Good at math but not seeing the SAT/PSAT scores you expect?
A common scenario we see from students is those who are “good at math” and are probably even in advanced math classes, and yet they cannot translate those obvious math skills into a high score on the SAT math section. If you feel like you may be suffering from a similar problem, keep reading for the top four reasons this may be the case!
- Too advanced math classes: Because the SAT only goes up through geometry, many of the concepts tested on the exam will come from classes you took many years ago. While this may be problematic because you have forgotten many of the topics, a bigger use will come from the topics you remember but have not been tested on in a challenging way. Some of the most challenging questions on the exam come from arithmetic concepts covered in 6th or 7th grade, such as averages and remainders. However when you learned these concepts, you probably only learned the very basic content. You probably have never worked with variable remainders or multiple averages. This lack of familiarity with the challenging pieces of concepts you know will be important to overcome for success on the math portion of the exam.
- Solving quickly: An additional weakness you will encounter stems from not showing sufficient work. Many students, due to the time pressure and somewhat basic nature of the calculations involved, are reluctant to write their work down. This hastiness often leads to careless errors. The SAT can predict the common errors students make and will put those as answer choices. Additionally, by not showing your work, it is harder to go back and check your answers to make sure you did not make a mistake along the way.
Different style: Another cause of underperforming stems from issues determining what to do with the information presented in a question. In academic math classes, most of the material is presented in units, where you know which concepts are being tested. This is because academic math classes are designed to measure content knowledge. However the SAT is a reasoning test that requires very little (relative to math classes or the ACT) actual content knowledge. You are probably not used to looking at questions that do not clearly demonstrate which formula or strategy to solve, and you will have a hard time figuring out where to start on many SAT questions.
- Trick answer choices: A final issue you will face on the math portion of the exam comes from the SAT trick answer choices. Many questions are designed to trick students who are not reading carefully by asking for the value of 10x instead of x, or for the value of y instead of x. Students like you who are good in math but struggle in standardized test math often miss these key distinctions.
By understanding why you are struggling, you can make educated steps towards efficient and effective improvement. Stay tuned for my next blog giving tips on how to translate strong academic math skills into a high SAT score!