When I first started prepping for the SAT, I struggled a lot with the vocab-in-context questions. Every time I jumped straight to the answer choices, I found myself overwhelmed and often made rushed, inaccurate selections. Then, I tried a different approach: covering the answer choices and predicting the word myself based on the context of the sentence. This small shift completely changed my perspective and performance. By focusing on understanding the sentence and coming up with my own word first, I trained my brain to think more independently. It helped me avoid getting trapped by tricky answer options designed to confuse test-takers. This predict-first method allowed me to engage more deeply with the passage and rely less on guessing under pressure. To strengthen this habit, I practiced vocab-in-context questions exclusively, searching for resources that allowed me to batch these question types. This targeted practice built my confidence and made my instinct for inference sharper, so by the time I faced mixed question types in full tests, answering felt much more manageable. When I occasionally missed a question, I made sure to analyze why my predicted word was close but not correct. Understanding the subtle shades of meaning between almost-right words helped me refine my vocabulary sense further. Overall, combining a predict-first strategy with deliberate, focused practice transformed my SAT prep journey, boosting my score from a 1280 to a 1500. If you’re preparing for the SAT reading section, I recommend trying this technique to enhance your accuracy and reduce test anxiety. It’s a game changer!