<p>I took some practice tests and found that although I've got a grip on a lot of things, I tend to make too many stupid mistakes. I overthink on some CR questions and some writing questions. Math is fine, but again, stupid mistakes (adding errors etc.) jeopardize my scores. </p>
<p>What can I do to fix this? Knowing the facts and analyzing material is one thing, but my case is completely another!? Someone please suggest a solution, I'm desperate!</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>CB Book, take many practice tests, read it, A LOT.</p>
<p>Aye, Blue Book. Religiously. You have a very solid foundation. With CR, <b> the answer is always in the passage.</b> That can’t be emphasized enough. If some tempting answer requires you to make a series of three or four (admittedly logical, but still) inferences, odds are good that it’s wrong.</p>
<p>For Math, use every second of the time they give you. Go back and check your answers. Read each part of the question, especially the last sentence/line. They may throw in a silly caveat to throw you off. If you still have time after checking, check again. Honest to god. On most math sections, I would catch some foolish error on one or two questions and save myself ~80 points on the math each time.</p>
<p>For writing, I’m not sure what to say. Just know the rules of grammar that they’re going to test. Know them frontwards and backwards and know how they apply to any imaginable sentence. As with math, always go back and check ISE, especially the ones you mark no error. Read through each sentence, checking for subject-verb agreement and what words each clause/phrase/adjective modifies. Comparative and superlative degree are also particularly nasty. For each question, you should be mentally asking “What is the subject? What is the verb? What does this word modify? Is this a complete thought?”. Get that thought process down pat.</p>
<p>Overanalyzing is fine as long as your analysis doesn’t mislead you. Read the tricks/tips to gaming each section of the SAT threads here on CC. They truly are fountains of wisdom.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>HTML doesn’t work :(</p>
<p>Thanks! That’s really helpful.</p>
<p>Yeah, pretty much taking the practice tests in the Blue Book is the best way to improve.</p>
<p>After you’ve taken enough practice tests, you’ll find that you’ll be able to recognize the questions where you used to make “careless” errors. You’ll be much more familiar with the style and type of questions that the CollegeBoard tends to ask and no longer overlook them.</p>
<p>Spending some time thoroughly looking over your practice tests when you’re done will dramatically speed up this process too.</p>