<p>I have taken the SAT test as a 6th , 7th, and 8th grader. I also have taken SAT practice tests. Unlike most people, I can easily get over a 750 on Verbal and Math (possibly a 800). However my problem is that for the writing section, my weakness is not writing, but rather the grammer. In the grammer tests, I'm not bad, but horrible. I get like 5 right out of a whole section. Is there any books poeple would recommend? Also, would people advise me to take a course at Kaplan / PR, or would people advise me to just hire a tutor and work specifically on grammer. I'm really torn over this problem... please help!</p>
<p>I saw from your profile that you are 15... When I took the PSATs as a sophomore and junior, I found the writing section IMPOSSIBLE - it made me want to cry haha. All the answers looked exactly the same to me (I actually think I got in the 400's in the writing section on the PSATs). But when I took the SATs, they weren't as bad; I actually understood it and some of the answers were so obvious. I took a Kaplan class and I don't think it helped my writing (first practice test, I got a 580 - on the real SATs, I got a 650). My advice is to just pay attention in your English classes at school - that's what helped me tremendously. Also, get a book. Don't waste your parent's money on a class that you only need for writing. Get a Princeton Review book and review all the grammar rules. You have a couple years to improve, don't worry about it.</p>
<p>thanks! but my school doesn't teach grammer... the teachers say it's a waste of time and we have to much to do!!! btw, what book would u recommend?</p>
<p>Practice better grammar and spelling in everything you write. Have someone you admire edit your writings.</p>
<p>Xiggi recommends the Grammatix guide. Personally, I've never used it though. Haven't taken the SATs yet!</p>
<p>I like the book How</a> Not to Write: The Essential Misrules of Grammar by William Safire. It's funny, helpful, and much less expensive than an SAT I prep course. It may be in your public library--other books about English grammar surely are.</p>
<p>Haha, my school doesn't teach it either. You just kind of learn it though as you get older. I learned it when my teacher would correct my papers... It all comes with time, don't worry about it.</p>
<p>safire is a great writer, though some of what he considered taboo is now commonplace (the use of "contact" as both a noun and a verb, for example). but if you're interested in grammar as a subject in itself, he's one of the best. highly recommended. his "fumblerules" is also great, and very brief. then, too, there's the classis strunk and white text.</p>
<p>one thing to be careful of, though, is that the SAT doesn't always reward things that are grammatically correct. if your goal is a higher score, don't just study the actual rules of grammar; study real SAT questions, too.</p>