Why do I suck at Critical Reading?

Test Preparation
1

This is my score breakdown:
Critical Reading: 530
Math: 650
Writing: 640
Essay: 9
Composite: 1820

I feel like my reading score should be consistent with my math and writing scores, which would make my composite score around 1950. I really want to get accepted to UF, but that stupid reading portion of the test always screws me up. :frowning:

Any advice? Thanks

2

look u notrairprep’s forum… it’s fantastic for CR

3

I feel you, cause I’ve been there.
My suggestion is read, read, read! First become comfortable with reading. Get Times magazine, read a newspaper or an article online. Try to find the articles/ passages that look similar to the ones that pop up in SAT tests.

Also, if you get all of the fill in the blank (the first part of CR sections) right then that’s automatic 400 points. So try to memorize the words that you don’t know already or check out books/flashcards/etc that help you in memorizing vocab.

What helped my CR score to soar from low 600s to high 700s…concentration.
Important: Don’t let your mind wander away. Get your mind rolling in the passage and the passage ALONE!!
Try to focus on the main idea and what the author is trying to say.
Oh, and I read that it helps to read the blur first and looove the passage before you even know it/ don’t like the topic.

Hope that helps. Just try different tactics in conquering CR sections.
I know that you’ll eventually find YOUR way cause I’ve found my way.

Don’t give up, my friend!

4

Probably because you don’t read very much.

5

I feel like the CR section is the most random part of the test. My scores are pretty even – I have 690s in M and CR and a 700 in Writing. I have a friend who got a 740 in M on his first shot (two wrong) and got a 480 in CR.

6
  1. Critical reading is stupid. Understanding an author's tone and stuff is so useless.
  2. Overtime, I realized my mind would wander a lot like a person above said. Focusing completely, at least for me, was hard to do for reading but is necessary. That alone brought my score up a lot.