Sigh… 3 months and I can’t seem to score more than 670 on the actual thing, even though i score 700+ on practice tests… I took the SAT over 3 times now, and it seems like my maths score hit the roof then started to gradually decline (670 first trial - 640 second - 660 -third). Whats funny is that i had spend nearly all my study time on the math section, skimping out on CR and WR, yet…
It’s always the ambiguous questions, the ones that i’ve never seen before on practice tests, usually the last couple of questions on the grid-in, and a couple of questions right in the middle of the 2 other sections. I would finish the test, confidently anticipating a 720, yet somehow i managing to get 7 errors throughout…
At this point, if you feel like you’ve done everything you can do try and improve, but you’re scores are still not improving, then try the ACT. Take a practice test to see how it goes.
One or two random questions will pop up on the math section out of nowhere, and there’s nothing you can really do to prepare for them. But those should not be the only reason your score is still in the mid 600s. Are you missing the 3’s or the hard 5’s? If it’s the easier ones then you just need to read more carefully. That’s it. The math on the SAT is very easy, but the small things can sometimes be overlooked when you’re taking the actual test (which I assume is happening to you since you perform much better on your practice exams). Read every question twice. Read every word. Don’t just skim them and jump into the math. You should have plenty of time left over to check your work as well (~5-10 minutes). Even on the questions that you’re sure you got right. Check to be 100% confident. You say that you end the test confidently expecting a much higher score than you actually end up getting. That’s probably because you’re missing/overlooking small keywords in a few questions that end up affecting the final answer. Once you get into the mindset, to two sections of math untimed. Read through the questions very very carefully, like 3+ times before you start solving the problem. After you have an answer, read the problem again and redo it. My math score used to be stuck at 690 for a few practice tests, then I started to be more careful in my problem solving, reading the questions multiple times, and my scores jumped to 750+. Yes, it’ll add on ~2 minutes from your normal completion time, but it’s well worth it, and you still have several minutes left to check your work.
I’ve always felt that SAT Math is like reading comprehension. They try to trick people on stupid things. SAT II Math and ACT Math are much better tests of aptitude.
@Stanucbear Oh yea i actually do find myself committing silly mishaps by not reading the questions thoroughly. However, most of my mistakes are medium - hard questions, so i’m not so sure yet :/…
Thanks for the advice though, from now i will dedicate 2 minutes of my time to go over the easy questions. Though I do hope all these mishaps where because i normally get no sleep on test night and rely on energy drinks to guide me through.
Sleep. That is seriously one of the most important things you can do to prepare for the test. You’ll make silly mistakes if you don’t get adequate sleep. Try having some coffee the morning of the test and getting a good night’s rest beforehand and see how that goes.
Also, practice. Get someone good at math to explain questions you don’t understand. But don’t overdo it; you should be pretty used to SAT math by now. It may be that’s your score (and 670 is pretty good, don’t be ashamed of it).
I worked with a student once that was stuck under 700 and I figured out that I had nothing to teach him. He knew how to solve pretty much everything and he had an excellent understanding. For example he would take a test, make X mistakes and then after I told him those X problems were wrong, he would immediately produce the right answers for all of them. Problem was he was very careless and always rushed to quick conclusions during the test. I agree with a previous poster. Take more time and try to use your pencil more. Read the questions twice. This is harder than it sounds. If you are a bit sloppy guy, one that sees the big picture but not necessarily all the details the test might be hard to break 700 and not because of you math knowledge. Learning more Dr Chung will not help you in my opinion. You need to work against you own habits.