<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>