<p>Alright, so in October, I took the PSAT for the 2nd time.</p>
<p>68 Math, 57 CR, 54 Writing.</p>
<p>I began studying mid-December, and after one practice test, this is what I'm looking at:</p>
<p>71 Math, 58 CR, 74 Writing.</p>
<p>I am extremely thrilled with what I've done w/ Writing, but CR is a problem. Now I haven't done all that much studying CR, but I want to know how can you really study for it? You can learn and practice the rules for Writing, but how can you really "learn" how to critically read?</p>
<p>I’ll be honest with ya.</p>
<p>I’ve been getting 400s on my CR.</p>
<p>Since the break began, was able to crack 540-550. I forced myself to like it. </p>
<p>Hopefully, everything’s a 600+ by January. (Senior last time taking it)</p>
<p>Sentence comp: Vocab vocab vocab. Find online lists and memorize those. Just as important is that literally every time you come across a word that you don’t know you look it up.</p>
<p>Reading comp: Avoid interpretation as much as possible. The answers are always in the text. Also, avoid going deep into the text at first. Initially you should scan it and get an overall gist; then, look at specifics when questions ask you to.</p>
<p>I’ve only raised it 30 points between the two times I took the SAT. But I’ve raised it over 200 points since I was 11. For me the key was reading. A lot. And learning Latin. I got the last 30 points from focusing a bit more. For my friend who wanted to do a quick raise (and who already knew Latin), the path was memorization.</p>
<p>Gotcha, memorization it is!</p>
<p>I finally was able to raise my CR score to 750 by doing all the practice tests from the College Board book and online. I read a number of threads last year about how helpful the Direct Hits books were on the SCs so I got them and they really helped. I agree with monster344 you need to look up any word you don’t know when you are doing the practice tests and practice, practice, practice.</p>
<p>700=>790
Read 20 classics.</p>
<p>hornfrogfan, what direct hits books are you talking about? im horrible with vocab and they sound like theyre helpful</p>
<p>Direct Hits by Larry Krieger. There are 2 volumes- get both. you can order them from amazon. they are great. really helped me!</p>
<p>Reading anything and everything is definitely the best thing you can do. I actually found a “recommended reading” list on College Board’s site - lots of good stuff there, and since it comes from the “source,” you have to think it’s worth your while to read some of them!</p>
<p>[great</a> books - book search, top 100 books](<a href=“Stand Out in High School – BigFuture | College Board”>Stand Out in High School – BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>As for vocabulary, you do have to do it - painful, but necessary. The Direct Hits books are very good, and you will absolutely learn the words forever, which is great. My main criticism is that the number of words is limited, and if you have ample time, you may want to do more. There’s several vocab threads on the forums, so you may want to do a search for more ideas. Personally, I like word-nerd.com for vocab, but there’s tons of things out there. Lots of luck to you!</p>
<p>yah, there’s [5000</a> FREE SAT Vocabulary Words + SAT Test Prep Math Notes](<a href=“SAT Vocabulary: SAT words with Definitions, Parts of Speech, Sentences, Meaning. Also Math Practices”>http://www.freevocabulary.com/) with 5,000 SAT words and freerice.org, which presents you with a word, and then you have to find synonyms for it. The fun thing about Freerice.org is that you donate ten grains of rice with every correct answer.</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></p>
<p>This has worked VERY well for me. For me, the most important thing I try to remember is, there is always a sentence or two in the passage that supports the right answer. I just go back and try to find solid support, no wishy washy. Then there is always a word or two in the wrong choices that make them wrong. It sounds very obvious, but that’s basically all there is to it. </p>
<p>Direct hits is wonderful.</p>
<p>^ I second the above. I used it to go from 680/700 to 800.</p>
<p>The things that were most effective for me, combined:</p>
<ul>
<li>Vocab</li>
<li>Reading books and magazines</li>
<li>Going over some CR sections from the BB from time to time</li>
</ul>
<p>^ Seconded. Vocab is more important than people tend to think, and reading seems like a generic answer but it’s effective. I raised my CR score from a 720 (Jan. SAT) to an 800 (June SAT).
This site helped me immensely: [Fully</a> customized online one-on-one SAT training and tutoring to increase your score by 150 - 300](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■.com/1-on-1]Fully”>http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■.com/1-on-1)
I would recommend publications such as the Economist and reading classics like someone suggested.</p>
<p>Vocab. I made my own flashcards and carried them around with me. (Nerdy, I know.) As for CR, I think my junior year AP English teacher helped a lot… This is what I do on the test: read the passage once, as quickly as you can without completely glossing over it. Then go to the questions and refer back to the passage. I find that if you know the main idea of the passage, then the answers are easier to see. </p>
<p>I raised my CR score from a 740 to an 800. Good luck!</p>
<p>^^ ME TOO! I have little bundles of notecards stored in my backpack…</p>
<p>…yea</p>