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SAT Study Guides
1.3 SAT Math - Overall Strategies - Pacing and Guessing
Keep in mind that here, you'll be learning SAT Math, not school math. The two aren't necessarily that different, but there are certain ways of doing problems and certainly tricks and techniques you'll be shown that may be different than the way you learned it in school. So here's our first Overall Rule:
Use what works for you
There is often more than one way to solve a problem, and if you know how to do it and get it right, do it that way. But if you're getting them wrong, try our way, or a different way. If a technique or skill doesn't make sense to you, it's not going to help you. Neither, however, will be stubbornness. If you had already gotten 800 on the Math Section you wouldn't be here. It's up to you to change the way you think about a problem, to learn and memorize the tips and techniques here, and to practice using them on the practice problems. As much as you might want them to, no one else can take the test for you.
In this SAT Math program, there will be certain words or phrases to help you take note of important techniques. If you see " -Strategy:" what follows will be a math-solving strategy that you can use whenever you need to do math. If you see " -SAT Strategy:" what follows will be a strategy specific to this test. "SAT Strategies" are strategies that you probably should NOT use in school, as they are a way of getting around doing the actual work, and may make you lose points on a test or assignment in which your teacher needs you to learn the work itself. The tricky SATs, of course, don't care about how you got the answer, just what it is, thankfully. " -Hint:" is just that - a little hint about how to solve a particular kind of problem, and " -Trick to Watch Out For:" will tell you how the testmakers try to trick you on that particular type of question. Take note of all the hints, tricks, and strategies to help you achieve the best score you can.
The key to getting the highest score you can is NOT to answer all the questions, but to only answer the questions you're going to get right. Of course, if you knew that you'd be psychic, so what that means for the non-telepathic among us is to Use your best judgment in order to choose which questions to answer.
Say you're on Question Number 3, and you're finding it really difficult. You just can't seem to figure it out. Circle the answer number in your test booklet to come back to it later, make sure to skip the line on your bubble sheet, and skip it. But should you come back to it if you have time? Definitely. It's a Number 3. It's probably pretty easy and you were just reading it weird. What about if you were on Number 18 and finding it hard? Well, you should. It's Number 18. It's one of the hardest questions on the test. Leave the line blank on the bubble sheet, move on to Number 19, and if you finish early, put your pencil down.
What?? Don't go back??? Nope. Not always. What we're talking about here is our first main SAT Strategy:
Test Pacing
It's very important to pace yourself on this test. You should spend a little less than a third of your time on the easy questions, about a third of your time on the mediums, and a little over a third of your time on the hard ones. But that's going to be different for every student. If you've taken the PSATs or a practice test, you should have a vague idea of what score you could expect on the SATs if you took them today. Remember, your goal should NOT be to get an 800 unless you're almost there already. Your goal should be to get the highest score YOU can. So with that in mind, there will be sections in this program in which you will see "Skip this if you're below 650" or "Skip this if you're below 700." These are concepts that will generally NOT be tested on anything but the hardest questions. If you have a score below 600, don't even READ the two or three hardest questions! It's true! You will do BETTER on this test if you skip the two or three hardest questions and use that time to check your other answers than if you waste time on very hard, very tricky questions. Even if your score is above 600 to begin with, tread carefully when it comes to the harder questions. If you're not sure of the concept or how to solve it, you will most likely be better off skipping.
That being said, don't skip everything. Keep a general idea of how many you've skipped - easily done by a quick glance at your bubble sheet. If you have a lot skipped, go back and try to fill in some of the easier ones. You can't get points if you don't answer.
Guessing on the Test
So what about guessing? Is it a good idea? Again, that depends on where you are in the test, but here's an overall rule that applies to Math, Critical Reading, and Writing:
If you can eliminate one or more answer choices, take a guess. Statistically, your score will slowly go up. Why is that? A wrong answer is worth +
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chance. Over the length of a whole test, with those odds, your score will slowly creep up since the chances of being right are greater than the points off you'll get if you're wrong. That's where your judgment and the Pacing Strategy come in. If you're on an easier question, and you can confidently eliminate an answer or choice or two, take a guess. If you're on a hard question, you might be better served skipping it, since you also have to account for the possibility you might have fallen for a trick. On the other hand, if you know you've skipped too many and should probably answer one of the harder ones, definitely answer the one in which you can eliminate a choice or two - that will always be your better bet.
This may sound very complicated, but the more you practice and get used to the test, the simpler it will become. In a nutshell, if you think you're right, answer it. If you've narrowed down your choices and you think you're on the right track, answer it. If you have no idea what you're doing or the question is crazy difficult, skip it.
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