How to get math score up on SAT

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

I took the October SAT for the first time and received a math score of 620, which, given the fact that I want to be an engineer, is terrible, IMO. I felt quite pressed for time throughout the all the math sections and either barely finished or didn’t finish. I just need to get familiar with the style of problems so I can become better at quickly identifying how to solve a problem. I’m not sure what resources to use - any suggestions? I’m planning on taking it again in December so I (hopefully) don’t have to deal with the new one, which, based on the PSATs, would not go well…

2

Practice. That’s it really. What might have made the SAT math difficult for you is as you said, you are not familiar with it. When you practice, you would notice how very basic the concepts are, but the wicked SAT words the questions in a weird way such that you would NEVER think of using that particular concept you knew with the question. Use the blue book of course!

3

Bump

4

I was in a similar situation - I wanted to apply as a prospective physics major, but my SAT/ACT math scores were on the low side for top schools. I ended up going from a 64 in math on the PSAT to an 800 on the SAT.

Generally, there are three main reasons why people miss SAT math questions: 1) they are not familiar with the content being tested (combinations/permutations and number theory are some of the most commonly missed topics); 2) they make dumb mistakes because they feel pressed for time and misread the question; and 3) they are stumped by the trickier SAT math questions, whose solutions are less straight-forward.

  1. is usually the easiest to remedy: a prep book or even a website like sparknotes should have a review of all concepts tested.

  2. is fixed by reading EVERY QUESTION very carefully. I knew that many of my mistakes on the math section came from misreading the question, so I told myself the morning before the test to pay close attention to every question. I STILL almost missed two questions by solving for the wrong quantity and barely had enough time to re-do them. Take the time to read the questions properly, and skip the questions you don’t immediately know how to solve until later.

  3. is the hardest issue to fix, but nowhere near impossible. The simple fact is that critical thinking skills can be practiced just like anything else. Find old practice tests and lists of hard SAT math problems and work through them. Make sure that you understand both how to arrive at the correct answer and why it is correct. Identify your weaknesses and drill them. There are also many useful math shortcuts which, while not directly tested by the SAT, will nevertheless help you save valuable time during the test. Again, it is to your advantage to find and try to solve as many challenging math problems as you can, learning useful strategies and concepts along the way, because while the SAT most likely won’t use the same question twice, the types of questions are often similar. The more familiar you are with the “tricky” questions, the easier they are to solve - trust me, I used to have no idea how to solve several math questions per each practice test that I took, but now the solutions seem evident to me. The more you practice, the easier the questions will seem, and the more time you’ll have for the test.

Hope this helps!

5

Focus on the ACTS and use SAT2’s and AP Calc 2 scores to compensate if the ACT isn’t high enough. The ACT is a lot batter for many students.

6

Thanks all. This is a very delayed response, but I did end up getting a 710 on the December test. Now, time for the March sat…