The 4 Best Ways To Improve Your Vocab: Part II

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Vocab Hack #2: Scout Out Smarter Reads

The best best BEST way to increase your vocabulary is to consume a lot of high quality reads.  By “high quality”, you’re probably thinking about enduring the classics that you’re forced to read anyway for school, and you’re probably wondering if you should leave your screen right now to bang your head against a wall!

Please calm yourself ;) I’ll admit, I never got past page 41 of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, try as I did.  (Let’s not even talk about Anna Karenina or Crime and Punishment … thank GOD for Cliffnotes and Sparknotes!)

However, not all reading material is excruciating.  The trick is to find things that ACTUALLY interest you.  And the best way to do this is by reading NON-FICTION. The next major advantage of consuming non-fiction is that you’re priming yourself for the SAT and ACT, both of which are composed of approximately 75% non-fiction passages.  Get used to them now, and you’ll be totally fine on D-Day. Whoops. I meant Test Day.

So what types of things can you read, especially if you don’t like to read?

Start small.  Try newspaper and magazine articles geared for people a few years older than you are.

• Like fashion? Read Elle Magazine cover to cover. Especially the Ask E. Jean column, which tends to use colorful language like “driven witless” and “whipsawed by confusion.”
• Like music? Read your favorite artist’s exposé in Rolling Stone or Spin.
• If you like a variety of things, like theatre, sports, local news, travel and food, try the New Yorker, and read whatever you’d like! Or the New York Times, where several staff writers there are the Real Deal and have highly regarded books of their own.
• Into politics? Make it a point to read high quality articles like those online in the Huffington Post or the Guardian, a well-written British newspaper.  Try perusing headlines and settling down on two inviting articles to read start to finish every week.

If you want to delve deeper into reading, graduate from non-fiction articles to non-fiction or memoire books about a topic with which you are fascinated.

• Perhaps something funny? Try comedic authors David Sedaris or Tina Fey.
• Want something insightful?  Try anything by Malcolm Gladwell. I especially loved Blink and Outliers.  Not only will the vocab soon become ingrained and more familiar, but there are two added benefits to these books: 1) You can read these books one chapter at a time without forgetting the point, as each segment tends to bring up an entirely new example, and 2) the statistics and scientific studies Gladwell brings up are AMAZING for essay examples!!!
• Are you into art/music/theatre/sports? Try a biography of your favorite actress, musician, director, basketball player, etc.  Again, public figures make for killer essay examples.
• By any chance are you obsessed with psychology/personality/astrology like I was (and still am)? Go to your favorite Barnes & Noble and look up Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs or Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey.  Basically, anything that categorizes people into “types” or signs or whatever is a GOLDMINE for personality-describing adjectives. Being able to psychoanalyze anyone and anything is super handy for dissecting the tone and attitudes of otherwise VANILLA reading passages. And this will also come in handy when it’s Personal Statement time ;)

Continue to Vacab Hack #3…

The 4 Best Ways To Improve Your Vocab: Part I

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Unless you are one of the few in high school who completely escapes the daily grind with enviably high-brow literature that makes your English teacher weep with joy, you probably are somewhere in the “trying to grow your vocab” phase of life. This period of several years is necessary to transition from ‘tween words and phrases like, “I don’t wanna!” to more sophisticated means of expression, like “Given the undeniable circumstances of the situation, I prefer to refrain.” (I’m only half joking here. I knew people in high school who actually talked like that, at least between more colorful words ;)

Basically, you’re growing up, and your vocabulary needs to grow up, too.  And preferably ASAP, since you have standardized tests like the SAT and ACT coming up, and you NEED to nail those sentence completions and reading passages!

So, like most Test Prep Gurus and tutors, I do have some clichéd advice to expand your diction.  And I would never hold out on the tried and true methods, no matter how hackneyed and BOOOORING they might seem…

BUT! – keep reading! – I know a few more ways to get the job done that I think you, my darlings, would much rather prefer!  So in this 4-part series, I’m here to enlighten, and hopefully make your quest to raise your SAT Critical Reading and ACT Reading scores considerably more fun!

Let’s start with the easiest:

Vocab Hack #1: Surround Yourself With Smarter Peeps  

By “smarter”, I don’t necessarily mean you should ditch your crew if they aren’t up to snuff.  However, maybe you should consider adding some variety to your social circles.  This could be as simple as befriending upper classmen or chatting with your parent’s friends and your older relatives when you get the chance.  Maybe, just maybe, instead of shying away from crazy surgeon Uncle Andy, ask him about the grossest thing he’s ever seen on the operating table or why he prefers Fleetwood Mac to the Beatles.

Basically, partake in adult conversations with actual adults.  Bonus points if Tina Fey is your close family friend.

Very likely, you will begin to uncover more sophisticated ways of expressing yourself and hear some higher-echelon vocab in context and start to feel comfortable with it.

As a side benefit, you may just find yourself becoming more emotionally mature and perhaps even collecting cool stories about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that can come in handy as a “personal experience” essay example!

To continue reading Vocab Hack #2, click here.

Q&A: When should I take my first real SAT?

Q: Hey, Kristina,

I am currently ending my Sophomore year in high school.  I have a lot of friends who are Juniors and Seniors, and I’ve seen them get totally freaked out about the whole college and SAT thing.  It seems like a LOT to take on.  Some friends tell me to get the tests over with as soon as possible, since there are so many other things to do, like Subject tests and application essays and keeping up grades.  Should I spend this summer cramming and take the SAT this October or November? When should I take my first real SAT?

– Already Overwhelmed Rising Junior

A: Dear Overwhelmed,

First of all, thank you for writing in to ask this.  I get this question all the time from insanely bright and precocious students, so the fact that you are contemplating taking the SAT during the Fall of your Junior year only bodes well.  :)

It’s clear you’re already thinking ahead to a “3 Year Plan”, which means you have more “executive function” than most gals your age – heck! – maybe even more than Emily Thorne from Revenge!  (In case you’re curious, “executive function” is introspective psychobabble for having insight to see the big picture of what needs to get done in a complex situation, and then breaking said complex situation down into smaller actions and mentally organizing them so they actually get DONE. The complex situation in question could be getting into college, planning a stellar birthday bash, or taking down the Grayson’s.)

I’m glad you have friends who have gone down the college route before you, so you know it’s no joke!  That said, you should be incredibly strategic about when you take your first real test, whether it be the SAT or the ACT.  (If you don't know which test to take, click here to get your free Pre-Tutoring Guide.) It’s not just a Saturday (or a Sunday if you observe the Sabbath) out of your social calendar that’s at stake – it’s the weeks and months of prep time culminating to that Saturday morning. You want to make sure you are harnessing your time, energy and mental focus so that your performance peaks when you have the best chances of nabbing that fantastic score.  You want the stars to align! And you don’t want to do anything to psych yourself out.

That said, I highly discourage you from taking the test for the first time during the Fall of your Junior year.  Do you have any idea why…?  It has to do with statistics…

You see, the SAT and ACT are graded on a bell curve, meaning that there is a “standard distribution” of the scores.  That’s stat’s speak meaning that you basically ARE competing with the slew of students who take the test the same day as you.  The College Board or ACT Board take a peek at how EVERYONE did that day, and use their findings to determine how many raw score points you need to get a 700 or a 32.  And since this is a standardized thing, colleges don’t care if you were competing with geniuses or doofuses that day – they just care about your 2200.  Make sense?

Thus, if you take the test in October, against whom do you think you’re competing??  That’s right! EVERY FREAKIN’ SENIOR WHO’S EVER WALKED THE EARTH. They are all taking the test their 2nd or 3rd time, vying for a higher score to seal the deal on their dream schools.

Do you really want to compete on the bell curve against thousands of students who not only have an extra year of schooling under their belts, but also have had multiple practices taking the test?  I thought so…

November would probably be just as bad, since Seniors can still take this test for early decision schools.

December is full of regular decision Seniors.

January is somewhat of a crap-shoot – the desks could be filled with slacker Seniors who are treating this as their last “hail Mary” before having to turn in their college apps regular or rolling decision, or it could be filled with idiot savant Juniors who would get a 2400 or a 36 without a tutor and thus, not be effected by a testing curve anyway. (They’d just ruin the curve for you!)

Your best bet?  TAKE THE TEST IN MARCH at the very earliest.  This gives you the majority of the year to study little by little, not feel rushed, and also, to compete with people your own age and level of expertise – fellow Juniors.  In addition, you know you have May, June and the Fall of Senior year as backup SAT test dates, and April, June, and the Fall for backup ACT test dates, so there’s no pressure…

Wait - you didn’t expect to take the test only once, did you? ;)

So, even though this information didn't cost you a cent, it's not free.  If you found this at all helpful, do me a HUGE favor and share this with 3 of your friends who can benefit! :)

Nailing the SAT Essay Part I: Sloppy Success vs. Perfect Mediocrity

So many of us women – at any age – suffer from feelings of having to be “perfect”, whatever exactly that is. I, for one, started feeling this way in middle school – gotta love puberty! - but the quest to be perfect exploded in high school.  In the top-ranking public high school in the country – Talented and Gifted Magnet in Dallas, Texas – I was taking 8 (you read that right) concurrent AP classes my Junior year, and obsessing about getting 99’s across the board on my report card.  I was a little “cray”.

Luckily for me, my misplaced desire for perfection had definite endings – the end of the grading period, the end of the school year, etc.  Also, luckily for me, my course-load was math/science/computer-heavy, where there is an end to every problem and you just have to get there.

But what do you do when you’re writing an essay, and there are infinite ways you could craft your words, infinite examples you could utilize, infinite combinations of sentence structures and ways to weave your argument?

That, my friend, is when you need to chuck this need for perfection out the window…  ESPECIALLY if you are writing a timed essay on the SAT or ACT!!

See, even though you might not have experienced it yet, in the “real world” (outside of school), it’s fairly impossible to be “perfect”.  There will always be someone more skilled, smarter, prettier, faster, stronger, more “successful”, and wealthier than you.

If you wait until you’re “perfect” before you submit that report/manuscript or audition for that part, you’ll be waiting a long time - possibly forever – before you follow your dreams.

And if you wait until you think you have the “perfect” essay written in your head before you put your pencil on the paper and start writing it, time will be called before you finish your introduction!!!

In my experience tutoring and coaching countless high-schoolers for the SAT and ACT, the biggest essay obstacle I’ve seen is when the student just wasn’t able to finish her essay in the designated time: 25 minutes for the SAT and 30 minutes for the ACT.  (Or more, if you have extended or double time.)  That’s when you see essay scores of 2 or 4 out of 12 possible points.

Sadly, the test-graders only see what’s on the page.  They will NEVER see the beautiful thoughts in your head, or your gripping stance on how history repeats itself unless we can innovate as a society.  Therefore, your job is to get your thoughts on that page so that they can be graded.  And whatever will be, will be.

In general, if you can just write and finish the 2 pages you’re allotted on the SAT (or get 2 pages written on the ACT), you’re looking at a safe score of 8+ out of 12.  While not phenomenal, this is waaaaay better than a 2, and could mean the difference of 100+ points on the SAT Writing section!

So, if this is you, and you are paralyzed by a need to be perfect, you may be wondering how you can go from never getting your thoughts on the page and scoring a 2 – to letting go and getting a solid 8 that can be built upon.

It’s easy: practice being sloppy!

For the next month, I want to you try the following exercise, which I learned from Julia Cameron’s “Morning Pages” and adapted to get results for teenagers prepping for the SAT:

Mental Mastery Technique #1: Practice Sloppy Success

1)    Get a blank sheet of computer paper.

2)    Set the alarm on your phone for 5 minutes.

3)    Start writing!  Your goal is to completely fill up the page in the 5 minutes before your alarm goes off.

That’s it!  However, here are some helpful hints, as this seems way easier than it actually is:

• Keep your pen moving and write whatever pops into your head. If you are blank, write “blank” until something pops into your head.
• DO NOT erase or cross out anything! Not even a misspelled word.  You need to get used to not being perfect for the sake of this exercise.
• Don’t worry about perfect grammar, complete sentences, or “stupid” ideas.  This is an exercise in getting your thoughts on the page without censoring.
• Don’t read what you wrote. You even have my permission to throw away the sheet of paper afterwards.

I’ve gotten amazing results for my students with this practice, sometimes in as little as a couple days.  Why?  For several reasons:

• No more over-analysis-paralysis!  Something actually gets written!
• By writing whatever comes up, you are releasing feelings of test anxiety and other emotions onto the page, so it no longer takes up your valuable head-space.
• You are shifting the focus of what you’re trying to accomplish: finishing as opposed to being perfect.

Please help yourself and give this a try. Right now!  After all, it only takes 5 minutes.  Then post your comments below to share the results you get.

Very Important: Can you think of a friend/classmate who’s suffering from writer’s block on the SAT or ACT essay? Share this post with them – you might just save their score!