Powerscore vs Direct hits who has the Best vocab list?

Test Preparation
1

Powerscore has a vocab list of a total of 700 words and an overall higher hit rate on sat tests in comparison to direct hits.

From January 2013 to December 2013 the average hit rate for Powerscore was over 50% in comparison to 33.37% for Direct hits.

Here’s the source: http://blog.powerscore.com/sat/bid/334315/The-January-2014-SAT-Vocabulary-Rants-and-Raves

Another report shows that in Jan 2014 the Powerscore list had a 58% hit rate in comparison to the 25.5 % hit rate for Direct hits.

The source: http://blog.powerscore.com/sat/bid/333735/SAT-Vocabulary-Words-from-the-January-2014-SAT

The Repeat offender word list of 200 words seems to have the highest hit rate according to this report in some tests having a hit rate over 60%: http://www.powerscore.com/sat/help/content_vocabulary_report.cfm

Given the fact that the list of words from powerscore are free wouldn’t purchasing Direct hits be a waste of money? The powerscore list is also available on the sat reading bible that covers the whole reading section. Wouldn’t this be a better resource due to the fact that powerscore have a consistently higher hit rate?

2

OP, are you involved with the publication of Powerscore?

3

Neither. “The Insiders Guide to the SAT Vocabulary: 500 words”(Updated version of Direct Hits) is way better. :stuck_out_tongue:

4

^How is it “way better”? They both use the same methodology and were created by the same person.

5

Neither is history.

6

@CHD2013 No I’m not. Sorry if it came out that way. I just did some research comparing the two and mentioned the critical reading bible since I read it was one of the top sat books online. I was just curious about both vocab lists. I’m not sure whether to buy the direct hit books or not? If this free list is just as good then why waste your money?

edit: To add, I didn’t know the lists were made by the same author? If that’s the case then why don’t both lists have similar hit rates on the sat?

7

I’m not sure why the lists don’t have similar hit rates, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer involved randomness. I’m also not sure which is the best 3rd party list.

I think the best way to study vocab though is to make your own list. Review CB materials and learn every word you don’t know, especially on the sentence completion sections. Find the meaning of the words and then learn to understand the patterns of the tests by resolving the problems with your new knowledge. That method helps retention and provides a deep understanding of the test that can help you get answers right even on questions where you know very few of the words in the answer choices.

8

The links in the original post are bunk. Click the first one, for example. It gives “hit rates” for (among other tests) the December, November, June, and March 2013 SATs. None of those tests were released, and there is therefore no way for anyone to compile a complete and accurate list of the vocabulary tested and compare the performance of any competing lists.

Moreover, some of the words Powerscore claims are not in Direct Hits basically are, even if they are in slightly different forms. For example, Powerscore claims “zealous” is on its own list but not in Direct Hits, but I remember clearly that Direct Hits includes “zealot,” which is just another form of the same word.

Really, @Ali1302 , if you’re going to claim that Powerscore is better, you should have better evidence than just, “Powerscore says it’s better.”

9

Well based on the post above and previous chatter here on CC, I’d say go with Direct Hits if you are buying a vocab book

10

Vocabulary only matters up to the January test. After that it’s a relative non-issue since vocab words will be rolled into the rest of the test (in essays, math problems, etc). And they will be using less esoteric words.