Wait. So how does one study vocabulary for the SAT?

<p>I'm sure this is asked a bunch. However, I want to do this right and I want to be sure of it. I took a practice CR section from the blue wrong and missed a few questions primarily because of the big words that were used, and not just in the sentence completion portion. I took this as a sign to actually study vocabulary for the SAT. But if I am going to study vocabulary, I want to make sure I get every vocabulary related question correctly. How do I study SAT vocabulary so that I master every vocabulary related question? And will the vocabulary that I study cover the vocab that is used in some of the passage-based multiple choice?</p>

<p>@organic1
I’m probably not the best person to get feedback from, considering I got a 660 due to 7 sentence completion , and 3 passage-based incorrect, but I can definitely give you advice now because I am also studying to master the vocab section. If I had mastered the vocab, I would have been looking at 770 CR, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. Anyway, after a review of the answers that I have got wrong, I noticed that I would have gotten only three vocab wrong if I studied all of direct hits and essential 500. So the best advice I can give you if you are cramming for the March SAT, or even the May SAT, make sure you study all of direct hits, both Direct Hits I and Direct Hits II. Some of the words overlap in The Essential 500, but be sure to study it as well! Although they are created by the same person, I can guarantee that some do not overlap and both will be helpful resources. Note that you are not only studying this vocab to perform well on the Sentence completion portion, but also on some passage-based questions. If you really want to hammer down SAT Vocab, which is what I am going to try to do, study PR’s vocab words. I would say study Barron’s 3500, but I feel that’s too much. It all depends on how much time you want to spend memorizing. </p>

<p>tbh, Barrons 3500 is kinda useless. 3500 words, and only 19 (?) will show up on the SAT day. Instead, I would recommend memorizing concentrated lists of words that have shown up on previous SAT’s and those that are most likely to show up on future SAT’s. In addition, try to use these words actively in everyday language so that you don’t just have a definition, but also an action or event that helps you remember the word.</p>

<p>I’d recommend DirectHits, played a huge part in my CR score for the Jan SAT.</p>

<p>I have a REALLY important question. I bought Barron’s SAT vocab flashcards and it seems to be helpful. But I also have Insider’s Essential Guide to SAT CR and Vocabs (Basically Essential 500 (600 in this book) + CR chapters). That seems much more accurate than the Barron’s 500 vocabs even though a few words overlapped as I started to study…I only like the Barron’s cards because they are premade flashcards…</p>

<p>So I am taking the SAT in March (2nd time), I don’t have much time and I am still on number 250 vocab out of 600 and I haven’t even touched the CR chapters…should I just abandon the flashcards?</p>

<p>PLEASE ANSWER!</p>

<p>@ThePariah how many are you memorizing per day?</p>

<p>25 per day for the flash cards (sometimes 50)
But then that interferes my studying with the essentials book…that’s why I need to decide now.
I’m already at 250 with the flashcards and 250 in the book (despite not remembering a lot of them) </p>

<p>Will understanding prefixes and suffixes (majorly) aid in understanding formidable vocabulary on the critical reading portion of the SAT and help raise one’s score? I am willing to expand my vocabulary; I’m just curious if the extra work would be worth it.</p>

<p>P.S. Critical Reading is my worst section.</p>

<p>Somewhat…</p>

<p>What should be obvious is that no one can give you a manageable list of words that will reliably appear on the next SAT. The best anyone can do is to study the very public lists of words that have appeared on many tests in the past. You can construct a list yourself by going through past SAT threads here on CC or simply buy one of Larry’s books (he builds his lists from administered tests with emphasis given to words that frequently pop up on non-QAS sittings). </p>

<p>Read the dictionary.</p>

<p>Thank you for the helpful insight, Bouncer.</p>

<p>Flashcards are a great tool. Quizlet (something like this <a href=“http://quizlet.com/47571/info”>http://quizlet.com/47571/info&lt;/a&gt;) offers some traditional flashcard help and some games. Also, I found this Excel tool to be helpful. <a href=“http://www.vbaexceltutorial.com/virtual-flashcards/”>http://www.vbaexceltutorial.com/virtual-flashcards/&lt;/a&gt; It’s better than quizlet because you can make and customize your own lists of vocab words. Hope this helps!</p>

<p>After memorising all the SAT vocabulary in any SAT preparation textbook you can find, read a vast variety of books whether in literature or science and make sure you make the AED (Advanced English Dictionary) your greatest friend during this period of preparation…I bet you, you will be unhappy if you get a 770… </p>

<p>Though I can’t confirm that I’ve aced every single vocabulary question asked on the two SATs I’ve taken so far, I’ve yet to encounter a vocabulary question where I discovered an unknown word.</p>

<p>I memorized around 3000 words, I’d say, from August 2013 to January 2014.</p>

<p>Yes, you can memorize a whole bunch within the span of a few weeks, but the issue is retaining the information. Make it a point to keep studying the words you’ve memorized on a daily basis. Write them on sticky notes on your door, or use digital sticky notes on Windows/Mac, or apps like Eidectic, or make flashcards on a site like Quizlet so you can access them anywhere, anytime.</p>

<p>That’s the only way I know to get the SAT vocabulary down. It’s just brute memorization of all the words.</p>

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>Is there any chance to get the vocab words that was tested in recent tests and old tests,which didn’t have QAS?</p>

<p>Is there any google docs left from the tests in Jan 2014 that would tell me the sat words at that time?</p>