Is there really anyway to improve SAT Critical Reading scores?!?

charnae91 · 03-12-2008, 10:35 PM

Is there really anyway to improve SAT Critical Reading scores?!? I'm concerned that my 470 in Critical Reading will keep me from getting in UGA, Howard, Oxford of Emory , and GATech. I have a 3.8 GPA with 4 AP classes.hoping to do joint enrollment. plenty of EC's. and 600 in math, 570 in writing. I'm pretty sure I can raise these scores by at least 50 points.That was my first time taking the SaT

Noitaraperp · 03-12-2008, 10:44 PM

yes. i raised my cr score from 500 to 800 from june to march

first of all, you have to be very comfortable with reading...buy a subscription to the new york times or the wall street journal. then you should develop a strategy for efficient critical reading. what i do is that i first read the blurb. then i quickly skim the questions for line references (on lines 53-54, this...)and i appropriately mark up the text with these references. then i read the text from the beginning. when i hit and finish a line reference, if i feel like it, i will go and answer the question. if not, i will continue reading. its sort of an art - you have to feel if you want to stop and answer a question or not. after everything is done, i have just the general questions left (which i circle in the beginning) and that is easy having read the entire passage. for sentence completions, study vocab.

charnae91 · 03-12-2008, 10:46 PM

yea my problem is not voc. like i thought it was.I actually got about 75% of those right.It was Critical Reading. After a while I get tired of reading and I get brain cramps and start to freak out.

kareem_gouda · 03-13-2008, 07:59 AM

To solve CR questions perfectly (I do), you have to do 2 main things:

1. Read anything good (NY Times is great, do that online) EVERY SINGLE DAY. Then read and try to understand at least one REAL SAT passage a day.

2. Learn how to spot a right answer and wrong answer on The SAT. My strategy works wonders. I'll write you the details soon.

So do step 1 till I show how step 2 works.
Good Luck

charnae91 · 03-13-2008, 06:52 PM

Thanks I'll try that

menloparkmom · 03-13-2008, 06:59 PM

read, read, read!

gg0624 · 03-13-2008, 08:20 PM

Try reading some books from the traditional academic canon. There's a reason why you read a lot of early American lit and British lit in school; analyzing them really does sharpen your comprehension skills. If don't have the time or motivation to start a new book, take another look at one of your favorite books from English class and look at it with a critical eye on your own. If you can develop a "strategy" for analyzing literature, you'll be fine on the SAT.

zfox001 · 03-17-2008, 11:53 PM

I have found that having a strategy helps a ton.
I took a practice test and scored a 580 and in less than a month after devising a strategy for the CR section i have raised my scores about 100 points so far.
Try just scanning for the main ideas of the paragraphs and then go straight to the questions. DO NOT READ THE PASSAGE FOR CONTENT!!
just read it well enough to find answers.

cbk1967 · 10-29-2009, 01:00 PM

Did you ever post how step 2 works?

arcadefire1027 · 10-29-2009, 02:44 PM

I jumped from a 690 to an 800. However, this was after a period of two years. The only real difference was that I took some practice tests this time around. Practice is definitely the best way to succeed.

mom2collegekids · 10-29-2009, 03:53 PM

Are you a slow reader? Do you silently "pronounce" words in your head while reading? If so, that slows you down. Practice skimming (absorbing) each word without "silently pronouncing" each word. Use your finger to quickly skim across sentences forcing your eyes across the sentence to prevent yourself from "pronouncing" in your head.

arcadefire1027 · 10-29-2009, 04:12 PM

Agree with mom2collegekids, reading quickly is essential since you can catch a lot of your mistakes if you have time to go back and review your answers.

cairo10 · 10-29-2009, 04:18 PM

i just got a 730

and went up from a 630 in january! i didn't do much, actually. CR was the area i slacked in, just because i hate it so much. But basically i checked out a College board prep book that just has a ton of tests in it, and went off to the races. Practice practice practice. Granted, i crammed it into a month of prep, while school was going on, so my life was pretty stressful. I might retake just to see if i can raise it any higher.

also, learn the vocab its easy points. and read quickly because you actually understand more when you push yourself and don't slow up AT ALL.

monstor344 · 10-29-2009, 05:35 PM

Practice, practice, practice.

Remember that all of the answers are in the passage. Very rarely should you ever make inferences (only when it says "infer" should you ever really do so). For vocab questions i.e. [this word] in line X most nearly means, go with the most literal meaning that applies. DO NOT MAKE INFERENCES.

I haven't taken the real thing as a junior, but I've done several practice exams. I scored a 530/570 on CR in 8th/9th grade respectively. Now I'm realistically (I think

) aiming for an 800 in CR. I am not an avid reader by any stretch; heck, I'm practically not a reader, period. The more you practice, the more likely the reading section will just be able to click for you.