Reading speed

Test Preparation
1

<p>Hey guys,
so.. it looks like this is my first post on the forum! :) After a great deal of reading through all the useful info, I finally decided to take part in the discussions. Before I get to the point, though, let me tell you something about myself and my plans for the future:</p>

<p>Currently, I am a rising sophomore (although I would be a rising junior in terms of age if it was not for the deferral of elementary school due to health issues) and am certainly planning on applying for a US university when the time comes - and when I am lucky enough, it will be one of the Ivies... But we will see... </p>

<p>Now to the main purpose of this thread. As I was kind of bored today, I decided to give the Full Practice SAT Test on the College Board website a try, just to see the format of the test and familiarize myself with it a bit. For a non-native who has not spend a single minute preparing for the actual thing yet, I consider my 1650 a fairly good result... But that is not important now. The problem I encountered when working on the tasks was the reading part when you are given a couple of excerpts to work with. I just feel I am spending too much time actually READING it, focusing excessively on the content. And then, in the end, there is not as much time as I would like to have to answer the related questions... :'( Yes, it may be that the speed increases once I try it again, having a better clue what to expect... But still... </p>

<p>Would you care to share any ideas on how to effectively manage the reading, not waste much time but still catch the gist of it? </p>

<p>Thanks! :)</p>

2

<p>Even though I’m pretty bad at reading (670 compared to 800 on Math and Writing on the SAT I’ve taken), I know you should not be trying to just catch the gist of the story. Reading speed and comprehension will come with practice. You should try to read when you have time so you can get more used to absorbing material. Also, you’re only a rising sophomore, so your score will improve with time. I got a 194 on the PSAT in 10th grade and a 2270 in my Junior year (hoping to improve to 2330+ in October). What did you get on each section of the SAT when you took it?</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the answer! :slight_smile: To the reading - even though I am a non-native, I study at an international school with all lessons being taught in English, so I spend a great amount of time reading not only books… But when doing the test, I just cannot push myself to a greater speed, I am afraid I could miss something important etc. Maybe this may be caused by the fact this was the very first time I took it, but still. The same applies when I read scientifical books where the things you read are far more important than passages in novels. I am just concentrating too much. Another problem I noticed on the on-line test was that I do not feel so comfortable reading long texts on an LCD…</p>

<p>The results of the PT (an ashamed grimace…): CR: 520, W: 650, M: 470 (did not have a calculator, so I tried to compute all the equations myself - and I feel we have not even done some of the stuff yet).</p>

<p>What do you think about it all? How should I continue? :slight_smile: My dream is to be hitting the 2200 area by this time next year, so let’s hope!</p>

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<p>I also made this mistake when I first started taking practice tests. I love reading books and I have a habit of making sure that I am comprehending everything that I read perfectly and for this reason I sometimes re-read things and/or read very slow. Like you, I have quickly figured out that on standardized tests, it is not the time to really delve deeply into the passage but rather to skim for important areas of the text and use those to answer the questions. I read as fast as I can while vaguely understanding what the passage is trying to get across and I usually underline important words that I see (names, years, big words, specific locations, for example). I also take note of parts of the passage that have lots of information clustered into a few lines; when I see this, I usually circle the lines and do not read them. I only go back to the lines if they need to be read in order to answer a question that is asked. This eliminates reading time and the confusion/intimidation that may result from being hit with so much complex information. So if you start reading a few lines and realize that you have no idea what any of that means, don’t try to comprehend it unless you have to. Just circle it and go on. I got a 34 on ACT Reading by doing this (about a 760 equivalent for SAT). The key is just retaining the info that needs to be retained, and sifting out the rest.</p>

<p>Good luck and post back if you have more questions. I’d be happy to answer.</p>

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<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&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>Thank you so much guys for all the advice! :slight_smile: As I was reading through it, I actually realized I had been making almost every mistake described - reading the whole passage (and yes, I was not able to recall the beginning of it when finishing the last sentence) and only then trying to answer the questions, regularly scrolling back up in the on-line test to check the correctness. </p>

<p>In hindsight, I feel like the biggest drawback of the on-line testing is the inability to take notes, highlight important parts and the need of scrolling - you do not see everything you would like to see. Thus, next time, I am about to do it all in writing. This should give me both more comfort and a better clue what my actual score would look like as the essay generally takes more time to write in hand than on a PC… :)</p>

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<p>mrcrazyOG, let me first say that I hope you reach your goal of 2200 and have a shot at the Ivies :slight_smile: By asking for guidance and planning early on, it sounds like you’re on the right track to your goal. It’s now just a matter of whether you can get there in a year. I’m going to share an anecdote about myself in the hopes that it might help you. It may or it may not - everyone is different.</p>

<p>When I took the SAT for the first time, my scores were good, but not Ivy-league good. I focused on improving my math score, since that was my weakest area, and critical reading my strongest. When I took the SAT for the second and last time, my math score improved, but my CR score shot up to 800. I think the reason I did so well on the CR section was precisely because I was NOT stressing about it as much as the math section. I also had the advantages of (a) being a native speaker, (b) being a compulsive reader - I will read literally anything, anywhere, anytime, and you can pry my reading material from my cold dead hands, (c) being a stickler for grammar, and (d) having a really fast reading speed. These are all skills and/or obnoxious personality traits that take years to build up :wink: but don’t worry, you still have time. </p>

<p>The big takeaway from my anecdote is: reading is good. The best tip that I can give you is to read. Lots. If you don’t yet read for pleasure (and I truly hope that’s not the case), then find books - in English - that look interesting, and start. If you already read for pleasure, read more, and read things that you normally might not read (i.e. if you read nothing but science fiction, start reading memoirs, or historical fiction). Reading a large variety of works will introduce you to a variety of writing styles, genres, etc., which you will then be able to more easily recognize and analyze on the test. Furthermore, in my experience, the most interesting, enlightening, horizon-expanding books are never on the required reading list (some exceptions of course). I also second what some other posters have said, which is to NOT read the entire passage from start to finish, as that will just waste time. My strategy was to look at the questions first, alternately read/skim the passage, and then answer the questions.</p>

<p>I hope this helps, and good luck with everything! :)</p>