SAT Reading Section Tips That Helped Me Get a 780 On My 1st Try

Are you looking to raise your SAT reading score? Perhaps you often find yourself stuck between 2 answer choices or you can’t seem to finish the SAT reading on time. No matter what you do, you can’t figure out how to overcome these issues.

Well, I’ve been there too. However, by implementing certain SAT reading strategies, I was able to resolve these frustrations and become confident in my test-taking skills no matter what questions I got.

In this article, I provide step-by-step SAT reading section tips that helped me score a 780 on my first try. These are the same strategies I’ve taught to other students, some of which achieved perfect scores of 800 on the SAT reading and writing section!

So here is what you’ll learn in this article:

• the format of the SAT reading section and SAT writing and language section
• detailed strategies to do well on both sections

You Can Do It!

One more thing before we get into the meat of the article. My most important tip on how to study for the SAT reading section is to know that you can do it!

I know that this may sound cheesy, but I truly believe that the first step to succeeding in the SAT reading section is believing in yourself. Even if you don’t think reading comprehension on standardized exams is your strength (it isn’t mine), you can do well if you understand what skills are being tested and how to approach questions systematically.

Think about it this way:

If you know how to drive, the first time you were on the road, you were probably terrified. You probably thought, “How am I supposed to focus on all the nearby vehicles, avoid pedestrians and bike riders, stay in the center of the road, turn and brake smoothly, check my blind spots, and abide by traffic rules all while going at 40 mph or more?”

That sounds like a lot right? But if you’ve had plenty of experience on the road, all these things probably seem like second nature to you now. Why? Because you learned the rules of driving and have practiced so much that what once seemed difficult is now easy.

Still not convinced? Then, here’s some perspective: to drive, our brains make sense out of tons of stimuli in a matter of milliseconds”“as though by instinct, experienced drivers can predict (to some degree) the intention of nearby drivers based on subtle signals of the hulking metal shells they’re encased in.

This isn’t something that comes automatically when you first start driving, but it’s a skill you develop over time through practice.

So how does driving relate to the SAT?

Believe it or not, taking the SAT is quite similar to driving. The SAT may seem intimidating at first, and you may make lots of mistakes, just like how you probably hit the curb and maybe even a mailbox the first time you were on the road.

However, once you realize that the SAT is a standardized exam with certain consistencies, you’ll see that even though you can’t predict what questions you’ll get, you can always use the same strategies to approach them. Over time, applying those strategies will get easier and easier.

When you first started driving, you had to learn certain rules. At first, it probably all seemed overwhelming. However, after lots of practice, you likely feel much more at ease on the road now.

You can’t predict what stimuli you’ll meet on the road each day””you can’t even predict what will happen in the next few seconds (just like you can’t predict what test questions you’ll get). But that’s okay because your brain’s already trained to recognize patterns and react in certain ways to keep you safe on the road!

SAT Reading and Writing Section Format

Now that you’ve told yourself, “Yes, I can do it!”, it’s important to understand how the SAT reading and writing section is formatted.

SAT Reading Section Breakdown

SAT Reading Section Time

You’ll have 65 minutes on the SAT reading section.

How Many Passages in the SAT Reading Section?

There are 5 passages and 52 questions, giving about 13 minutes per passage.

SAT Reading Passage Types

Here are the SAT reading passage types you’ll encounter:

• Literary narrative (excerpt from a work of fiction)
• Social studies/history (usually a historical document)
• Natural sciences (scientific research, like a research study or technological advancement)
• Paired passage (you’ll need to compare and contrast 2 social studies/history passages or 2 natural sciences passages)

SAT Reading Question Types

Here are the SAT reading question types that you will encounter:

• Big picture: You’ll be asked about the main idea or overall structure of the passage.
• Small details: You’ll be asked about specific lines in the passage.
• Data reasoning: For some passages, you may be presented with data in the form of a table or graph. You’ll need to analyze the data and relate it to the text.
• Inference: You’ll need to make a logical conclusion based on details in the passage. For example, you may be asked something like, “Based on this passage, would the author support [opinion]?”
• Function: You’ll be asked about why the author included a particular detail.
• Words in Context: You’ll be asked about what a word means in context.
• Author Technique: You’ll be asked about the tone/mood created by the author.

I know this seems like a lot right now. But don’t worry! As you’ll see in the SAT Reading Section Tips portion of this article, you don’t need to focus too much on tackling individual question types.

SAT Writing and Language Section Breakdown

SAT Writing and Language Section Time

You’ll have 35 minutes on the SAT writing and language section.

How Many Passages in the SAT Writing and Language Section?

There are 4 passages and 44 questions, giving about 9 minutes per passage.

SAT Writing and Language Passage Types

On this section of the SAT exam, you only encounter nonfiction passages related to professional career fields, social studies and the humanities, or science.

SAT Writing and Language Question Types

Here are the SAT writing and language question types that you will encounter:

• Standard English conventions: You’ll be tested on your knowledge of punctuation and grammar rules.
• Words in context: You’ll need to replace a word with another word that communicates a similar meaning.
• Organization and evidence-based support: You’ll be tested on your ability to understand the passage and organize sentences in a logical order.

SAT Reading Section Tips

The SAT reading section can be frustrating because it often seems like there could be 2 correct answers. This was something I used to struggle with a lot.

However, once I realized what the term “standardized” meant, I recognized that I needed to adjust my mindset. If an exam is standardized, it means that there can only be one objectively correct answer. The test makers try to trick you with answer choices that sound reasonable but are never objectively supported by the passage.

Realizing this changed my approach and helped me answer questions more quickly and accurately. To see how you can do the same, read the following steps on how I approached the SAT reading section questions step-by-step!

Also, a quick note: as I mentioned, I wouldn’t worry too much about tackling specific reading section question types. I didn’t focus on it while preparing, and I truly don’t believe it’s necessary if you follow the strategies below.

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SAT Reading Section Tip #1: Read the passage carefully

While preparing for the SAT, I came across a video about how you should focus most of your time on reading the passages rather than on the questions. Although skeptical at first, I decided to give the strategy a try.

My skepticism was quickly dispelled, as I discovered that the strategy was effective! Previously, I would struggle with switching my attention back and forth between the passage and the questions. This was because I hadn’t fully processed what I’d read and couldn’t recall details from the passage. However, this was disorienting and time-consuming.

Once I started focusing more time on reading each passage and making sure I understood everything, I could answer the questions a lot faster.

SAT Reading Section Tip #2: Do not annotate””think literally

One of the most important SAT reading section tips is to not approach SAT reading passages like you would English class passages. What does this mean?

In English class, you were probably taught to underline sentences and jot down personal interpretations/opinions and ponder about figurative meanings. However, you should never do this on the SAT. Why? Because like I mentioned before, the SAT is a standardized exam.

Therefore, you need to start thinking like the test maker. An answer can only be objectively correct if it is a literal interpretation of the text. Anything that isn’t literal becomes subjective. The main point I’m trying to communicate is: don’t overthink the passages””only focus on the literal meaning.

The only time you should annotate is if you find a section to be confusing and want to jot down a few quick notes to clarify the meaning in your own words.

SAT Reading Section Tip #3: Use context

If you don’t understand a word or a few lines of text, look at the surrounding sentences. Using context instead of trying to understand words/lines in isolation will help you with reading comprehension.

SAT Reading Section Tip #4: Read all questions and answer choices carefully

Reading every single question and every single answer choice is an essential SAT reading tip that I cannot stress enough. Frequently, the difference between an answer choice being wrong or correct comes down to one tiny detail. Therefore, if you don’t read each answer choice carefully, you could miss a detail that costs you points on the exam.

Additionally, reading each answer choice carefully is crucial for the next SAT reading strategy I’ll discuss: process of elimination.

SAT Reading Section Tip #5: Use process of elimination

Process of elimination is your best friend on the SAT reading section. If an answer choice does not automatically jump out at you or you’re stuck between two options, you can use POE to quickly identify the correct answer choice.

Here are some common ways to identify wrong answer choices that can be eliminated immediately:

Seems Reasonable But is Never Directly Supported By Passage

Oftentimes, the test makers will try to trick you by including an answer choice that appears to make sense but is never objectively supported by the passage. For example, an answer choice could seem right because it would be a reasonable interpretation in your English class.

However, as I said before, interpretations beyond the literal meaning of the passage are subjective and therefore can never be a correct answer choice on a standardized exam!

If stuck between two answer choices, I would scan the passage to find a sentence or few that provided direct support for an answer choice. Then, I would underline that sentence or sentences. Finally, I would eliminate the answer choice for which I couldn’t find direct support, even if it seemed reasonable at first.

*By specific questions, I mean questions that reference specific details””basically questions that aren’t big picture questions.

Partially Wrong Answer Choices

If an answer choice is partially wrong, eliminate it immediately. This probably sounds like an obvious tip, but when you’re under pressure, answer choices that are partially but not entirely correct may seem tempting. Don’t be tempted.

Irrelevant Answer Choices

If an answer choice is barely relevant to the text, this is another sign that it should be eliminated immediately.

Contradictory Answer Choices

Some answer choices directly contradict what’s stated in the text. These should be eliminated immediately.

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SAT Reading Section Tip #6: Practice

Finally, like I explained at the beginning of this article, you can get a high score on the SAT reading section. However, getting a high score comes through practice.

To prepare for the SAT reading, I did passages from the College Board’s official practice exams. However, you may want to reserve these practice exams until closer to your test date. Therefore, you may consider purchasing an SAT practice book, like these:

• Princeton Review SAT Premium Prep, 2023 (comes with 9 practice tests!)
• Barron’s SAT Study Guide Premium, 2023 (comes with 8 practice tests!)

SAT Reading Section Tip #7: Reflect

After doing practice passages, you should not check your answers and reflect on your mistakes. Reflection is one of the most important steps in preparing for the SAT reading section.

To avoid making future mistakes, you need to A) identify what caused you to make the mistake you made and B) why another answer choice was objectively better.

When I was preparing for the SAT, I would explain out loud and logically step-by-step why the answer choice I selected was wrong and why another answer choice was correct.

Explaining to yourself out loud is a great way to determine if you truly understand a question (it’s based on something called the Feynman Technique, which you can read more about here).

SAT Writing and Language Section Tips

The SAT writing and language section is arguably easier than the reading section. However, it can be a bit of a time crunch (44 questions in 35 minutes), so it’s important to develop effective test-taking strategies to answer questions quickly.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, you’ll be tested on 3 main types of questions:

• Standard English conventions
• Words in context
• Organization and evidence-based support

Each of these question types is quite distinctive in the SAT writing and language section, so it’s important to know how to approach each of them.

SAT Writing and Language Tip #1: Study grammar and punctuation rules

If you want to answer all questions on standard English conventions correctly, all you have to do is memorize and know how to apply grammar and punctuation rules. I won’t list all of them here, but you can find guides online, as well as in the SAT prep books I mentioned earlier in this article.

SAT Writing and Language Tip #2: Substitute words in context

To tackle the “words in context” question types, I recommend substituting each answer choice into the sentence to see if it makes sense. Read the sentence with the substituted word aloud in your head. Does the sentence still communicate the same meaning?

From my personal experience, you don’t need to worry about having an expansive vocabulary to answer these questions. The words used are not very advanced, but based on your lexicon, you may consider learning some new vocabulary words to prepare.

SAT Writing and Language Tip #3: Identify the main idea of each paragraph

For the “organization and evidence-based support” type questions, they’ll often ask you if a particular detail should be included. Then, they’ll provide two answer choices that say “yes” with an explanation and two answer choices that say “no” with an explanation.

To determine whether a detail should be included, you need to identify the main idea of the paragraph. What is the primary topic the author focuses on in the paragraph? (not surrounding paragraphs!)

Does the detail supplement that main idea or is it irrelevant? This should help you identify the correct answer choice.

SAT Writing and Language Tip #4: Think logically about paragraph structure

Many “organization and evidence-based support” type questions also ask you to identify the correct placement of a sentence. If you haven’t seen these questions before, you need to determine where a sentence would fit logically in a given paragraph.

To tackle these types of passages, you need to think logically about paragraph structure.

Here’s how you can apply this strategy:

Paragraphs must begin with a topic sentence. Therefore, if the given sentence describes the main idea of the paragraph, it should go at the beginning.

Paragraphs must also end with a conclusion sentence. Therefore, if the given sentence summarizes the ideas presented in the paragraph, it should go at the end.

Finally, you have details within the body of the paragraph. If the given sentence is not a topic or concluding sentence, then test each of the sentence placements given in the answer choices.

Think about the logical flow of the paragraph, and keep your eyes open for transition words.

Oftentimes, transition words can help you identify where a sentence should go logically. Therefore, in preparation for the SAT writing and language section, you may consider reviewing some transition words and understanding their function in writing.

SAT Writing and Language Tip #5: Practice and reflect

As I mentioned in the SAT reading section tips, practicing and reflecting is essential to getting a high score!

Final Takeaways on How to Study for the SAT Reading and Writing Section

Although the SAT reading and writing section may seem daunting, it doesn’t need to be. If you understand the proper test-taking strategies and practice applying them, getting a high score is totally achievable.

First, you need to realize that you can do it. The SAT is a standardized exam, meaning that the same types of passages and questions always show up. If you do sufficient practice and understand how to narrow down choices to the one objectively correct answer, you’ll be on your way to doing well on the real exam.

Hope you found the strategies in this article to be helpful! If there are sections you would like me to elaborate on, please let me know in the comments below! This will help me create additional content and resources to help you succeed on your SAT.

For more posts on high school advice, check out:

• What Do Colleges Look For? A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Into Your Dream College
• Most Impressive AP Classes (+ Useful Tips to Succeed in Them)