<p>After 2 tests, does anyone think vocab is necesary (I REALLY want an 800)? There is really no other way to getting all of the sc questions right and some passage questions (it also helps you spice up your essay). So, let the debate begin.</p>
<p>I think that vocab is extremely important. Before learning my SAT wordlists, I was getting low600's on my Critical Reading sections. But after I learned them, I was getting low-mid700's. </p>
<p>Of course, I learned about 1000 words. So I guess it depends on how good your everyday vocabulary is. Mine was horrible, so I learned a lot of words.</p>
<p>I'll add a couple comments:</p>
<p>I took the SAT I, when vocab. was crucial. There was no other way around it -- you just had to learn to vocab. Review books always try to circumvent this with stupid little tricks, but seriously, they don't work. Memorize the vocab. I still remember the vocab I stuided, and it helps so, so much -- it's so much easier to read "older," classic books, so much easier to write, and it's just awesome. And later for GRE verbal (yeah, I'm thinking ahead; I'm still a senior), I'll be able to kick serious ass without needing to study that much.</p>
<p>I took a SAT practice test (from the official new book) and that vocabulary was easy. Easier than last time, anyway. IMO. But I still say increase your vocabulary. Because I know that if I didn't know one of those words in the question, then I probably would have gotten it wrong.</p>
<p>Critical reading is easy, or so it seems. There is always a question that always gets me. But for the most part, if its not mentioned in the text, then its NOT THE CORRECT ANSWER!</p>
<p>For the vocab, I don't know. I say do some vocab worksheets and stuff your school might give you (like that vocab workshop book) and then read those review books so you remember them. I really wish I would have studied my vocab more when I was younger. Then I would have no trouble. Infact, I wish I read more in general. Life would be SO MUCH EASIER.</p>
<p>hey, i used teh test masters list for the jan test and managed to pull off a 760 (without the list i wouldve probably scored around 680 or 690). So you can either memorize the vocab or pray that they release another accurate list like they did for the jan test. Either way, the only guaranteed way of scoring high is memorizing vocab.</p>
<p>Where do you get the test masters list for the jan test ?
Thanks
also what other prep books or courses are the best?</p>
<p>You say that you "really want an 800".</p>
<p>Is studying vocab necessary? For me: YES! If I wanted to get an 800, that would be the single most important thing for me to do. I found myself stumped on very few of the actual READING questions -- but there were four sentence completions which I left BLANK beacuse my vocab simply wasn't good enough.</p>
<p>I think I have a pretty decent vocab, but that's not enough for the SAT. . . but then again, how would I know how exactly my vocab compares to yours? No way to tell.</p>
<p>Overall, my opinion is that if you want an 800, you MUST study vocab.</p>
<p>that's very true........</p>
<p>I'm a rising junior, and want to study for SAT kinda thoroughly. As you folks advised, I fully understand the importance of vaocabulary. Then, how can I build my vocabulary? Please post your experience!!!</p>
<p>obviously, it can't hurt</p>
<p>You build your vocabulary best by reading good literature -- classic books, excellent newspapers like the New York Times, Washington Post. Write down and look up words that you don't know. Review your list often. </p>
<p>This is a far better way of learning vocabularly than by learning it through word lists. It truly helps to learn the vocabulary in context.</p>
<p>I'm an avid reader, and I had read hundreds of books (classics and contemporary) and newspaper articles. But I realised I still needed to make a concerted effort towards improving my vocabulary. A year before I took my first test, I started making flashcards for myself and my friends, writing them with my own hand. From that, I learnt that writing is a very powerful tool. I learnt hundreds of words outside the conventional word-lists, which paid-off hugely later on. In the course of this, I went through the whole dictionary about twice, digging out words, just out of curiousity and an eagerness to know. Your dictionary should be on your top 5 list always.</p>
<p>It's very easy to read many classics and still not have the all the vocab you need to know, as it's very easy to want to continue reading without stopping to check the cumbersome dictionary. But, reading helps in the sense that, it significantly improves your ability to infer the meaning of a word from within its context. And that, by far, is one of the most important ingredients for success.</p>
<p>As far as I know, there really is no magic formula for getting an 800. For the old SAT 1, studying vocab can only guarantee hundred percent on the sentence completion and analogies sections. </p>
<p>In other words, to ace the exam, I guess you need an extremely strong reading background. I don't know how much time you have on your hands...well, just make the best of it.</p>
<p>[On the old test, critical reading was my Achilles' heel.]</p>