<p>I'm a Junior who's about to take the SAT for the first time in June. I did really bad on the PSAT with a 164, but that is with no prep at all. 65 Math, 50 Critical Reading, and 49 in Writing. I'm aiming for a 2100 on the test, and I'm willing to overdose on prep books if I have too. So I have about 3 months to prepare. I'm not worried about Math or Writing its just critical reading. I don't know how to exactly bring it up. How can I boost my score in CR? I have many prep books, all Barrons Workbooks, All Kaplan books, Gruber Book, and the Blue Book. Is practice and strategies in these books all I need to bring up CR? I'm also reading a few books during this time such as Brave New Word (Aldous Huxley) and Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) on my own time just to improve my reading skills. Will this work for a 700+ score in critical reading? Thanks CC</p>
<p>bump please</p>
<p>The advise I hear is that, read alot of magazines, books, etc. It seems hard to read, so with that familiarize your self with the critical reading of the SAT"s why don't you go to "Barnes n' Nobles" and take all your prep books and read them slowly, then read them fast. I guess the best way to do CR is to read 3-4lines above the line and under the line they want you to do. But my advice may not work. So.</p>
<p>Outline key points in the passages while you read.</p>
<p>Study study study vocabulary words.</p>
<p>If your test prep book gives answer explanations, read the explanations for the questions you get wrong VERY THOROUGHLY.</p>
<p>I know you must have completed a whole heap of practice books, and so did I, and I was having a similar problem. And it was frustrating like no other when my other friends, who didn't even open a single book, got higher scores than me.</p>
<p>Moral of the story: don't get too caught up in the nifty "tricks" and "strategies" and forget to actually READ. </p>
<p>There has to be a reason why people who take SATs for the first time can get 700s. So try a section or two without doing any sort of strategy; just get into the passage and see where it takes you.</p>
<p>Good luck.
P.S. I had two months to prepare, and I went over the 700 hump in the end. Don't despair!</p>