SAT-I Math Review and Tips

The Math Section of SAT-I may seem less daunting at a glance as compared to the Reading and Writing Sections, however we should not underestimate the sheer amount of power it has in making or breaking our final score.

Math Section consists of three main areas of focus, which includes (1) Heart of Algebra, (2) Problem Solving and Data Analysis, and (3) Passport to Advanced Math. By our junior year of high school, we should be quite familiar with the fundamental basics of these topics. However, even if that is not the case, College Board’s Official SAT Guide provides a rounded up, summarized version of the working principles of these areas in mathematics, along with different tips and strategies for when giving the test itself.

One of the strategies included in the book is allowing oneself to skip one, at maximum two, questions of exceeding difficulty, in order to prevent running out of time and missing out on answering simpler questions, which would ultimately make us lose more marks than that we would have gained from answering that one hard question. Another interesting strategy is the ‘grid-lock’ strategy, which is based on recognizing the wrong answers from the choices and eliminating them promptly, so that the pool of answers we can choose from becomes smaller, leading us to make a guess more accurately than we would have otherwise, as well as saving precious time that can allocated for more challenging sums.

Most of the candidates who have given the SAT, and the prospective candidates preparing for it, agree that time management becomes a very strenuous activity in the duration of the test.  Therefore, these approaches, for the most part, serve to save time during the SAT, and improve chances of getting a better score. A piece of advice passed down ever since the change in SAT format in March 2016 is that we should never leave any questions unanswered. The new format has eliminated penalties and negative marking for wrong answers and this policy change has substantially made guessing a significant part of the test-taking. Nevertheless, we should not leave everything to chance and fortune. Ample practice is required to get a better understanding of the examined topics and to make us more familiar and agile around the questions. College Board’s guide has considerable practice materials and four full tests to allow us to get a better grasp on three main areas of focus. People have received high scores of 1480 and 1500 by practicing from this book only, which shows how its content and discipline is significant in taking the test.