Hello,
I'm preparing for this October's SAT and I'm quite lost because of my reading score. I used to get 35/40 pretty constantly on the reading section, and one time I even scored 37/40. But now my score is down to 30/40. I've been getting this score for the last three practice tests I took and I feel hopeless because I also have to improve my writing section which currently is 36/40. Do you think I can increase my reading score to 38-9/40 in one month? Please advice me.
Sue
If you can zero in on why you're making these errors and are able to devote the time, then you should be able to increase your SAT Reading score in one month. There are a couple of steps you can take to analyze where you might be going wrong:
- Are you using official SAT Practice tests or study material? If you were using unofficial practice tests, it's possible that your initial higher reading scores were due to easier questions or questions that weren't testing you in the same ways the real SAT will. For the best results, you need to practice with real SAT Reading questions and passages.
- What questions are you getting wrong? If the questions you're getting wrong are all asking you to perform the same task (for instance, what the "big picture" of the passage is), then you need to focus in on practicing just those types of questions. On the other hand, if you're finding that you're struggling with a certain passage type (for instance, with answering questions on Science-related passages), then you should focus your studying on those passages.
In addition to the two suggestions above, you may also find useful tips in our articles about how to score a perfect score on SAT Reading and on the best way to review your mistakes on the SAT.