<p>Hello fellow CCers,
I needed some advice concerning the SAT. So I am currently a freshman and want to prepare for SAT (and PSAT for next year). Math has always been solid for me since middle school. After some minimal brushing up a couple weeks ago I am able to score 770-800. However, reading is the only thing that is preventing me from getting a overall high score (I will worry about writing later).I am getting scores of 480-520.</p>
<p>After looking at the forums and past threads, I basically started doing some vocab memorization and started reading more novels(specifically classics) for a month. After this, I took a practice test and got 800 Math and 570 reading. Although this was an improvement, I am wondering what i should do to further improve me CR scores to reach 750+. As for vocab, I have finished Barrons 500 Flashcards (pretty good accuracy). I read Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Good Earth, and The Catcher in the Rye (so far). I usually read and do words every day.</p>
<p>I am wondering whether this is an efficient way of studying as I want to be at 750+ level in 3-4 months. Any suggestions? As for CR section, I usually get 5-6 wrong in the Sentence Completion and about 8-12 wrong in Passages.</p>
<p>Sorry for the untidy post.
Please give me suggestions and feedback on what I'm doing wrong/right.
Thanks!
-alphabot </p>
<p>Practice tests!
The vocab study you’re doing sounds great and it’ll definitely help with the sentence completions.
Passages-wise, there’s no other way to learn that other than by doing practice exams and questions. The passages section just tests how well you can understand a short work so get familiar with the type of questions that they might ask and what sort of method works best for you in tackling them. </p>
<p>Thank You for your post, (I was thinking no one would post :’) )</p>
<p>Once I finish reviewing my vocab lists (Barron’s) , I intend to start Direct Hits which will help I a lot I presume. I will look into practice tests, when I take a practice test should I take the CR section only? It was suggested to me to take a section, score it. Then the next day review ALL answers, correct or incorrect is this what you suggest too? Also how often should I take these tests? I am in HS right now with a moderate schedule. Also as far as novel reading are there any strategies I should do while reading such as identifying mood/tone etc.?
-alphabot </p>
<p>practice. If you look hard enough, you can find around 25+ authentic practice tests. Take all of them under realistic conditions. You and me are opposites. I had a low math score and relatively good reading score. I don’t know why but I’ve always been pretty good at CR. I already like reading so when I read a passage I always find them interesting and retain a lot of it. You should work on making sure that when you read you aren’t just moving your eyes. When it comes to selecting answer choices, go with your gut. You should also go out and get yourself a decent vocabulary(great if you already do), knowing roots of words can be an immense help when reading answer choices or doing CR questions. For this, start with Direct Hits 1& 2 and if you have the money then buy yourself the critical reader by erica meltzer(I do not own it. but here writing book is amazing)</p>
<p>Work out a schedule that is best for you. You don’t have to go overboard on the practice for now but something like once a week or even biweekly will help since there’s some time before the actual test.
I can’t say much on the novel reading part because that seemed to help me on the essay writing section only as examples but if, while you read, things like tone or mood become more evident to you consciously then great!
Other than that I still say practice is the way to go. There’s not really any other strategy that’ll work better. </p>
<p>When I take tests, should I take 3-4 CR sections (just like real test) timed and test like or should I take 1 section? Also does anyone know about any reading strategies while reading a book which could correlate to the passage?</p>
<p>Update, after taking a full length practice exam today, I received a score of 2020.
Math: 790 CR: 590 W: 640 Essay: 10
Surprisingly, I didn’t study for writing at all for some reason after reading a bunch of books I was able to tell right sentences from wrong sentences. I still have to work on some vocabulary and time management skills. Which will mostly come from practice.</p>