Want to know how to get a 700+ on SAT Reading and Writing? You have come to the right place, because this is the ultimate guide for students who want to make the leap from a good SAT Reading & Writing score to an elite one.
After working with dozens of gifted students who clearly had the intelligence and work ethic to score 700+ on this section, but consistently struggled to maximize their score potential, I became interested in understanding why.
What I found was striking:
Highly intelligent students were often struggling with the same exact types of mistakes.
Why?
Because there is a fundamental difference between the skills rewarded in school and the skills rewarded on the SAT.
In fact, many of the habits that make students successful in their English classes are actively punished on SAT Reading & Writing.
The SAT test makers are exceptionally skilled at designing answer choices that specifically appeal to the analytical instincts that high-achieving students develop throughout their academic career. These so-called “trap answers” often sound sophisticated, nuanced, and defensible; this is exactly why strong students fall for them.
This is why, again and again, I saw gifted students approach the SAT using the same reasoning habits that serve them well in school, only to hit an unexpected ceiling with their score.
The issue was rarely intelligence.
The issue was approach.
The good news is that students in this position do not need to learn an entirely new skillset.
They simply need to reorient their thinking toward what the SAT actually rewards, while sharpening a handful of foundational rules and strategies they are almost certainly already aware of.
That means the jump from a solid score to a 700+ score is far more achievable than many students realize.
Many high-achieving students plateau because they apply excellent academic reasoning to a test that rewards a different kind of reasoning. Once you recognize that difference, your score ceiling often rises much faster than you expect.
If you want a deeper explanation of why excellent students often underperform relative to their academic ability on SAT Reading & Writing, click here.
Otherwise, keep reading.
What This Guide Covers
In this guide, we’ll break down both the big-picture mindset shifts and the exact tactical strategies elite scorers use to break 700+.
Most encouragingly, these strategies are not especially difficult.
The challenge is not complexity.
The challenge is knowing what actually matters.
By focusing on the skills and approaches the SAT actually rewards, you not only maximize your odds of earning an elite score, you also make your test prep dramatically more efficient.
A Quick Note Before You Begin
This is a comprehensive guide.
It is intentionally long, and many sections link to deeper standalone articles for students who want a more exhaustive breakdown of specific concepts.
For that reason, you may get the most value by reading it in multiple sittings.
With that said—
Let’s begin with the Reading section.
SAT Reading Strategies
- The Golden Rule: Every Correct Answer Has Proof
Elite SAT Reading scores are built on a simple principle: every correct answer must be supported by clear textual evidence.
Simply put, SAT Reading questions are less about reading and more about finding evidence.
Most questions don’t reward deep interpretation or gut instinct, but rather your ability to prove each answer you choose with direct evidence from the excerpt.
Many students get themselves into trouble by attempting to closely read each excerpt for a deep level of understanding and/or relying on intuition like they do in their classes at school. This is simply not the correct approach.
“The SAT rewards evidence, not intuition.”
A helpful way to reframe the SAT Reading section is to think about the process a detective uses in an investigation: building a case methodically, based on clear, irrefutable proof.
While a detective’s intuition may lead them to look at the evidence in a certain way, only the evidence itself is ultimately used to come to conclusions.
Consequently, test takers should aim to “build a case” for every answer they choose with direct and clear evidence from the corresponding excerpt.
This is how elite scorers reframe SAT Reading from passive absorption to active investigation.
The Golden Rule
If you cannot point to the exact sentence that proves an answer is correct, you are guessing.
Sure, it might be an educated guess, or perhaps using your intuition, but that is still a guess.
Truthfully, this approach can work sometimes. But scoring over 700 requires a consistent, repeatable process, and finding direct, text-based evidence for each answer you select is the only such process.
Now, this may initially seem like an obvious strategy, but surprisingly few students actually adhere to it, especially on test day when nerves are high.
To get an elite score, you have to minimize the number of answers you choose based on “this seems plausible” guesses.
If you want to score 700+, every answer you choose should be supported by clear, direct textual evidence.
Again, if you cannot locate an exact piece of the excerpt that directly supports the answer you have chosen, you are guessing and are, therefore, highly susceptible to the SAT’s so-called “trap answers.”
Let’s take a look at an example of a highly common trap answer that many undisciplined students fall for when they do not commit to finding evidence in the corresponding excerpt.
Trap Answer Example
The Passage Says:
While modern technology has made communication faster and information more accessible, its influence has not been entirely positive. Digital tools have undoubtedly improved productivity and expanded educational opportunities.
However, the rapid adoption of many technologies has also introduced unintended consequences, including increased distraction and weaker face-to-face interactions.
Acknowledging these drawbacks does not require rejecting technological progress altogether. Instead, it suggests that innovation should be evaluated not only for the conveniences it provides but also for the ways it shapes human behavior.
Trap Answer Choice:
Question: Which choice best states the author’s main perspective on modern technology?
(A) The author contends that the widespread adoption of modern technology has produced damaging social consequences and that its continued expansion is ultimately difficult to justify. ❌ Trap
Why it’s tempting: It picks up on the author’s criticism of distraction and weaker face-to-face interactions, but exaggerates that criticism into an almost complete rejection of modern technology. The passage explicitly says that recognizing these drawbacks does not require rejecting technological progress altogether.
(B) The author acknowledges that modern technology provides significant benefits but argues that its implementation should also be judged by its broader effects on human behavior. ✅ Correct
How 700+ Scorers Think Differently
700+ scorers would go back into the passage and verify their choice with textual evidence, because “sounds right” or “sounds like what the passage said” are not precise enough to unlock an elite score.
Doing so quickly rules out Choice A, because while the author does criticize the unintended consequences of many modern technologies, the passage explicitly states that “Acknowledging these drawbacks does not require rejecting technological progress altogether.”
That sentence directly contradicts the trap answer’s claim that the author views continued technological expansion as “ultimately difficult to justify.”
This answer choice is the exact kind of trap that strong students often choose. It doesn’t invent information; it simply pushes the author’s qualified criticism one step too far, using stronger, more absolute language than the passage supports.
That distinction matters.
There is a significant difference between:
- The actual argument: acknowledging technology’s drawbacks but not rejecting it altogether.
- The trap answer’s argument: technology’s continued expansion is “difficult to justify.”
Yet many students will focus on the critical nature of the passage and select the trap answer anyway because it feels “mostly right.”
This is exactly how trap answers work.
Trap answers are often almost entirely correct except for one small exaggeration or misrepresentation, sometimes even only one disqualifying word.
Why Students Fall for These Answers
Many students choose this type of answer because it contains most of the information they are looking for, and it is relatively easy to overlook the single element that makes it incorrect.
This is especially common when:
- the answer choice is almost entirely accurate
- the wording sounds sophisticated
- only one word is disqualifying
Unsurprisingly, these “mostly right” answers are extremely effective at tricking students.
They are also one of the primary ways 700+ scorers differentiate themselves from other test takers.
Questions Elite Scorers Constantly Ask
Before choosing an answer, disciplined students consistently ask themselves questions such as:
1. Where exactly is the proof?
2. Which sentence specifically supports this answer?
3. Is the wording identical (or at least highly similar) to what the passage actually says?
4. Is any word unnecessary? Does every word earn its place?
5. Are there any words in the answer choice that are disqualifying?
Final Takeaway
Asking these types of questions before selecting an answer dramatically reduces the odds of falling for SAT trap answers.
More importantly, it transforms SAT Reading from intuition and “this sounds right” to a process of verification.
That shift in mindset is one of the foundational differences between students scoring in the 500’s and 600’s and students consistently scoring 700+.
Continue Reading
Click here to read more about using textual evidence to boost your SAT Reading score.
2. Mastering Trap Answers
Elite SAT scorers recognize that many wrong answers are intentionally designed to look almost right.
As previously discussed, one of the clearest differences between a student stuck in the 500’s–600’s and a 700+ scorer is the ability to identify trap answers.
If you’ve taken the SAT before, you probably know the following feeling:
You confidently eliminate two clearly wrong answers… and then get stuck staring at the final two.
Both seem plausible.
Both sound intelligent.
Both feel defensible.
And suddenly, what should have been a quick question becomes a frustrating guessing game.
This is not an accident.
The SAT is deliberately designed this way.
The Trap
SAT test makers are exceptionally skilled at creating answer choices that are mostly correct—but still wrong.
These are what we call trap answers.
They often contain:
- Accurate information with one subtle flaw.
- Language that sounds sophisticated but slightly distorts the passage
- Extreme wording like always, never, entirely, completely.
- Claims that seem reasonable (or even true) in the real world, but are not supported by the text.
This is exactly why so many strong students get stuck.
The problem usually isn’t that they don’t understand the passage.
The problem is that they haven’t yet trained themselves to recognize how the SAT engineers misleading answer choices.
The Good News
The SAT is remarkably consistent in the types of traps it uses.
That means trap answers are absolutely learnable.
With practice, the patterns become obvious.
Questions that once required long internal debates become much faster to solve.
Instead of asking:
“Which of these sounds better?”
700+ scorers ask:
“Which answer can I directly support with what is in the text, and which one just “sounds” right?” That shift changes everything.
Why This Matters
Every minute spent debating between two answers is time lost elsewhere.
Multiply that across an entire section, and trap answers quietly destroy timing.
Students who learn to recognize traps:
✓ Move faster
✓ Guess less
✓ Preserve mental energy
✓ Finish more confidently
Elite scorers do not avoid trap answers because they are smarter.
They avoid them because they recognize the SAT’s patterns.
Because this topic is so important—and because there are far too many examples to fully cover here—I created a dedicated breakdown of the most common SAT Reading and Writing Trap Answers. This is one of the best ways to improve your score so you definitely want to read this article.
3. Build Reading Stamina With Academic Writing
Many strong students have the comprehension ability to excel on SAT Reading, but lack the reading stamina to maximize their potential.
Many of the students I have worked with have a similar problem: while their reading comprehension ability is more than advanced enough to excel on SAT Reading, they do not have the reading stamina to maximize their potential.
In many cases, the gap between a student’s reading comprehension ability and their reading stamina is one of the biggest culprits for them not breaking 700.
What Does This Look Like in Practice?
Well, give a student who struggles with this issue a few short reading excerpts to read without time constraints, and that student will master each excerpt and get all of the questions correct.
But, give that same student a full section’s worth of reading excerpts–and precious little time to read each one–and everything falls apart due to their lack of ability to stay attentive and engaged long enough to comprehend the necessary amount of information for an elite score.
Students often think they don’t have this problem because they read all the time while completing their classwork & homework, but very few students complete their assignments in the same conditions imposed by the SAT.
For example, most students do their classwork and homework in spurts:
- read for a few minutes
- look at their phone
- read for another minute or two
- talk to a friend
Rarely is there any demanding time constraint or the need to read and stay engaged for extended periods.
The problem is that the SAT demands full, uninterrupted attention for extended periods and few students are accustomed to this approach.
Reading Stamina is a Skill
Many forget that being able to stay attentive while reading for extended periods is a skill that needs to be developed.
No matter how successful or hard-working of a student you are, ask yourself honestly:
Could you read, staying fully attentive and engaged, for 30 minutes? 45?
No checking phones.
No day dreaming.
No distractions.
Only you know the answer to this, but the reality is, most students (and plenty of adults) struggle mightily with reading stamina.
Simply put, reading stamina (or lack thereof) is one of the most significant impediments to obtaining an elite score on this section, and very few students or tutors ever think about it.
Think About it Like Athletic Training
Think about it like this: would a distance runner, whose event is predicated on stamina and endurance, expect to excel in their event if they had not thoroughly developed their stamina?
Of course not, right?
So why would a student who has not worked on reading stamina expect to excel on the SAT (its own version of a marathon or distance event in academic terms)?
So, much like the runner who practices deliberately to build stamina over an extended period, elite SAT scorers must commit to building the requisite stamina to excel.
The Good News
The good news is that you, unlike a distance runner, don’t need to commit to hours and hours of painful running exercises.
With the right approach, even a mere 15-30 minutes a day of reading, for a few months will result in significant improvement.
Important Note
Reading alone is not enough.
Students must commit to reading highly advanced, dense writing such as:
- academic journals
- social science articles
- scientific writing
- one of the SAT’s favorites: notoriously difficult to decode, antiquated literary works
Test takers who are not accustomed to this type of high-level writing often struggle to consistently parse out enough information to unlock elite scores under the SAT’s time constraints.
Continue Reading
Click here (article coming soon) for a full guide on how to not only improve your reading stamina, but also how to get better at decoding passages with the highly advanced syntax/vocabulary, abstract arguments, and nuanced claims that make SAT Reading passages so demanding.
4. Stop Trying to Understand 100% of the Passage
Many students sabotage their SAT Reading score by trying to understand every detail, rather than focusing on the information that actually matters.
Stop reading the SAT like a novel or a textbook.
You’re not there to understand every detail.
The truth is, you simply will not be able to absorb 100% of the information under the time constraints that the SAT imposes, and that’s completely fine.
A 700+ scorer focuses on what actually matters: the author’s main idea and purpose, the author’s tone and attitude toward that idea, and any argument/corresponding evidence.
It’s perfectly okay if you don’t fully grasp every scientific detail, literary device, piece of technical jargon, or specific name and date.
You realistically don’t have the time to memorize all of it, and you really don’t need to.
A Helpful Way to Think About This
A helpful way to frame this approach is as follows: imagine you are sitting at your desk in school, 30 seconds before class starts, when your friend, having not done his homework, frantically approaches you and asks what the reading was about.
Think about how you would respond.
You would likely describe the main idea or purpose; the argument the author made and whether it was convincing or not; and probably even the style (“it was super dense and hard to get through,” or “it was actually really easy to read”).
Imagine how much less helpful it would be to your friend if you focused on specific names and details rather than the bigger picture.
That’s why the 15-30 second “bigger picture” analysis of an excerpt is what we should be aiming for on SAT Reading.
Students try to read SAT passages like material they’re expected to master for school. That is not what the SAT is asking you to do.
The Bigger Reality
To take it a step further, the reality is that most of the excerpts are going to be about things you know nothing about and will likely never meaningfully think about again once you’re done with the SAT.
Therefore, there really is no expectation or need for you to get 100% out of an excerpt that you have very little time to read anyway.
Continue Reading
Learn how best to prioritize relevant information and not get bogged down by the finer details–a key part of optimizing your SAT Reading score–by clicking here (article coming soon).
5. Make Predictions Before Looking at the Answers
Elite scorers predict what the correct answer should say before looking at the choices, making trap answers easier to spot and eliminate.
One of the most effective habits elite SAT Reading scorers develop is predicting the correct answer before looking at the answer choices.
Unfortunately, most test takers do the opposite: they read the question and immediately jump straight to the answer options. This is exactly how students fall into trap answers.
SAT test writers are exceptionally skilled at creating answer choices that sound reasonable, sophisticated, and often partially (or even mostly) correct.
Without a clear expectation of what the correct answer should actually say, students are far more likely to be drawn to these carefully engineered traps.
Many test takers end up rationalizing flawed answers, convincing themselves that a partially correct choice is somehow the best answer. They rely on intuition—what some of my students call “vibes”—instead of evidence.
This creates two major problems:
- It leads to incorrect answers.
- It wastes enormous amounts of time.
It is not uncommon for students to spend 60 seconds or more debating between two answer choices on a difficult question.
Now imagine if that happens 5 times.
That’s 5 wasted minutes.
10 times?
That’s a devastating amount of time to lose.
Elite scorers understand that minimizing wasted time is one of the keys to breaking 700, and making predictions is one of the best ways to do exactly that.
When you already know what you are looking for, wrong answers become much easier to eliminate. If an answer choice does not match your prediction, you can often discard it immediately.
How to Make Predictions
After reading the question, pause and ask yourself:
1. What must the correct answer accomplish?
2. What part of the passage should it relate to?
3. What claim, relationship, or detail should it include?
To be clear, not every question allows for a highly specific prediction.
That’s perfectly fine.
Even a rough prediction dramatically improves accuracy because it gives you a standard against which to evaluate the answer choices.
Instead of asking:
“Does this answer sound good?”
Ask:
“Does this answer match what I know the correct answer needs to include?”
That shift changes SAT Reading from a guessing game into a verification process.
And that strategic shift is one of the clearest differences between students stuck in the 500’s and 600’s and those who consistently score 700+.
Continue Reading
Click here for a full guide on how to use predictions to increase your SAT Reading and Writing score.
6. The SAT Reading Section Is Not Testing Outside Knowledge
The SAT does not test what you already know; it tests what you can prove from the passage.
At first glance, this may seem obvious: the SAT Reading section is designed to test how well you can interpret college-level writing under time pressure.
However, many students make the section far more difficult than it needs to be by bringing outside knowledge into the test.
This is a major mistake.
SAT test makers are exceptionally skilled at creating answer choices that sound logical, reasonable, or sophisticated based on commonly held knowledge, but have absolutely nothing to do with the passage itself.
Consider the following example:
Passage:
In a recent study, researchers examined the diets of urban foxes and found that over 60% of their food intake consisted of discarded human food, such as leftovers and packaging scraps. The researchers noted that this shift has allowed urban fox populations to grow steadily, even in densely populated cities.
Question:
Which choice best describes a factor contributing to the growth of urban fox populations, according to the passage?
A. The abundance of human food waste in cities
B. A decrease in natural predators in urban environments
C. The adaptability of foxes to different climates
D. Increased conservation efforts protecting fox habitats
Most students will quickly eliminate C and D, since they are more clearly incorrect.
That usually leaves A and B.
Which would you choose?
Correct Answer:
A. The abundance of human food waste in cities
This answer is correct because the passage explicitly tells us:
“Over 60% of their food intake consisted of discarded human food… this shift has allowed populations to grow.”
The evidence is direct, clear, and undeniable.
The Trap Answer:
B. A decrease in natural predators in urban environments
This answer is tempting because it sounds extremely logical.
In fact, it probably is true in the real world.
Most students understand that large urban environments disrupt ecosystems and reduce the presence of larger predators. That background knowledge makes this answer feel intelligent and plausible.
But none of that matters.
Because the SAT does not care what is probably true.
It only cares what is supported by the passage.
And this idea is not mentioned anywhere in the excerpt.
That makes it wrong.
This is one of the SAT’s favorite tricks: presenting answer choices that align with real-world logic, common knowledge, or sophisticated reasoning, but are unsupported by the text.
Disciplined test takers understand a crucial principle:
If it is not in the passage, it cannot be the correct answer.
No matter how plausible.
No matter how likely.
No matter how sophisticated it sounds.
Don’t Fear Unfamiliar Topics
Many students also experience the opposite problem when they encounter passages from subjects they know little about, especially science.
An excerpt about microbiology, astrophysics, or environmental chemistry can immediately trigger panic:
“I don’t know anything about this.”
But that fear is unnecessary.
Because prior knowledge is not required.
The SAT does not expect you to be an expert in the topic of the passage.
It only expects you to locate and interpret evidence within the passage itself.
That means even if you know absolutely nothing about the subject matter, you can still answer the questions correctly.
All necessary information is provided.
I’ll repeat that because it really matters:
You do not need prior knowledge of a passage’s topic to succeed on SAT Reading.
Not history.
Not science.
Not literature.
Not anything.
Your job is not to be knowledgeable.
Your job is to be evidence-driven.
As we’ve already discussed, nearly every effective SAT Reading strategy ultimately circles back to the same foundational principle:
The Golden Rule
Every correct answer has proof in the passage.
If you let that rule guide your thinking, you’ll avoid countless trap answers, and dramatically improve your accuracy.
7. Strategy and Timing Optimization
Many students know the material well enough to score highly on the SAT, but fail to maximize their score because they approach timing inefficiently.
Students scoring in the 600’s or below often struggle with pacing.
Students scoring 700+ almost never do.
This isn’t because they are better students or even necessarily faster readers.
It’s simply that elite scorers approach the test strategically, generally adhering to a few valuable timing principles.
Don’t Get Stuck
If a question isn’t clear after about 90 seconds, flag it and move on.
Every question is worth the same, so there is no reason to spend an extended period of time on any one question the first time through.
Count on going back to the questions you have marked, after you have completed the rest of the section.
Missing any one particular question will not prevent you from scoring 700+, but spending way too much time on one question absolutely could.
I have seen students spend too much time on an especially difficult question, then lose out on having time to fully contend with multiple easy questions they definitely would have otherwise gotten correct.
This is a disastrous approach because you’re leaving points on the board for no reason.
So make sure to move on from especially challenging/time consuming questions, and ensure you have enough time to comfortably answer all of the questions in the section.
Students who struggle with time management often treat difficult questions as battles that must be won immediately.
Elite scorers treat them as questions to revisit strategically.
Use the Process of Elimination
The process of elimination is an excellent way to increase your speed on the SAT because getting rid of three wrong answers is often faster than proving one answer correct.
At the very least, prepared test takers should be able to eliminate two incorrect answer choices on most questions.
Even if it comes down to a guess between the two remaining answer choices, you’ve doubled your chances of getting it correct, (which adds up when you can do this on multiple questions), and it saves a lot of time.
Why This Works
This is where the above rule of making predictions about the correct answer is particularly valuable because, as you can imagine, it is much easier and faster to eliminate incorrect answers when you have a prediction of what the correct answer should look like in the first place.
The most difficult questions on the SAT are, of course, where elite scorers differentiate themselves from other test takers, so getting through all of the easy questions efficiently, and leaving plenty of time for the most difficult questions is basically a requirement for obtaining an elite score.
8. Consistency Beats Cramming
Many students fail to reach their SAT score potential not because they lack ability, but because their preparation is inconsistent, unfocused, or too short-term.
Improving your Reading and Writing SAT score will not happen overnight; building the skillset to reach your score potential takes months of consistent and intentional practice.
Many students will be familiar with the concept of consistent, long term practice through their experiences with, for example, music lessons, sports practices, foreign language classes, or gaming (among many others).
The Good News
Fortunately, unlike many other pursuits students are familiar with, the SAT does not require students to start from scratch.
Whereas a student studying a musical instrument or a foreign language, for example, has to learn totally unfamiliar concepts such as music theory or foreign vocab words and grammar, the SAT requires merely honing skills—such as reading comprehension and critical thinking—that students have already spent years in school developing.
This is why getting a student to reach their score potential isn’t a years-long pursuit like learning the violin from scratch.
That said, score improvement does tend to be gradual.
Just like a runner gradually shaving seconds off their mile time, SAT students typically move gradually from:
- 620
- 650
- 680
- 700+
With consistent effort, that kind of improvement is absolutely achievable.
But it requires discipline and being realistic: don’t expect a massive improvement after a week or two.
Students need to be committed to this process for an extended period to truly maximize their chances of getting an elite score.
I have found that 3-4 months of consistent study is usually enough to do so.
And to be clear, this doesn’t mean studying every day for several hours.
A well thought out curriculum for maximizing a student’s score can easily be made to fit a busy student’s schedule.
The issue with this, however, is that most students simply do not know where to start.
Many try various study guide guides and practice tests without any real sense of direction.
Unfortunately, this very common “throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks” approach to preparing for the SAT often leads to students not reaching their full potential, simply because they were not focused closely enough on the things they most needed to improve.
What I’ve Seen Repeatedly
I’ve seen this happen to numerous students who were exceptionally motivated and were more than willing to put in the time to maximize their potential, they just weren’t using their time effectively enough.
This amorphous, non-regimented course of study was consistently one of the most significant impediments to students reaching their dream score I encountered, so as a result, I created a 90 day guided curriculum that was designed with students’ busy schedules in mind.
Continue Reading
Click here to read more about this regimented curriculum (coming soon).
SAT Writing Strategies
- Think Like an Editor
Many students approach SAT Writing like test takers, but elite scorers approach it like professional editors.
Thinking like an editor is basically the whole game for the Writing section of the SAT.
Instead of approaching the section as a student taking a standardized test, it’s very helpful to, instead, approach SAT Writing as though you have been hired to polish and improve somebody’s writing.
In short, you need to be proactive in finding as many errors (or even just small details that could be better) as possible.
Why This Works
Keep in mind that in order to keep their jobs, professional editors must fully optimize the materials they are reviewing by catching even the most subtle errors and inefficiencies.
If they don’t, they won’t find work.
If SAT test takers don’t, they won’t get an elite score on SAT Writing.
Therefore, it is crucial for students to truly master grammar rules and conventions, as well as practice identifying the subtle errors and sloppy mechanics that the SAT test makers are so skilled at sneaking past students.
700+ scorers often emulate the systematic approach that professional editors use.
For instance, whereas students typically ask something like:
“does this sound right?”
professional editors ask far more intentional and systematic questions such as:
1. Is this grammatically correct?
2. Is this clear and concise?
3. Does this sentence logically connect to the surrounding ideas?
4. Is any word unnecessary? Does every word earn its place?
5. Is the structure consistent with the rest of the sentence and passage?
Most students rely on instinct.
Elite scorers rely on systems.
This level of precision and intentionality is exactly what the SAT rewards.
Our job as an editor in the SAT Writing section can be boiled down to the following three rules that I like to refer to as The Three C’s:
- Clear
- Concise
- Consistent
Continue Reading
Click here to read more about The Three C’s and how they should inform everything you do for this section.
2. Master the Core Grammar Rules
Elite SAT Writing scores are primarily built on mastery of a small set of foundational grammar rules that most students never fully learn.
The importance of truly mastering foundational grammar rules cannot be overstated.
There really is no way around the fact that students who do not have an airtight understanding of relevant grammar rules will be punished by the SAT Writing section.
Expecting to get an elite score on the SAT without having fully mastered foundational grammar rules is like expecting to win a chess tournament without fully understanding which pieces can move where.
Students who aren’t sure about grammar rules end up guessing on numerous questions and usually spend (waste) a lot of time in doing so, further limiting their ability to contend with the most difficult questions in this section.
The Good News
The good news is that you don’t need to memorize every obscure rule in English grammar.
However, while the SAT may not require you to become a full-scale grammarian, elite scorers almost always have mastered the small set of rules that SAT routinely tests, primarily (but not limited to):
- Punctuation rules
- Sentence boundaries
- Subject–verb agreement
- Pronoun agreement
- Parallel structure
- Modifier placement
Once a student has mastered these conventions, many of the questions on the Writing section become nearly automatic.
The reality is, however, few students ever end up truly mastering them and, as a result, never hit their score potential.
Simply put, nearly all students must make a deliberate, extended effort to study grammar conventions to gain the mastery required for an elite score, and very few actually do.
Generally speaking, this is not due to lack of effort or motivation, but rather because these grammar conventions are often overlooked as most students assume they already know them.
Fortunately, gaining a level of mastery of relevant grammar conventions is actually not all that difficult; it just requires a deliberate and well thought out course of study.
Check out The Verbal Method’s ultimate guide to SAT Grammar here (coming soon) for a place to start.
The question below is a good litmus test to determine whether you know foundational grammar rules well enough; the rules tested in this question are rather simple and should be straightforward for prepared students.
However, the answer choices being so similar (a common SAT tactic) can overwhelm students who have a shaky grasp of grammar rules.
The below question quickly shows us whether the test taker needs more review of grammar (and, again, almost all students do).
Practice Question
In astronomy, the term “false positive” is used to describe a signal that appears to indicate the presence of an exoplanet but is later shown to have another explanation. Like a visual illusion that may strongly resemble a real object, a false positive is not a genuine detection, ________ is a misleading signal caused by other factors.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A. however, it
B. however it
C. however; but it
D. however. It
Let’s Analyze It
The key issue here is sentence boundaries: the place where the two clauses are separated (note that each answer shows us that the boundary is between “however” and “it”).
The first step is to analyze the two clauses that make up the sentence in which we have the underlined excerpt.
The first clause is:
“a false positive is not a genuine detection” = complete sentence
The second clause is:
“it is a misleading signal caused by other factors” = also a complete sentence
Because both parts are complete sentences, we know two things:
- they cannot be joined with just a comma (that would be a comma splice).
- there must be some form of punctuation to prevent a run-on.
These two facts immediately eliminate answer choices A and B.
So which answer is correct?
It is D.
Why D is Correct
- “however.” ends the first sentence correctly with a period.
- “It” begins a new, grammatically complete sentence.
- This avoids any boundary error (the comma splice or run-on mentioned above) and maintains clarity.
Why the Other Choices are Wrong
A. “however, it” = comma splice (incorrectly joins two full sentences with a comma)
B. “however it” = without any punctuation, this is a run-on.
C. “however; but it” = redundant conjunctions (however + but), is stylistically incorrect and unnecessarily wordy (the opposite of concise, one of the foundational rules of SAT Writing).
If you were not able to use punctuation and boundary rules to quickly and confidently answer this question, then more work needs to be done.
Prepared students should not only get this type of question right, they should also quickly be certain of their answer choice because they know they have followed all of the grammatical rules that dictate sentence boundaries and punctuation.
If you found yourself unsure or having to make your best guess, you should check out The Verbal Method’s Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar Rules here (coming soon).
3. Learn to Identify Sentence Boundaries Instantly
Sentence boundaries seem basic, until they start costing you SAT Writing points.
Sentence boundaries were just mentioned above, but this is a skill that is so important and widely applicable to this section that it warrants its own explanation. Many students assume sentence boundaries are too basic to require study, but this is one of the most important SAT Writing skills for elite scorers.
First of all, boundaries often determine which punctuation mark(s) to use.
Secondly, one of the most common SAT Writing traps involves run-ons or fragments (which are determined by sentence boundaries).
As a result, being able to quickly and confidently identify the distinction between complete and incomplete sentences, as well as correct punctuation between ideas/clauses, is a crucial skill for those who want an elite score.
Many students take this ability for granted, assuming they must know such a basic concept.
Common Misconception
Because sentence boundaries seem basic, many students assume they have already mastered them. That assumption is often incorrect.
Continue Reading
Again, I encourage you to check out The Verbal Method’s Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar Rules here (coming soon).
4. Use Parallelism or “Match the Structure” to Your Advantage
Parallelism is one of the SAT’s most exploitable, yet overlooked patterns: learn to spot broken structure, and easy points follow.
Many students assume parallelism is an intimidating grammar concept, but it is actually one of the simplest and most exploitable patterns on SAT Writing.
When most students see the word “parallelism” they assume it’s a very challenging and intimidating concept.
But, not only is it actually very simple, it is also one of the clearest and most useful patterns tested on SAT Writing questions.
Basically, parallelism is as simple as matching one part of a sentence or list to another.
In other words, when a sentence lists ideas, actions, or qualities, those elements should be written in the same grammatical form.
The SAT frequently hides subtle errors by breaking this simple pattern.
Example
The study examined how plants grow, how they respond to light, and the measurement of soil nutrients.
This sentence seems fine, right?
After all, there are no glaring errors in it upon the first reading of it.
This is exactly why so many students miss this type of question.
If a sentence sounds fine at first glance, many students assume it must be correct.
That assumption is exactly what the SAT takes advantage of.
As “fine” as this example intially seems, itbreaks parallel structure, and in the world of the SAT, that is a glaring error.
The first two elements (how plants grow, how they respond) clearly have the same structure, but the third shifts to a different structure altogether (the measurement of soil nutrients).
See how the first two elements start with “how” and the third starts with “the measurement”?
That is breaking parallel structure.
Parallelism is fundamentally about pattern recognition. Once you identify the structure, any break in that pattern becomes much easier to spot.
This is a perfect example of the type of subtle error that most test takers will overlook if they are not prepared.
Again, that pattern break doesn’t initially seem like a particularly glaring error, but in the world of the SAT, it is!
This is a great opportunity for us to easily get a question right that many other test takers will fly right past.
Correct Version
The study examined how plants grow, how they respond to light, and how they absorb soil nutrients.
A useful strategy is to identify the pattern of the list first, then check to see if every element matches it.
If two items follow the same grammatical structure, the third should almost always follow it as well.
As mentioned above, the foundational principles of the Writing section come down to the three C’s of Clear, Concise, and Consistent (read more about those here), and keeping parallel structure intact makes for consistent and clear writing; because being both clear and concise is such a crucial part of the SAT Writing section, breaking parallel structure really does matter.
Parallelism Isn’t Just Tested in Lists
Also note that parallelism isn’t only tested in lists.
The SAT often tests if two clauses in the same sentence follow the same grammatical structure.
When ideas are being compared (or paired), the structure on both sides should match.
Example
The new policy aims to reduce costs and that employee productivity improves.
This sentence clearly breaks parallel structure.
The first clause (to reduce costs) starts with the unconjugated verb (to reduce) while the second (that employee productivity improves) flips the order, with a conjugated verb at the end of the clause.
Again, for the unprepared text taker, this is quite easy to overlook.
But 700+ scorers have studied this concept so well that they often recognize parallelism inconsistencies right away.
Correct Version
The new policy aims to reduce costs and improve employee productivity.
Continue Reading
Read more about how using parallelism can boost your score here.
5. Read the Whole Sentence (At Least), Not Just the Underlined Portion
Elite SAT Writing scorers understand that speed comes from clarity—not from reading as little as possible.
Many students lose SAT Writing points because they try to save time by evaluating answer choices without reading enough context.
A lot of students, for the sake of time management, are tempted to read only the underlined portion of SAT Writing questions.
Overall, this will save you time on the front end, but you’ll often end up ultimately spending more time deliberating on the correct answer because you don’t have the full context, and most importantly, you will miss more questions because of that lack of context.
Elite scorers know to read the entire sentence in which the underlined words are housed, and oftentimes, the sentence before.
If you read the entire sentence in which the underline is located, and you still do not feel like you have the necessary context to answer the question, do not be afraid to read the sentence before, or even after.
Context is not wasted time. Repeatedly re-reading because you lacked context is.
It is far better to get the required context the first time you read an excerpt than to have to repeatedly return to the excerpt for more information later.
6. Using Structural Clues to Predict the Right Answer Before You See It
Using structural clue words to predict how ideas relate allows you to anticipate the kind of answer that must be correct before you even look at the choices.
Many students approach SAT Reading & Writing questions by reading the prompt and then immediately scanning the answer choices to see what “sounds right.” This is exactly how test takers fall into trap answers.
Elite scorers take a very different approach.
Rather than reacting to the answer choices, they proactively use structural clue words—such as however, although, therefore, similarly, and many others—to predict the type of answer that must be correct before they even look at the options.
These clue words signal the relationship between ideas.
If you see however, some kind of contrast must follow.
If you see therefore, a conclusion or result must follow.
If you see similarly, the next idea should align with or reinforce the previous one.
Even when you cannot predict the exact wording of the correct answer, you can often predict the kind of answer that logically belongs.
This transforms SAT Reading & Writing from a guessing game into pattern recognition.
Instead of asking:
“What sounds right?”
Ask:
“Which answer matches the relationship this structural clue is signaling?”
Example
Consider the following question:
The researcher initially believed the results were groundbreaking; however, after reviewing additional data, she realized that her conclusions were based on a spurious correlation rather than a meaningful causal relationship.
As used in the text, what does spurious most nearly mean?
A. cogent
B. false
C. complex
D. beneficial
At first glance, many students panic when they encounter an unfamiliar word like spurious.
But strong test takers understand that vocabulary knowledge is not always necessary if the surrounding sentence provides enough clues.
The key structural clue here is:
however
Because the sentence begins by telling us the results initially seemed groundbreaking, the clause after however must communicate the opposite.
But there is another important clue:
“rather than“
The sentence tells us the conclusions were based on a “spurious correlation rather than a meaningful causal relationship.”
That means the relationship was:
- not meaningful
- not causal
- therefore likely false, misleading, or invalid
Even without knowing the dictionary definition of spurious, you can build a strong prediction.
Ask yourself:
- What is the opposite of groundbreaking? → unimportant / unimpressive / invalid
- What is the opposite of meaningful? → meaningless / empty
- What is the opposite of causal? → not actually causing anything
Now evaluate the answer choices:
A. formative
B. false
C. complex
D. beneficial
Even if false is not a perfect synonym, it is clearly the only answer that aligns with the prediction created by the structural clues.
See how we went from not knowing the word in question and likely having to simply guess, to quickly eliminating incorrect answers until we got to the correct one?
That is exactly how elite scorers approach these questions. That is the power of structrual clues.
“If I don’t know the vocabulary word, I have to guess.”
Not necessarily.
SAT questions often provide enough structural and contextual clues to let you predict the correct answer without knowing the exact definition.
Structural clues are especially powerful on Words in Context questions like this, but they are also incredibly useful across many other SAT Reading & Writing question types. Read more about how using them can significantly improve your score here.
Final Thoughts
Scoring 700+ on SAT Reading & Writing is not about being a genius, memorizing obscure vocabulary, or discovering some magical shortcut.
It is about learning to think the way the SAT rewards.
Again and again, I have seen exceptionally bright students underperform on this section—not because they lacked ability, but because they were using the wrong framework.
They were reading too deeply when precision mattered more than interpretation.
Trusting intuition when evidence was required.
Overanalyzing trap answers that were designed to feel plausible.
Once those habits change, scores often move faster than students expect.
The reality is that breaking 700+ is usually less about learning dozens of brand-new concepts and more about refining your approach, mastering a relatively small set of high-leverage skills, and practicing consistently.
If you’ve made it this far, you already understand something many students never do:
SAT Reading & Writing is not primarily a test of intelligence.
It is a test of pattern recognition, disciplined reasoning, and strategic execution.
Master those skills, and an elite score becomes dramatically more attainable.
And if you’d prefer a more structured, step-by-step version of this process—with video lessons, guided practice, and a full system built specifically to help ambitious students break into elite score territory—you can explore The Verbal Method here.
Otherwise, I hope this guide helps you approach the SAT with far more clarity, confidence, and efficiency than before.
Good luck and happy studying!
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