SAT Math-Test Day Tips
The SAT is a 3-hour entrance test used by every college and university to decide on admission. It allows schools to compare students around the world despite differences in grades, subjects, and schools. The SAT consists of two sections:
- Math
- Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
The SAT math test measures your ability to apply math concepts and skills to a variety of problems you may see in your university and career. You will have a 25 minute part with 20 questions (calculator not allowed) and a 55 minute part with 38 questions (calculator ok).
If you are preparing for SAT math, you want to know what points you should follow before the exam. Here are the most important tips for the SAT. So join us!
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The Night before the Test!
Relax!
There are many reasons not to study the night before the test day. Marathon runners do not run before race day, so you should not study for more than an hour a day before using the SAT. Your brain needs rest to do its best. Read a book or spend time with one or two of your friends.
Have a healthy dinner
Drink plenty of water and stick to complex carbohydrates, just like marathon runners: potatoes, pasta, and rice are good choices here, as well as protein and vegetables.
Organize your bag for test day
The night before is the time to put your admission ticket, ID, calculator, pencils, and others tool in your bag.
Plan to reach the testing site
Before going to bed, make sure you know how you want to get to the test site. If you trust public transportation, check the schedule and make sure your bus/train subway/ is working. Check that the road is closed or not. If a parent or friend goes with you, make sure they know what to do.
Get a good night’s sleep
Go to bed early the night before the test so that you do not feel drowsy in the morning. Plan to get seven to nine hours of sleep and wake up at least an hour before the test. Therefore, your brain is alert until you get there.
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On Test Day!
Eat breakfast
Get up early and eat a healthy breakfast. Here are some good choices: toast, eggs, cereal, sweet bread, fruit, juice, milk, and cheese.
Dress in layers
Be prepared for different temperatures. You do not want to be disappointed by being too cold or too hot while taking the test.
Double-check everything
If you can, pack everything the night before so you don’t have to worry about the morning anymore, but before you leave the house, make sure you have everything you need for the exam, such as a pen, paper, or ID.
Leave home early
Nothing makes you stressed except to be late. In your spare time, allow time for traffic and unexpected delays to reach the test site. This allows you to be comfortable with your environment before starting the SAT.
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During the Test!
Understand the order of difficulty
The sections on the math test become more difficult as you continue: the questions start easier, then slowly get harder, and the hardest questions are at the end of the section. Also – the math sections after multiple-choice questions always have few grid-ins (student-produced answer questions) and the first few grid-ins are always easier than the last few multiple-choice questions, so do not lose your time on the hardest multiple choice before picking up easier points in the grid-ins.
Skip difficult questions
Sometimes, things don’t click, and there is nothing wrong. Just keep going and come back to the question later. Most of the time you will find that this is easy and your brain just has to reset!
Make sure you solve for the correct value
SAT writers use this trick: Ask students to solve a math problem (usually a long problem so the question instructions are not new to their minds), after solving the variable, answer confidently, but make a mistake! What happened? They did not solve for the variable being asked.
Be aware of your time
Time pressure is something that nearly everyone who uses the SAT should be aware of, and this can be a particular matter in SAT math when it is easy to waste the number of minutes that have ticked past as you work to solve a tricky equation. However, attention to time during the exam is very important because not getting all the SAT math questions can make it difficult for you to get a favorable score.
The best way to get faster in SAT math is to do a lot of practice. As you answer more practice questions, you will become familiar with the style of questions used in SAT math and the types of tricks that test authors try to use.
Eliminate 3 wrong answers
The most important rule to remember for SAT math is that there is only one correct answer to each question. The other three answer options are undeniably wrong. This means that your strategy in the test is to use the removal process. If you are trying to find the right solution to a question, try to find reasons to reject more answers instead of reasons why some options work. All wrong choices are wrong for good reason, and it is your job to discover those reasons until you narrow your answers down to one possibility.
Choose a single letter for all the questions you cannot solve
It is not uncommon for there to be several SAT math questions that you just can’t solve. Do not be discouraged by this! What you can do is maximize the potential for extra points by guessing correctly at problems you can’t solve.
The best way to increase your chances of randomly choosing the right answer is to choose a letter and use it to answer all the questions you guess. It can be any letter A-D (despite what you may have heard, C is not the most common correct answer), just make sure you use it for all the questions you guess (after deleting any wrong answers).
Using only one letter to guess gives you a 25% chance of correctly guessing each question, whereas if you guess a different letter at random, the overall probability of guessing correctly will be significantly lower.
After the Test!
The SAT math is over and it makes no sense to ask yourself the answer or increase your stress level. It’s time to rest. There is nothing you can do about it, so it’s best to find something that makes you happy and find something to enjoy the rest of the day like watching TV and cooking.
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