<p>This has been a troubling issue for me. I've been solving Math practice tests for ages, yet I never score above 720 or so. Why? Because of careless mistakes from questions 7-14 or so. As soon as I take a second glance at the question while correcting, my error occurs to me instantly. It's really pulling me down.</p>
<p>How do you guys focus as to not make a careless mistake? Any certain portion of the question to read? Any words to look for or underline? Any order to solve the questions in besides 1-20? Anything will help, really, any contributions are greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I usually hold my pen at the words while I am reading in order to make my hand read the words aswell I kinda like mark it with my pen while reading the questions of math.</p>
<p>First tell yourself “Don’t make careless mistakes” - when you are aware of that you will do better. Then try concentrating on the Q you almost always make careless mistakes. Pay closer attention to the minus (-) sign, and always read exactly what they ask you for. You can ever box what is required.
No special order, solve them 1-20…</p>
<p>Don’t rush anything, even the easy questions. I tend to write out more steps on the SAT than I normally would, just so I’m forced to work through the problem slowly in my head, as opposed to mental-mathing it and making an error.</p>
<p>I know what you mean. For me, it’s because when I’m doing practice tests, it’s difficult for me to get into full “test-taking” mode because there’s no pressure. So pretend like you’re doing the actual test and try to trick yourself into believing it’s very important. </p>
<p>Try to use your calculator as much as possible. If you do make a careless mistake, it should be a process mistake and not a calculation error. </p>
<p>As a general rule, strenuous exercise improves concentration greatly.</p>