<p>I've experienced in the math section, many figures have the note: Figure not drawn to scale, but out of all of the ones that I have seen, they are pretty close to scale. When I assume that they are drawn to scale, I can kinda ballpark the answer and get it right most of the time. Should I just assume they are drawn to scale and ballpark it if I don't know how to do the problem?</p>
<p>Never assume figures are drawn to scale.</p>
<p>‘Ballparking’ may work on some problems, but I wouldn’t recommend it (I’ve scored 800s multiple times and have never needed that strategy). However you can eliminate choices that are too big/small, for example if that choice violates the triangle inequality.</p>
<p>The figures ARE to scale unless they say otherwise. So if estimating on those helps you rule out some answers, feel free.</p>
<p>But when it says the figure is not to scale, then any estimate you make will lead you to some predictable wrong answer. Often, the reason it was drawn that way was to actively hinder you from estimating, forcing you to use mathematical reasoning. On some of those types of questions, it can help to re-draw the figure yourself, if not to scale then at least neatly. When you do that, it often reveals some obvious connection that the non-scale drawing was obscuring.</p>