<p>Got an 800 on CR. I’ve always read a lot, and that was no doubt the single most important factor in my score. However, learning the definitions of words also helped, and is something I found worthwhile. Usually I’d write down words I didn’t know, or understood but couldn’t define exactly, that I came across when reading. At some later point I’d look them up in the dictionary, write down the definition, and stick the note on a wall somewhere. These little notes (basically an index card with a definition on it) would rotate as I found new words. Once I learned a word I’d make an effort to use it as well. </p>
<p>I still do this. Having a good vocabulary is extremely useful - and not just for the SAT! One of the easiest ways to appear educated is to speak and write with a varied, precise language, and that requires knowing a lot of different words.</p>
<p>HS newspapers and admissions essays are replete with examples of kids using words in an almost-but-not-quite correct way, because they scanned the thesaurus for a “big” word to make an impression. Sometimes the results are amusing.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you not just memorize a single short definition. If you don’t know the word, look it up in a good dictionary, and look at all the definitions, as well as examples. If you don’t do this, you will fail to understand how the word is actually used in English speech and writing, and this could hurt you later when you try to use it in college writing. For example, if you were to look up the word “staunch” you would find the following short definition: “firm or steadfast in principle.” But in fact, you will almost never hear or see this word except as an adjective modifying a political party or position, and generally a conservative one, such as “staunch Republican.” You wouldn’t write “staunch environmentalist,” for example. Words have flavors of meaning, and you won’t get this from a short definition.</p>
<p>no wonder that’s my bad section. i just guess, go with what i know, use my brief knowledge of prefixes and suffixes, etc. knowing spanish a little actually helped a lot. i guess it helped me learn like latin roots and stuff.</p>
<p>lol to everyone with all these crazy methods of getting good scores.</p>
<p>the most important thing IMO is to get collegeboard’s blue book and memorize all the words from every test in there. CB rotates the words around a lot (i remember i had 2 words on my test that were from the blue book), so this way youll probably be able to boost your “effective” vocabulary in the shortest amount of time.</p>
<p>other then that, flashcards would be your best bet.</p>
<p>you dont need to be an avid reader to do well on CR. ill say it now, though…if you cant read the passage quickly while understanding and retaining most of the information, then youll have a hard time.</p>
<p>i’m more of a math/science guy, so CR was naturally hard for me. i started with a 590 diagnostic. the thing that really helped me was the the CB blue book. by analyzing those passages and finding out why i got each answer wrong (since there are no answer explanations, i had to figure out on my own), my score jumped dramatically. got an 800 on the real thing.</p>
<p>Hmm, worked for me. I studied several lists of common SAT words (over 1,000 in total), and I got every sentence completion question correct on the last SAT I took.</p>
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<p>Very few? I actually knew every sentence completion answer, and didn’t need to guess.</p>
<p>Just to reiterate what I had written previously: Although a long history of being an avid reader is probably the best way to score well on CR, I am proof that specifically studying SAT word lists is an effective way to raise your score… It was enough for me to score in the mid-700s/get into Penn, and so I am very thankful for my method.</p>
<p>By reading a lot, and taking Latin :] I know it’s cliche, and I thought so too when I signed up for the class. But, it seriously helps, and I knew all the sentence completion questions. Although I only got a 740 on CR, because I overanalyzed the passages, of course. Typical of me. Anyway, I didn’t study at all either.</p>
<p>same here. I read ALL the time as kid, when paying attention of class was not of paramount importance. I got 800 twice on CR and once on writing, so it did pay off. reading is really the only way to get those words in your head. if you don’t know exactly what the word is, at least you will have a context for it. </p>
<p>since there is at least 3 months until the next test, you DO have time to read. get some books you’ve always wanted to read, and go. don’t worry an ounce about the vocab, because as long as you’ve chosen a book that’s appropriate for a high schooler, you’ll be all set. </p>
<p>there are those books that are supposed to teach SAT vocab, but my friends have said they are annoying. I would say that you are interested in that, look at the titles in the series, and then go find a copy of the book that doesn’t have all the words underlined or highlighted (whatever it is) throughout the text. </p>
<p>it’s not as good reading your whole life, but hopefully you’ll pick it up as a nice life habit.</p>
<p>The root words help a lot, but that’s more just like memorization…
If you’re learning a language while you’re at it, it makes it a lot easier to remember the roots themselves. Like your profile name “pulchritudious” - do you mean pulchritudiNous? or did you purposefully leave out the N? lol. either way, “pulchra” in Latin means “beautiful” or “pretty.” And that’s just one example. Avarice - meaning greedy - comes from the Latin “avere” [meaning - to crave]. So I don’t know, it just helped me a ton.</p>
<p>I agree! I went through the tests I already finished and made a flash card for every single word I did not know. It turns out for some words, I ended up making 2 or 3 of the same flashcards because the same word appeared on different tests.</p>
<p>I am a mostly auditory learner, but I also learn a lot when I write things out. I am listening to PR’s Hit Parade and Kaplan’s Words to Go, and writing out the words and making up my own sentences. I recommend both!</p>
<p>I also agree with what INVENIAMVIAM just said. Romance languages help a bunch. There is no latin at my school, but sometimes French helps, like with facile (easy) and raconteur (to tell).</p>
<p>also - keep in mind that if you’re thinking of learning Latin just so you can do well on the SATs, there’s a lot of grammar and stuff like that involved… I think it’s better if you just so happen to be learning Latin and then realize how well you’ll do on the SAT. Because taking on a language as difficult as Latin is probably not a good idea just to get better CR scores. If you really do want to learn Latin, go for it. But just for the SAT, I’d say no. Root words are good.</p>
<p>Lol sorry I kind of changed my mind, but I re-thought it.</p>
<p>you don’t need to know latin specifically to do well on CR. i took italian in hs which is a romance language. most kids take a romance language in hs. just realizing that you can make connections between english and your other language can be helpful. like the example before with “avarice”. “avere” means to have in italian. im not one for memorizing (i get impatient with it), and this is what definitely helped me the most. that, and taking a whole bunch of practice exams. you really do notice a select few words that continuously show up on the SAT.</p>
<p>spraknotes has flocabulary ( which are rap songs with vocab)
and they have novels with a whole buncha words cramped into each chapter which i abs. love! I remember the meanings so much better.
[SparkNotes:</a> SAT Novels](<a href=“http://www.sparknotes.com/satfiction/]SparkNotes:”>http://www.sparknotes.com/satfiction/)
and best of all! you can read them online without buying them. :D</p>
<ol>
<li>use the illustrated version of the word smart vocab words</li>
<li>use flash cards</li>
<li>use the words as much as possible(in your speech and writing)</li>
</ol>
<p>warning option 3 might make you look like a pretentious prick</p>
<p>I didn’t try to memorize words, and the test went fine anyway. However, I would use a mixture of these methods. Suffixes, prefixes, and other roots are very helpful.</p>