may help you to find schools that best fits YOU rather than the other way around.
I agree with intparent on this. Perfect scorers on the verbal portion of the SAT tend to not need any studying. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean you can’t improve if you study a lot.
First, practice with the official SAT practice tests and KhanAcademy. Those are by far the best resources. Of course, make sure to thoroughly review the explanations for each problem you miss, and while doing that try to understand the College Board’s general style. Presumably you already did this and it didn’t help.
After that, if you still feel you need to improve maybe try out Erica Meltzer’s “The Critical Reader,” which purportedly offers the “better way to practice” that you’re looking for. I haven’t tried it myself but it’s very well-regarded and many have reported significant score increases because of it.
How many times have you taken the test? I had the same exact scores, then on the third take I studied a little harder and hit over 1500. Sometimes I feel like the passages didn’t click with me, and on the 3rd test they just did. I also recommend practicing reading comprehension by reading old timey documents- those were the ones I struggled with most. Understanding what you are reading is essential and it’s better to get that before you practice answering questions.
It is not like I am not practicing but I need a better way to practice that will ensure less mistakes