Critical Reading Section of the SAT

[Cassandra]

Anyone else love it to pieces?​

I have it to thank for getting into colleges, probably.​

(score=800)

Also, while I was taking that part of the test, it didn't feel like a test, it felt like puzzles I was doing for fun. (Whereas the writing & math sections felt like tests--timed math or grammar tests are the worst). ​

If you did/didn't like it, why?​

 

[Ermine]

I didn't exactly have a passion for it, but the critical reading section was definitely the most fun, and my highest scoring section. I think I got a 680 on it, cold turkey.

On the subject of tests, I highly preferred taking the ACT for the reason you mentioned. It was much less fact oriented and let me focus on the problem solving and analysis, which was great. I got a 27, again, without studying.

 

[Darby]

I never study for tests, and I recieved a similar score to Ermine's on critical reading

I scored similarly on math, and I did terrible on the writing, a perfect 500

I like to blame it on the fact that after 2 hours in, I was bored out of my mind and wanted to get the hell out of that room, but really, I just didn't prepare at all

I have not recieved my ACT scores, but I feel I probably did better, for the same reasons Ermine stated

EDIT: just checked, my ACT crit reading score was 30, so was science, total over the whole thing = 27

 

[hope]

People usually like what they are good at. It was my favorite section too.

 

[Nicholas A. A. E.]

Anyone else love it to pieces?​

I have it to thank for getting into colleges, probably.​

(score=800)

Also, while I was taking that part of the test, it didn't feel like a test, it felt like puzzles I was doing for fun. (Whereas the writing & math sections felt like tests--timed math or grammar tests are the worst). ​

If you did/didn't like it, why?​

I agree, except I felt similarly about the entire SAT minus the essay.

I've taken the test once, got CR 800, M 780, W 600. The 600 is mostly because I got a 4/12 on the essay. I'm terrible at (a) timed essays, and (b) structured essays. If you put those two together and I am the writer, the result will not be pretty. I'm usually not very creative when I need to be.

But yeah, I felt like all the non-essay sections of the SAT were like puzzles I was doing for fun.

 

[Fool]

Ha, never took the SAT. But got a perfect 36 on the critical reading part of the ACT. Now if only I could do the same for Math and Science lol.

 

[asdfasdfasdfsdf]

i fucking hated the critical reading section.
i had a hard time getting motivated to actually read the whole, or even half of the stories.
so to be honest... i would just skim, reading first sentences of paragraphs, etc, and just estimate what the rest said.
the questions, to me, seemed subjective - but, then again, i never actually read the whole thing... it felt like busy work.i think i got a 570 or so.. but that was a few years ago..

 

[asdfasdfasdfsdf]

I agree, except I felt similarly about the entire SAT minus the essay.

I've taken the test once, got CR 800, M 780, W 600. The 600 is mostly because I got a 4/12 on the essay. I'm terrible at (a) timed essays, and (b) structured essays. If you put those two together and I am the writer, the result will not be pretty. I'm usually not very creative when I need to be.

But yeah, I felt like all the non-essay sections of the SAT were like puzzles I was doing for fun.

yeah, i hated the writing section to. the essays are WAY subjective, after one teacher explained to the class the grading process.. and that is was set up that you were supposed to have a 5 paragraph essay with a 3 prong thesis for the best score.. i was pissed.
i think i got in the low 500s for the writing. my math was rather high though!

 

[sagewolf]

it felt like busy work

I had the same feeling, except applied to all of school itself, not just the tests.

The crit. reading section does seem like the easiest of the three. It's hard to know what's wanted in the essay section ( I generally (for the SAT and Leaving Cert English) just take the opposite point of view to that which I think most people would take, thus apparently demonstrating 'critical thinking', and not that I just figured out how to bend the test procedures to my benefit), and the math is... the math is just freaking boring. Math doesn't get much simpler than what I've seen so far on the SAT.

Frankly, tests? I love them. They were custom built for slackers with good short-term memory and good problem solving skills. If it weren't for tests, I'd have been a solid C student throughout secondary school: instead I was at the top of my class for years. Yes, it's a horrible system for schooling, but it benefited me nicely.

 

[EditorOne]

It might have felt like busy work, but it's one of the very few things that actually matters for a long time. SAT, ACT, all that stuff is your chance to dazzle the world forever by getting past the ennui and bringing your mind to bear in a way that produces numbers that just blow people out of the water when you're applying for scholarships and to get into schools that aren't just diploma factories.

I too loved the critical reading section, I can remember that after many many years. I don't remember breakdowns within the two big divisions of math and verbal, but my overall verbal was something like 724. The critical reading part and some of the other verbal stuff that was pretty subtle gave me the feeling I was dealing with questions and answers generated by a mind quite like my own. Math not so hot, 620 or so, mainly because I couldn't remember various formulas. Details, right? They get away. As opposed to taking material, dissecting it and analyzing it and coming up with insights and ideas and conclusions. Yes, loved the critical reading section.