Step 7: General Strategies
While many books tout lists of tips and secrets to acing the SAT, we find that these tips are often too broad or obvious to be really helpful. However, there are a few testing strategies that really are important and effective:• Check your answers. Anytime that you have time left over, check your work.
• It is almost always a good idea to guess. As long as you can eliminate at least one answer, then go with your gut on the best answer. The expected gain (1 point multiplied by more than 25%) exceeds the potential loss of ¼ point.
• Because you can usually miss at least a couple of questions and still get a perfect score, don’t waste all your time on one or two questions. Skip the most difficult questions and come back to them at the end.
• Adjust your speed according to the test. Some exams are difficult to finish in time while others give you too much time. Almost everyone finishes history exams early because those questions are the type of question where you either know the answer instantly or you don’t. On the other hand, exams such as Math and Chemistry are difficult to finish on time because most questions require calculations that can be done endlessly. The moral is: be aware of how much time you have left and adjust your speed accordingly. If you have more time, check your work and work carefully. If you have less time, skip questions that are too difficult and move quickly through questions.
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