<p>D has been using Xiggi's method...seems to be stuck on 4 error/omits each V and M for the last 5 tests. She is becoming disgruntled. Working for 1500 (M/V). Any advice for improving when you are over 720?</p>
<p>^^^^^ same here!! (refers to neoprototypeazn's post)</p>
<p>xiggi, please post strategies on the critical reading as well as the writing section soon.</p>
<p>thanks.</p>
<p>this was something I mentioned in another post that was asking about CR passages that deal with irony or sarcasm. I hope this is helpful and I'm curious to hear what Xiggi thinks. I do pretty well on the CR but that doesn't mean what I do would necessarily help others. Here's the post:</p>
<p>this question about irony is a good one. Not getting the irony is a common pitfall on the CR, especially for those whose CR scores hover around 600. some of the harder questions (and they seem more frequent on the new SAT) are those written "tongue-in-cheek." And usually the college board doesn't come out and say "what was ironic about lines xxx?" Rather it's often part of a tough inference or tone or author's intent question. Another CB favorite is to have a long string of rhetorical questions or ideas in the midst of a reading passage. It is easy to forget or not notice that the author really didn't agree with those ideas but instead was "setting up a straw man" to knock down.</p>
<p>An example of what I'm talking about would be the long paired passages about dogs that were in the last CR section of the first new SAT practice test that was released last fall and used to be dowloadable from CB. If you don't get that the author was really being sarcastic in most of the passage, you'll get a ton of questions wrong. I try to always ask myself as I'm reading a dense passage: "whose voice is this right now?" and "which side of the argument is being defended and how and by whom?"</p>
<p>The nice thing about these passages is that once you do spot the irony and understand it, the questions seem really easy and one answer choice usually jumps out as the only possible answer.</p>
<p>To spot irony (and any other intents of the authors), is it necessary to read the entire passage? Or is it possible to pick up on it by reading specific citations in the passage?</p>
<p>I've been using the method of 'skimming' the passage and looking at cited lines instead of reading the entire passage. It worked to improve my score initially, but now I'm stuck. What can I do? I think I have just recently encountered a passage that was nearly impossible for me to understand (it seemed much more difficult than any of the passages in the blue book).</p>
<p>Help!!</p>
<p>Tsky, I have the same problem. Using Xiggi method, I have come to a stagnant and its quite frustrating. This is when I bought Rocket Review and Grammatix and we'll see if they will help!</p>
<p>Amazing forum. I've never seen such in depth questions and answers in an online forum - wow.</p>
<p>A few tools I recently discovered, that I'd love to share are <a href="http://www.SATMathPro.com%5B/url%5D">www.SATMathPro.com</a> which has free "Sat-level" math questions and video answers. The video answers seem very complete, but I wonder to what extent, exactly, "SAT-level" means "SAT". I.e. is any algebra questions an SAT question? Or are there certain types of algebra questions that the SAT typically employs?</p>
<p>Next, I've recently discovered Flocabulary, <a href="http://www.flocabulary.com%5B/url%5D">www.flocabulary.com</a>. Apparently a rap band puts SAT vocabulary words into their songs. I was incredulous, but a few of the lyrics caught my eye:</p>
<p>"we'd go out with friends and Carlos was obsequious,
submissive, crawling on his hands and knees for us..."</p>
<p>You can decide for yourself. I'm not exactly sure how effective this technique would be, but it certainly caught my eye.</p>
<p>I'm the publisher/creator of <a href="http://www.SATMathPro.com%5B/url%5D">www.SATMathPro.com</a> and wanted to thank you for suggesting my site and would like to try to answer your questions.</p>
<p>The questions and videos were inspired by the test prep classes I've been teaching for about ten years now. When you read and solve TCB math questions enough times, certain patterns and similarities emerge. Not only do the questions fall into specific categories but the five answer choices seem to be generated by a "scientific method" of sorts. To create the first set of problems in each category (more are coming soon), I chose 5 questions that appeared on past SATs most frequently. For example, the Algebra section has a question dealing with absolute value, a word problem in which a variable replaces a number value, a simplification/factoring problem, and a solve for "this" in terms of "that" problem. While these questions do not encompass everything that can be asked on the SAT, they do represent frequently asked questions. Equally important, I adhered to the answer generating formula used by TCB. Any student who works through all the problem sets and watches the video explanations should do very well.</p>
<p>Hope that clears things up. Thanks again for the recommendation.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answer. I'm glad there's a 'scientific process' of sorts. I wonder if all SAT math products do that type of research. I guess that's one reason the College Board 'real' tests are so popular.</p>
<p>I don't think test prep companies are very careful about the questions they include. After a while, you become proficient at spotting the poor imitations. Some of the publishing giants have test prep books out on the market that contain questions that you won't see on the SAT. Unfortunately, students don't know that. The best advice, which I've seen on this board many times, is to use the College Board book for practice tests. The Barron's SAT math book is a good choice for students in need of organized practice.</p>
<p>MC Escher of Flocabulary fame is a good friend of mine. He writes the lyrics and does a good job of defining the words within the songs. I know my vocabulary has definitely improved!</p>
<p>huh, I guess it's a small world after all!</p>
<p>I read several messages and still sort of confused...
I'm currently using Kaplan and Princeton Review books for New SAT... are these books proven to be effective?</p>
<p>I found studyhall.com to be quite practical, easy to use and they provide solutions to the College Board Real SATs. It is much better than the name books, Grammatix, etc... since it focuses on real SAT questions. It has solid strategies and is much more professional than Grammatix. Besides, the price is right!</p>
<p>how much is studyhall? Do they grade essays?</p>
<p>
I found studyhall.com to be quite practical, easy to use and they provide solutions to the College Board Real SATs. It is much better than the name books, Grammatix, etc... since it focuses on real SAT questions. It has solid strategies and is much more professional than Grammatix. Besides, the price is right!</p>
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</p>
<p>Are you kidding me?The solutions are superficial,almost none.More professional?Haha,I agree on that it is online,but does that mean professionalism?.There are no strategies at all,but there is a novella to help you with your vocabulary.Besides,the grammatical notes are worth the money.After all,$10/year is not a bad price.</p>
<p>Is testmasters's pretty good? they have solutions to the blue book and they supposedly grade essays?</p>
<p>solutions:yes
essay grading:no
goodness:remarkable,I heard :D</p>
<p>So what are some GOOD services that grade essays?</p>
<p>Thanks Xiggi for posting your method. Great advice!</p>
<p>What score did you get on the SAT?</p>
<p>Xiggi would not reveal that.. check the forum, others have asked</p>
<p>Oh what a meek and modest spirit.</p>