Hello everyone, I am going to be taking my 1st SAT test in January and I have been stressing over the SAT a lot. My Math score and Writing score from practice tests are fine, but when it comes to the Critical Reading, I struggle so much. I always find myself not finishing one passage at the end of the 65 minutes so I miss typically around 15-20 questions in total )-:. Does anyone have any tips or strategies for a slow reader like me? I want to at least get a subscore of 300. Also quick question but for the Writing section, should i skim the passage because typically I do not and just skip to the parts where the questions are.
Skipping the Writing Parts can be dangerous because many style questions require an understanding of other parts of the passage.
Regarding the Reading, do you mean that you get 15-20 wrong or that you fail to complete that many questions? There are different strategies depending on how you are performing.I find the biggest hurdle for slow readers to get over is the desire to complete the whole test. This leads to rushing which leads to careless mistakes. There are are no extra points for having read the whole Reading section.
For slow readers, I generally encourage them to work on their speed, but to also identify their weakest passage(s). That is, do you really struggle with the Literature Passage or perhaps the Global Conversation? If so, leave that passage to the end and really focus on the the passage types you find easier to ensure that you gain as many points as possible on those passages. Then be strategic with your least successful passage. Answer detail questions (the ones with line references) first by just reading the paragraph that the line reference is in. Any questions you are not going to have time to answer should get a random guess (Use a consistent letter- All As or Cs) because you probably will get a couple correct accidentally.
**This strategy will NOT get you a perfect score, but if you use your time strategically and answer 36-40 questions correctly, you will be in the 300s for Reading.