Many high school students struggle when it comes to standardized testing. There are a variety of tests given throughout a student’s career in school. Standardized tests are by far the most difficult for students to score well in. However, after taking these tests, this writer picked up on a few tricks that helped to do well on the last SAT test.

Out of the three sections, similar to the majority of the students who take this test, this writer struggled the most on critical reading. However, after repeatedly taking practice tests from a plethora of SAT prep books, it was realized conquering this section isn’t as difficult as it seems. The following tips are just what worked the best for this writer. Other students might prefer different techniques, but please feel free to use these tips!

Here are some tips for acing Critical Reading:

• Do NOT read the whole passage and then answer questions. Look at the first five questions and then read the passage from the beginning to the last line number you see in the 5th question. While reading, try to read every single word as skipping even a few lines might prevent you from understanding the main idea of the passage. After answering the first five questions, proceed to complete the next four to five and finally the last few. This works for double passages as well since the SAT asks question in chronological order (corresponds to the passage).

• Study vocabulary words before hand. There are not infinite words in the English language (even though new ones are added to the dictionary every year). The SAT reuses many words over and over again (i.e. amicable, munificence, ephemeral). Sound familiar? So after taking the practice tests, be sure to write all the words you find in the passage (that you don’t know the definition of of course) and write then in a separate notebook (just dedicated for SAT words). Not only will you expand your vocabulary, but you will soon be able to identify the meanings of prefixes, which is very helpful in figuring out words you don’t the meaning of. Ex. amicable, amic= friendly so amicable must mean something along the lines of being friendly, good-natured, cordial, etc.

• Always make marks on the actual passage when you can. Talking to the text is actually helpful since it keeps you from falling asleep and helps you understand what the text is discussing. SAT critical passages can be extremely boring so taking notes on the margins, underlining/ circling words will keep you active and prevent you from zoning out (hopefully). 

• Practice tests, Practice tests, Practice tests. After completing at least 10 critical practice tests, you get a good sense of the types of questions you will ask. In other words, you can predict what the questions will be. For example, if you see a word such “stand for” uses vaguely, you can predict that that one of the questions will ask, “What does “stand for” in line # best mean?

• Process of elimination. This speaks for itself but there will always be at least two out five answer choices that will have literally nothing to do with the answer. Maybe another one won’t have anything either. But when it comes to two very similar answers, read the area the question is referring to at least two to three times and try to make connections. If don’t correctly, the correct answer should be obvious. This is always easier said than done, but there’s no harm in trying it.

• Pace yourself. If you find yourself stuck on one question for two minutes, skip it. The time constraint brings pressure but remember, there is a guessing penalty, so if you know that you’re not going to get the question right no matter what, just skip it. Come back to it if time permits but focus on the other, easier questions.

You may have already heard some, if not most of these tips. However, these tips truly helped this writer improve the score significantly, so it is recommended to anyone who struggles on critical reading. 

Good luck!