Take a crack at this practice set; it’s based last week’s post Sense of Grammar for Improving Sentences.

For many test-takers, these are the toughest questions in the Writing Section. You have five different versions of a sentence, each one slightly tweaked, but all sounding the same after you’ve read each one. This is the wrong strategy, but one that many test-takers automatically resort to: they read each sentence in its entirety! This is not only time-consuming, but frustrating because it gets you lost in a jumble of words.

Why not dip into some entirely different categories? Come up with a few of these for your Idea Bank; you don’t need to conduct extensive research. Just know what it is and know the key details.

The questions in SAT Paragraph Correction deviate from the rest of SAT Writing. The SAT throws out a big chunk of text, requiring you to mentally switch gears. Rather than obsessing over the individual components of sentences and tweaking them (like in Sentence Correction and Error ID), you’re now looking at a whole piece of writing. Learn the strategies, and you’ll be good to go.

The English language contains over a million words, but you’re not expected to know them all. For this part of the exam, is it in your best interest to be well-read and have a solid vocabulary? Of course, but you also need problem-solving skills that are specific to this task. While vocab lists are important, […]

The SAT Writing section’s multiple choice questions are designed with several go-to errors, thrown in to trick you. With a keen focus, you’ll recognize them as soon as they rear their ugly, grammatically incorrect heads. Going forward, we’ll examine some common pitfalls (and examples) so you’ll know what to look for and how to outsmart […]

Develop an “eye for grammar.” Wear your monocle and get to it. I know someone* who picks out grammatical mistakes wherever they show up: flyers, menus, signs, newspaper articles, instruction manuals, etc. She’s often tempted to circle them. On occasion, she has given into this temptation. Noooo! Do you see it?! Whether or not you […]

Prior to any process, you should be equipped with the fundamentals for success. Before starting (or restarting), SAT prep, go first through this vital checklist and make sure you have the following (especially the last one):   1) Understanding of Past Performance To know where you’re going, know where you’ve been. Take a practice test […]

I love this question. It shows just how frazzled people are when writing under the clock. However, it also means they lack confidence when choosing examples. When test-takers get anxious and panicky, they often feel that lying is their only option. When this happens on the SAT essay, students support their argument with made-up wars, […]

Jumping to a winning conclusion. Quick Note: Build a Foundation First An effective conclusion is based on an already-solid essay with a good thesis. Work first on mastering the basics, and then build up to the conclusion. Your score will reflect the difference. __________________________________________________________________________ The SAT Essay: Most test-takers are intimidated by it. This is […]