Many students struggle with the math section of the SAT, often because the questions seem to be presented and phrased in confusing ways. Here are 5 quick steps to improve your score on the math section.
- 1) Know your strengths – Nothing says that you have to complete the problems in the order that they are presented. If you are good at solving algebra problems, find and complete all of them before even attempting questions that don’t suit your strengths. Tackling the questions in your preferred order helps build momentum.
- 2) Keep it simple – The SAT loves to present problems in confusing ways. Try to break questions down into their basic parts. See an unfamiliar-looking shape? It is probably just a combination of basic shapes like circles and triangles.
- 3) Make educated guesses – Can’t figure out how to do a problem? Not all is lost! It’s often possible to eliminate certain answer choices for being way too big or small, despite not knowing what the exact answer is.
- 4) Let the answer choices help you – Remember, this is a multiple-choice test. If you can’t solve the problem on your own, look to the answer choices and try a few of them out. Sometimes, working backwards can help you find the missing link.
- 5) Use all the information- The SAT does not include extraneous information in its problems. If you are given a piece of information, you have to use it in some way. Think you solved a problem without incorporating everything from the question? Think again!
Need more SAT Math help? Check out: 4 Common Math Hang-Ups
