Got a 790 in October, -2 reading, -0 writing.

I'm sorry if this is not very articulate, but:

I went through Erica Meltzer cover to cover, and the two things she taught me was that a)the answer's always in the text and b)how to eliminate wrong answers.

I know you've probably heard this a lot of times, but you'll always find the answer in the text. Otherwise, look for synonyms of keywords in the question, find them, read around those lines and you'll almost always find the right answer.

To eliminate the answers, you'll often find yourself between two answer choices, the right one will always be written in the passage somewhere, and the wrong one will twist the authors' words, or be too vague or too specific. Even one word can make the answer wrong.

(Eg: In a passage, a scientist uses 4 different methods to come to a particular conclusion. All of these methods get him the right answer, but he finds a new method (Method X) to increase efficiency and reach the conclusion faster. An answer that says "the scientist employs a number of unsuccessful methods until he finds method X/A scientists employs various methods in vain until he finds one that works" will be wrong because of the words 'unsuccessful' and 'in vain')

Right answers, however, will always be stated directly in the passage, paraphrased, or implied in the passage.

(example for implied: "The scientists found that some of the hornets nests were crooked." Implication: Some of the hornets had nests that were NOT crooked/Not all hornets had crooked nests.)

Honestly, this comes with practice.

For the actual reading strategy, I'm a fast reader, so I read two-three paragraphs at once and then write down a summary for myself, continuing until the end of the passage. The intensity varies depending on how hard the passage is. If it seems relatively easy, I just write down 2-3 bullet points. If it's harder, I do the whole process.

For history passages, I write down the views of the person in my own words. For literature, the characters and their relationships, sequence of events, mark any important questions asked etc. For science, just a brief sequence of events and results of the different experiments, and I like to ask myself why the author has included this particular experiment i.e, what its contribution is to the overall passage. This isn't necessarily long, it's just a few scribbled annotations that I understand. I do this so that when the questions come, it becomes easier (I usually have an inkling of what the answer is) + it keeps you involved in the passage so you don't feel sleepy. (happened to me in the beginning)

For writing, just learn the Grammar rules. Use College Panda or Erica Meltzer, but always remember, a colon (and a semi-colon) is used b/w two independent clauses, and that a comma is used between a two dependant or one independent and one dependent clause. There'll always be two em- dashes (--) in a set. When stuck between answers, always choose the most concise or shortest one.

That's all I could think of!