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pyang88 · 03-08-2007, 12:05 AM

750 on the CR section..

I took a course over the summer and then took a bunch of practice tests. I found Princeton Review, Kaplan, and the CB's blue book to be the closest to the real test. Taking practice tests was the most effective prep for me - I took practice tests and then reviewed every single question - including the ones I got right - to familiarize myself with different types of questions, "trap" asnwers, etc. But some others prefer reading books/news articles/magazines or not studying at all.

As far as strategy goes...

sentence completions - I think a lot of it is vocab. If u know the vocab, then u should be able to breeze through them very quickly - no more than 30 sec per question.

paragraph reading - these passages are short, and it's easier to keep track of the details. I usually read all passages and answered the questions. I'd spend about 4-5 minutes on a set of 2 short passages.

long reading - this was the hardest part for me. First, I read the blurb or introductory information. Then I went straight to the first detail question (one with reference to a specific line, key word, etc.), and went back to read relevant information in the passage. The detail questions are listed in order, so u can keep going back to the passage to read relevant information and end up reading the whole passage. Then I started answering the broad questions that deal with the passage's general idea, main theme, etc.

My usual timing was:

25 minutes, 24 questions (8 SC, 4 Paragraph reading, and 12 long reading) section - 4 minutes SC, 5 minutes paragraph, 16 minutes long reading
25 minutes, 24 questions (5 SC, 4 Paragraph reading, and 15 long reading) section - 3 minutes SC, 5 minutes paragraph, 17 minutes long reading (usually ran out of time on this section)
20 minutes, 19 questions (6 SC and 13 long reading) section - 3 minutes SC, 17 minutes long reading

03-08-2007, 12:05 AM	#2
pyang88 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 144	750 on the CR section.. I took a course over the summer and then took a bunch of practice tests. I found Princeton Review, Kaplan, and the CB's blue book to be the closest to the real test. Taking practice tests was the most effective prep for me - I took practice tests and then reviewed every single question - including the ones I got right - to familiarize myself with different types of questions, "trap" asnwers, etc. But some others prefer reading books/news articles/magazines or not studying at all. As far as strategy goes... sentence completions - I think a lot of it is vocab. If u know the vocab, then u should be able to breeze through them very quickly - no more than 30 sec per question. paragraph reading - these passages are short, and it's easier to keep track of the details. I usually read all passages and answered the questions. I'd spend about 4-5 minutes on a set of 2 short passages. long reading - this was the hardest part for me. First, I read the blurb or introductory information. Then I went straight to the first detail question (one with reference to a specific line, key word, etc.), and went back to read relevant information in the passage. The detail questions are listed in order, so u can keep going back to the passage to read relevant information and end up reading the whole passage. Then I started answering the broad questions that deal with the passage's general idea, main theme, etc. My usual timing was: 25 minutes, 24 questions (8 SC, 4 Paragraph reading, and 12 long reading) section - 4 minutes SC, 5 minutes paragraph, 16 minutes long reading 25 minutes, 24 questions (5 SC, 4 Paragraph reading, and 15 long reading) section - 3 minutes SC, 5 minutes paragraph, 17 minutes long reading (usually ran out of time on this section) 20 minutes, 19 questions (6 SC and 13 long reading) section - 3 minutes SC, 17 minutes long reading Last edited by pyang88; 03-08-2007 at 12:11 AM.
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