I am struggling with the SSAT Verbal and Reading. Please provide me materials, resources and tips on how to ameliorate my scores. Thanks
CrackSSAT.com has a ton of practice tests for both verbal and reading, as well as a list of useful synonyms and tips for answering questions in each section. Quizlet also has numerous lists of vocabulary that you can study from if you just search up SSAT verbal. When you officially sign up to take the test on the SSAT website, they offer a few full practice tests and section-specific tests you can take online. 99 Percentile Prep also has a list of 1200 SSAT vocabulary words for studying use. Most importantly though, read as much as possible from a wide variety of genres; it’s definitely the most fun and interesting way to improve reading comprehension and vocabulary :).
For tips when you are actually taking the test: On the vocabulary section, first and foremost if you are unsure about a word or analogy, mark the question and come back to it after finishing the other questions you are able to do. Sometimes, similar words may appear in a latter question that can help you associate with a previous word that you may not know. That leads into my next tip: try to associate words you are unsure about with other words that you know that may have similar roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Usually that will help you eliminate enough answer choices to make a solid decision on one of them. On the reading comprehension section, again, skip over the questions you don’t know and come back to them. Staring at the same question for five minutes will waste your precious time, and you probably still won’t be able to figure out the answer. Make sure to fully read what the question is asking and try to think about it in a few different ways while looking at context clues in the passage. Put yourself in the mind of the author of the passage or even the SSAT creators (it worked for me lol), and think about how they would answer the question while including your own thoughts as well. Try to find the most logical and simplest answer to the question and trust your gut.
If you are going to study, don’t cram the few nights before the test; spread your studying out at least a month before, so that you aren’t over-stressed when test day comes.
Good luck!
I’m laughing right now ameliorate was one of my vocab words!
Thank you wonderful people
for me it’s just that you have to read a lot in general. i usually get ~99% for my reading comp scores and stuff but when i am busy and read less it drops to around 90-95%. so that could be helpful. just read anything at all that interests you, that can include magazines and newspapers
@harvard2025 that’s a really good piece of advice that I can also pass on to my daughter-- thank you!