<p>Any more secrets?</p>
<p>I got an 800 on CR my first time taking it with virtually no prep. Here are my tips and tricks. (I also posted this on another thread a few days ago, so sorry if any of you have read it before. If anybody wants tips on SAT Writing, which I also got an 800 on my first time, then that can be seperate). </p>
<ol>
<li>Take AP English courses if you can. I was actually in IB English, but we did a little AP practice every now and then and the reading comprehension questions are vaguely similar.</li>
<li>Don't read for the sole purpose of learning SAT vocab words. That doesn't help at all, obviously according to the person who talked about reading Time magazine and it not helping. I have always read because I like to read, for example right now in addition to my reading 3 novels for AP English IV I'm reading books on my own.</li>
<li>DON'T TRY TO PREPARE TOO MUCH. If I had tried to prepare, I would have done worse, and I know this. Knowing all of the 'proven tips and tricks' only makes you second-guess yourself while you're taking the actual test. I didn't do a prep course or buy a single prep book, I just did the college board free SAT question of the day online, which helps with the vocabulary portion. I NEVER LOOKED AT TIPS/TRICKS for how to guess or which questions to skip, and I am so glad that I didn't. </li>
<li>Don't work yourself up while actually taking the test. If you panic when you come across a word you don't know and spend 5 minutes (assuming that you finish the rest of the section and come back, or something) trying to figure out the answer, wracking your brain for definitions you knew that you knew at one point, trying to pick the answer that isn't the most obvious but isn't completely ridiculous,.....
It's not a good idea. Unlike the SAT I Math, you are unlikely to make as many "stupid mistakes" on the CR portion. Relax, don't spend too much time on each question, and if you don't know something then you don't know it. Guess (if you can narrow it down) or leave it blank...it's better than torturing yourself until the time is up and then being tense and frustrated for the other sections of the test.</li>
<li>For the passage-based comprehension questions, actually READ the passage. I've only taken the SAT once (well...I took it in 7th grade, but...I was 12 and that went over realllllll well <em>1090 wooo</em>), but at least on the PSAT I often found myself skimming through the passage because it was so deathly dull and then resorting to searching for the answers in the passage as I read the questions. I know this is the most obvious advice possible, but put some effort into reading the passages and understanding them. Imagine it's English class or the AP English test and you'll be asked to write an essay concerning the passages after you read them.</li>
<li>Don't read the passage-based comprehension questions before you start reading the passage. Many people recommend this, but I don't think that it helps at all. If you read the questions and have a knowledge of what they are asking, you SUBCONSCIOUSLY FOCUS ON ONLY THAT INFORMATION while reading the passage. This can really hurt you in questions about theme, style, and overall purpose, since you have been zeroing in on certain aspects while you were reading the first time.</li>
<li>The best practice/prep book (well, I didn't buy a prep book so I guess I wouldn't know) in my opinion is the free Collegeboard SAT question of the day that gets sent to you via email. It's free, it takes 10 seconds to do, and it can help you with some of the vocab questions. Do this and don't stress out and it being inadequate prep, it worked fine for me and I wasn't even very diligent about it. </li>
<li><strong>MY MOST IMPORTANT POINT</strong>
Don't be too dictionary-hungry. When you are reading and you come across a word you don't know, silly as it may sound, DON'T LOOK IT UP. Instead, try to rely on context clues (I know this sounds completely futile, but hear me out). Think about it: if you look up a word in the dictionary and read its definition, copy its definition, transfer it to a flashcard, whatever, then chances are in 3 weeks you aren't going to remember it unless you are very diligent or study a lot. However, if you come across that word again (in another book, in the same book, in a textbook), you will remember that YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS, YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANT BEFORE, AND YOU STILL DON'T. That will force you to rely on context clues again. Eventually you will learn how to do this well (I do this in Spanish, and it works wonders) and it will help you on the SAT CR.</li>
</ol>
<p>If anybody has any specific questions, feel free to PM me or just add onto this thread.</p>
<p>j07,i agree absolutely with ur opinion,for i have the similiar way.
my secrets
remembering enormous voca doesnt help boost ur score,but reading too much without pratising also makes u clumsy on the testday so i've to keep pratising stedily,memory the strange voca that i encounter on the multichoice section,and read all the book i like.
the other secrets like what j07 has posted</p>
<p>rofl my woffle</p>
<p>Is it just me, or are the same threads popping up over and over again? Wouldnt it be nice if you guys would just search up past posts? No offense to anyone, but seriously, everytime that I look here, People ask the same questions with the same answers.</p>
<p>soprollah and jason: I too love the Economist! My dad has a subscription that we read every week.</p>
<p>I also think that it helped me immensely in getting my 800. It is very high level reading and the key to it is that you're reading tough articles all the time, whereas with books you might alternate between easy books and hard ones.</p>
<p>Is the NYU times at the same reading level as The Economist?</p>
<p>I wouldn't really call the Economist that "high level" of reading. Obviously, the topics they write about are "high level" but I think the genious of the Economist is that they simplify these "high level" issues to a level where everyone can understand. The only articles that I would call tough are the actual articles on very indepth topics of the economy such as an article on Mergers and Acquisitions in China or the rising interest rates due to an overheating economy in the UK simply because it's a topic that I'm not so familiiar with.</p>
<p>I totally agree with Young_one. I have been reading the economist for about a year and I love it.</p>
<p>nineteen, yeah I totally enjoy it. I stop at borders to read the magazine, cause its right by my workplace.</p>
<p>the new yorker is decent stuff, too.</p>
<p>The New Yorker. It has almost no pictures. Entire magazine is filled with dense articles and essays, on a variety of topics (art, science, literature, politics, philosophy), very helpful.</p>
<p>Though I don't think that one should become obsessed with vocabulary, it definitely helps alot. I'm horrible at that part, but really good at the passage-based questions. Sometimes (not often) on the practice tests I miss alomst half of the sentence completion questions, ans maybe one or two passage based questions. I overthink them all, and sometimes decide one answer is too obvious, and go with a word I don't know....</p>
<p>For those of you who have gotten in the ~800 range, do you have any advice for reading the passages? Do you underline/highlight/annotate?</p>
<p>The key to an 800 in CR is not vocabulary. Just read magazines, editorials, and philisophical novels.</p>
<p>If you are really having trouble with the SC, read the sentence slowly and carefully to see what is missing.</p>