The legendary (and yet strangely elusive) “Xiggi Method,” is solid SAT advice from a regular College Confidential contributor.  There are nearly 1000 comments about “the method” — to give you some idea of the level of status this advice has achieved.

Personally, I don’t agree with everything Xiggi advises (e.g. I’m not sure you have to buy tons of SAT books.  I did that; it didn’t work.)  But, I’d say that I agree with about 90% of the “Xiggi Method.”

The method also includes a few interesting and unique pieces of advice, such as taking a few practice tests with the answers in front of you so you can study the correct choices.  Hummmm…..interesting; I wish I’d tried that.

Bottom Line: I think the 15 page “Xiggi Method“ is well worth taking the time to read.

Doing my best to share everything I learned about the SAT last year (7 SATs in 10 months).  Check back for frequent updates to the SAT Resources and SAT Tips pages.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

Tip #17

Sentence Completion (aka the Vocab Questions):

On this one you really should take my advice, because I only got one wrong out of 7 SATs last year (yes, I’m bragging, but my Math score entitles me to brag about my Reading and Writing scores.)

Ok, here’s “The Method”: Any time you don’t know a word, look it up. Period. End of story.**  Even if you got the question right. Then, use these words often, even at the risk of using them incorrectly (see The Essential Mistake). I’m a big fan of Wordnick (puts them in context); I’m also a believer in homemade flashcards. When you’re taking the SAT, read the sentence, then jot down the first words that come to mind (even if they’re not “the big fancy vocab words”). Pick the word you feel most strongly about (if there are two blanks), and see which one (or two) works in the answer choices.

CROSS OUT WRONG ANSWERS — as in, put a line through them and get them out of your line of vision. You’ll most likely be down to two answers by this point. Then, look at the second word you jotted down and see which of the two answers left works. This is as much about the process of elimination as is about knowing the definitions of the words.

Oh, and one more thing: Beware of the backwards words (i.e. those words that make the answer the opposite of what you’re thinking — words such as “however” or “but,” etc.).

**Okay, I know you’re not going to really do this (I have two teenagers, don’t forget). But, even if you do this 75% of the time — ok, even 60% of the time…..you will do significantly better.

Doing my best share everything I learned about the SAT last year (7 SATs over the course of 10 months). Check on the SAT Resources and SAT Tips pages for frequent updates.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

Updating the Resource Page daily. Attempting to share everything I learned, post-7 SATs.  (I feel like I need a tag line: “I made mistakes so you don’t have to,”….or “Do as I say, not as I did,”…or something like that.)

1. OFFICIAL College Board Solutions