SAT Vocabulary

Of all the sections in the SAT, reading was the hardest for me purely because of the amount of vocabulary that was needed to be memorized. However, this was also the section I improved most upon, and I can give some advice for those who are also weak in memorizing vocabulary. 

First of all, you should have some form of a large list of vocabulary words to study. Do NOT study words you already know. When you have your huge list of vocabulary words in front of you to memorize, highlight the most difficult words, the words you randomly trip up on, and the 180-degree words (words with totally different meanings, like pedestrian and catholic). Focus on these tricky words instead of the words you already know.

Second, make sure to strategize when answering the questions on the exam! Use a process of elimination to get rid of the obvious ones. Chances are, there will be two very close answers that you may be stuck on. I strongly advise that, if you know the words of one and it makes sense, ignore the words you don’t know and just pick the simple words. Many times the SAT will put complicated words to just distract you from the answer. This is especially true if the complicated answer is A; if you have to guess, do not pick A.

Lastly, practice! It’s actually very hard to just stare at a list of vocabulary words to memorize them. Practice using flash cards, practice exams, and having people quiz you. This will help you improve so much more than trying to “get a word into your head”.

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