1.6 SAT Math - Special Rules for Grid-Ins

Grid-ins are the questions in which you bubble your own answer.  These are the rules you'll be given on the SAT test itself:

Grid-in Rules on the SAT

• Mark no more than one circle in any column.
• You will only receive credit if the circles are correctly filled in
• Answers can be gridded in any position if they are shorter than the columns provided (You can start your answers in any column)
• It is not required to write your answer in the boxes provided at the top, but it is suggested
• Some problems can have more than one correct answer.  If so, pick only one to grid in
• Answers cannot be negative
• Mixed numbers must be gridded as improper fractions
• Decimals can be rounded or truncated (cut off at the end) but must fill the entire grid.  Answers rounded to fewer digits than available will be marked wrong (for example, .66667 can be gridded as .666 or .667, but NOT as .66 or .67.  Those are both incorrect options because there will be a blank column left.)

The nice thing about grid-ins is that you do NOT get points off for wrong answers.  So in regards to the Pacing Strategy:

Always answer grid-ins.  If you've done the work, even if you're not sure you're right, grid it.  Even if you haven't done the work, even if you didn't even read the question for strategic reasons, grid something!  You may get lucky.  And keeping in mind that it's okay to feel like an idiot, who cares if you grid 112 and the answer was .04?  Put down something so you don't waste the chance for an extra point.

Here are some more rules, and some things the SAT testmakers don't tell you:

• If you notice, there is no 0 in the far left column.  This is to discourage students from putting that 0 in front of a decimal, but what they don't tell you is that: Gridding the 0 in front of a decimal will be marked wrong.  If you get .4 as an answer, grid .4, not 0.4.
• Always start your answer in that far left column.  They say you don't have to, but it will enforce your carrying out decimals as far as they can go and discourage you from putting that 0 in front of a decimal.  The only exception to this is if you get 0 as an answer - zero is an acceptable answer, it will just need to be gridded in a different column.
• Fractions do not need to be reduced, and decimal or fraction form is acceptable, so grid whatever you get and don't waste time rounding or converting.  Likewise, decimals do not have to be rounded.  So if you get .39879 for an answer, just lop off the end and grid .398.  If you round to .4, you'll be marked wrong.
• Make sure your answer will fit in the spaces before you being gridding!  The exception to the "don't waste time converting" rule is if you get

  25

  ---------

  571

   as an answer.  There are only four boxes, and the division bar takes up one, so that answer will not fit.  That doesn't mean it's wrong; it means you should change it into a decimal first.  On the other hand, if you get 123,000 for an answer, that's wrong.  You can't convert that into something that will fit without changing the number itself.
• Always write your answer in the boxes before bubbling.  People make careless mistakes. (You're kidding?!  Really?!)  What you write in those boxes DOES NOT COUNT so be sure and bubble as well, but write it anyway to make sure you bubble correctly.

Tricks to Watch Out For:

• You cannot grid negatives or symbols.  If you get a negative for an answer, you're wrong.  As for symbols, be sure to read the phrasing of the question!  If a question says to "disregard the percent sign when gridding your answer"  and asks you "What percent of her allowance did she spend?" and you get 13% as an answer, you should grid 13, not .13.  Simply drop the symbol and grid what you got.  Likewise, if the question says "disregard the $ sign when gridding your answer" and asks "How many dollars did she have left over?" and you get 65 cents as an answer, you MUST grid .65, not 65.  Write your answer on paper with the proper symbol to double-check yourself, then grid exactly what you have written just without the symbol.
• Questions which ask for one possible value will have multiple answer choices.  That's okay.  Just find one of them and grid it. 

If t  is a multiple of 4 and 5 and 90 ≤ t ≤ 170, what is one possible value of

To solve this SAT question, you must first find a multiple of 4 and 5 that is between 90 and 170, and then put that number under 1.  But what's the problem?  You can't grid

It won't fit.  The trick here is that you MUST put it into decimal form in order to grid it.  Even though the question was phrased in fractions, and even though technically fraction answers are acceptable, in this particular case you can only grid a decimal.  So type "1/120" into your calculator, get .0083333333 and grid .008.  It doesn't matter that other options are also available, just go with your first instinct that works.

Which brings us to our final overall rule:

Trust Yourself.  Here's how it breaks down.  If you are correct, and you answer that answer, you get it right.  If you are wrong, and you answer that answer, you get it wrong.  Obvious.  But if you are WRONG and you worry about that and you pick something else, chances are you're still wrong, because 4 of the 5 answer choices are wrong.  And worse yet, if you are CORRECT, and you second-guess yourself and pick something else, you have now gotten it wrong.  So the only possible way to get the right answer on the SAT exam is to do the work properly, and then be confident about the work you've done.  That's it.  Double-checking your work?  Good.  Second-guessing yourself?  Bad.