SAT Critical Reading and Writing -- HELP!

Josh05
Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:41:48 +0000

For CR: besides vocab, you need to get used the passage based questions. One of the best way to prepare yourself for this is to read difficult books such as the classics and historical novels. Science books are fine but don’t read too much of that, unless you want to of course, or else you’ll get bogged down by the complexities of science.

While you’re reading (I strongly suggest classics since the style is very similar to those of CR), annotate for definitions of words you don’t know. Try to use them a few times throughout the day so it sticks in your brain. Go on quizlet.com or make it plain old flashcards to memorize. Also, at the end of each chapter, write a quick summary of it. This will be able to condition your mind to process the elongated sentences of the chapter and to weave out the message just like you will be doing in SAT. This is great conditioning for your brain.

I myself have boosted my score 100 points from low 600s to low 700s just by doing this a little bit. I’m trying to read more so I can raise my score 50-75 more points to get above 750. I also know others who have raised their CR scores by 50-100 points just by reading classical books and annotating them. So try it out and see for yourself if it works.

And as always, practice with SAT tests. For CR, and perhaps any other section you’re having trouble with, first take unlimited time, whatever’s enough for you to get finished. Then slowly decrease your way down to the given time period. Try to go even below that so you will not be rushed when you look up and see you have 2 minutes left and 5 more questions to answer.