Hi Everyone! I have about 3 months till the SAT and I really need help with my critical reading SAT score. I get in the 500 range and I really want to get in the 650+ range. Do you think I can get a 650+ from a 500 in 3 months with these 3 books? What other things can I do to increase my critical reading score? Thanks for the help!
I’ve never read it, but tons of people vouch for The Critical Reader. If you’re serious about your score, and you need significant improvement, I would definitely get it. Other things you can do to increase your CR score: Read, read, read. Subscribe to an RSS feed of New York Times, read as much quality literature as you can per day, and try to actively learn the meaning(s) of words you see each day. Lifelong readers generally do well on CR; if you’re not one, be one for a few months. Devour any and every bit of literature you see, and dissect it in your mind. If you’re in the 500 range, take a few practice tests, and absolutely make sure you know what errors you are making. 3 months is plenty of time to go from 500 to 650, if you dedicate yourself to it. I repeat, however, you MUST take it seriously. Read all the time. You cannot get a serious score improvement if you do things half-heartedly. Another tip that I’ve found pretty useful: convince yourself you’re interested in SAT CR passages, even if you’re not actually interested in them, as your brain analyses and remembers “interesting” things better than those that are merely “dumb CR passages”. As for vocab, I highly recommend writing down (or putting in a Quizlet set) every word you’re unfamiliar with that you come across. Sporadically define words you don’t know, and review them quickly. Best of luck, I know you can significantly improve within 3 months!
Thank you for your great advice @AverageFail ! Do you think I should buy Direct Hits?
Anyone think The Critical Reader is useful and how?
Bump
@ZanZan , I would also highly recommend Direct Hits. Although if money is a true concern, and you have a decent grasp on your vocabulary, you have a lot more to gain by buying the second volume. The first likely has words that you’re already familiar with, but nonetheless is useful for the few dozen words it contains that you may not know. Also, Direct Hits presents words in very familiar contexts, often making stories with the words that revolve around memorable stories from history or from pop culture.
Thank you @AverageFail I already have the first book so I will get the second one. Also I guess I will just keep on doing reading sections and reviewing my answers. I hope my score gets where I want it to be soon! Anyone else have other suggestions or tips?
With all the hundreds of practice SAT tests available online why bother with anyone else’s version of the test?
Erica’s book does not have any other versions of the Test but she uses the Blue Book questions as examples and gives explanations and some techniques. Also has sort of sorted them by type of questions.
It is a good book and helpful but I think the answers and explanations provided by the CB on their web site regarding all the BB practice tests are sufficient. I don’t think there is a real need but having said that, lets say by getting that book and reading her explanations and technique’s you get a couple of extra questions right, is it worth it? I think for most students it should be.
If you are a student who is at the edge or borderline of your target score, anything that can give you an extra 60 points in CR or another section is good, whether its this book or Direct Hits or Black Book or a membership at a Maths site.
A small difference in score can make 1000’s of dollars worth of difference in Financial Aid and admission to a need aware college. Don’t let an extra $100 dollars in books cost stop you, if you or your parents can afford it. If not your local library and internet has tons of free resources, not to mention some awesome pinned threads here in this forum.
I bought the book last month, and to be honest, the book has great examples and explanations that are divided into sections. I would give the book 9/10. (Read every word and page)
@HarvestMoon1 - Based on other posts, I know you only mean well and I’m sorry to be so blunt but your advice above is very poor and could really really hurt its audience.
You obviously are completely unfamiliar with the book in question so your advice doesn’t apply. If you’re interested post #8 above provides a good summary of EM’s book.
Also, WRT your advice on practice tests, its pretty close to a consensus here that only official college board tests should be used as practice tests.