Some of the Best SAT Reading Tips and Strategies

Effective Tips for SAT Reading Section Language section that includes both reading and writing expertise of English has high necessity when it comes to acing SAT. A lot of students find getting a good grip over the language quite challenging and scoring a neat 800 in the section becomes even tougher. However, smooth planning and following up on useful tips from the previous SAT takers can be of great help for the current year SAT aspirant. While students do not have any issue in scoring up to 600 in SAT Reading section, the spike from 600 to 800 is where the biggest path-breaker is present. It is also important to note that SAT has a single score of 800 for the Reading plus Writing sections combined together. Here are some of the most effective tips that will not only help you score well in SAT Reading but also improve the overall score with great ease and perfection. 1. Know Why You Need an 800: Usually, 1600 in SAT (800 for Language and 800 for Math summing up), is considered to be a perfect score. Interestingly, even a 1550 or 1590 is not considered by a top college when it comes to SAT. The first step in scoring well SAT Reading section is to know why you really need a full score. The motivation will bring you ideas on how to prepare and where the priorities actually are present. Getting a good score in SAT Reading can make you relaxed about the other tougher sections such as Writing, and even Math. These nuances might look very small in the first look, but they can actually give great reasons to prepare well and ace the SAT Reading section. Also note that top schools such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and University of Chicago accept nothing but above 770 in SAT Reading+ Writing section. Couldn’t have more reasons to gear up Reading prep, is it not? 2. Realize the Design of SAT Reading: Having high subject knowledge may not always take you on the road to success in a competitive exam but knowing the rules and the design of the exam surely will.SAT Reading test is designed in such a way that it tests the student’s abilities in various ways and strongly aims to confuse the student. Every reading passage in SAT has only a single correct answer and a lot of students have difficulty in understanding this fact. The exam also disguises the fact that there is one answer that is not ambiguous. Zeroing in out to the options instead of worrying about the passage will take the student to a new level of excelling in SAT exam. However, the exam tricks with the usage of words making the student do guesswork to finalize the wrong answer. Be way of this, and you have got the SAT Reading section perfectly right. Some of the guidelines that can help the students in realizing the pattern of SAT Reading section are: • Segregate the types of questions that the SAT tests, in a simpler language you can understand • Look for effective strategies to solve these questions, using skills you already know and also improving on the new skills to be acquired. • Practice, practice, and practice- there is no shortcut to this rule, and practicing more questions with similar patterns will gain your confidence in acing the SAT Reading section. Get a better understanding of SAT Scoring: You might be the best expert in Language around your circles but without a clear understanding of how SAT Scoring works, the game is always on the losing end. Understand the fact that SAT Scoring is grossly harsh and sometimes, missing just one question might cost you loss of the dream score you are aiming for. The safest rule to follow here is to aim for perfection- that might take you somewhere near to the destination without much pressure. Aim for a perfect raw score of 800 for every practice test, and average out on the scores for the reading section. This is one smart way to score better and get an overall jump in the final SAT score. For example, if the raw score is 35, the student will have to answer 7-8 questions correctly in the additional sense to get a perfect 40. Know your individual strengths and weaknesses: Every person is gifted with a unique set of strengths and the natural ability to be good in either Reading or Writing without much effort. Are you good at reading? What are the steps needed to improve reading abilities and are you losing out on time management skills in this path? These questions will not only identify the weak areas but also gives an additional push to the student to be aware of the prep strategies. Every student has different flaws in SAT Reading that are unique to the person. Additionally, some people fail at having good strategies for tackling the passage questions. Some students struggle in managing their time correctly and run out of time before getting through all the questions -leading to a dissatisfactory SAT Score. But here are some of the steps that can be applied for a higher SAT score in the Reading Section: • Take only the Reading section by choosing an official SAT test online. This can make you more focused on the problem areas. • Use a timer and count down the 65 minutes for the Reading section. Remember to treat it like a real test, and it gives more seriousness in acing the examination. • If you have crossed the individual time deadline of 65 minutes, skip that section and you’re 100% ready to move on, then do it with ease. If you’re not ready to move on, keep on working for as long as you zero into the right answer. Mark it with a special note as “Extra Time” for each new changed answer you have made. • Using the answer key and score chart, grade your practice exam. But here, we are not scoring for individual subject cut-offs but need two crucial scores 1) Normal timing conditions, which leads to Realistic Score 2) The Extra Time score. The score where you marked the questions you answered or changed during Extra Time. Understand the strategies behind scoring 35 in Extra Time Score and how to apply it to the total SAT score. A flowchart guide given below can be greatly helpful in scoring the final dream score for SAT Reading Section and the final score as well. Was your Extra Time score a 35 or above? If NO (Extra Time score < 35), then you have strategy and content weaknesses. All the extra time in the world couldn’t get you above a 35, so your first angle of attack will be to find your weaknesses and attack them (We’ll cover this later). If Your Extra Time score is greater than the 35 marks then: Was your Realistic score a 35 or above? If the answer is NO (Extra Time score > 35, Realistic < 35), it shows that you have a difference between your Extra Time score and your Realistic score, and if this difference is more than 3 points, it shows Poor Time Management Skills. The problem area should be identified by taking time and understanding where the skill is not helping. Practicing more questions in the problem area will save much time. If YES (both Extra Time and Realistic scores > 35): There are an increased number of chances of getting an 800 for the SAT reading section. Now, draw a Comparison between your Extra Time and Realistic score, and if they differed by more than 2 points, then you would benefit from learning how to solve questions more quickly. Conclusion: Useful prep strategies like this come to great use during the exam day to not only raise the confidence levels but also improve where the final SAT Score is aimed at. Remember to give priority to practice tests more than acquiring knowledge- which will come to help in getting the dream score.