<p>I've been prepping without timing myself because when I do time myself I freak the heck out and get nothing done (I suffer from high anxiety). So since I haven't been timing myself I realize that I take practically forever on a problem (I'll probably take up to 15-20 minutes on five to six problems). Is there a method to increase speed? I'll be taking the SAT perhaps in March...I'm not sure yet, maybe April- so I feel I have enough time to build speed, but if anyone has suggestions please do tell.</p>
<p>Sweep through the test once and pick off the easy ones. Then I sweep though again and spend about a minute per problem, I then make my best guess if I can narrow down to two answers.</p>
<p>Remember easy questions count just as much as hard ones.</p>
<p>I am taking ACT.</p>
<p>Advice above is good. It also depends on how high you’re looking to score. If you’re shooting for a score in the 550-650 range, you don’t have to do every single problem, which gives you a little more time on each problem. Also, they don’t offer an April administration: spring dates are March, May, and June. </p>
<p>Some of this might take care of itself as you practice, but you’re going to need to start timing yourself. You can also practice looking at the last couple of problems and picking out which ones are going to be easier for you to do if you only have a minute or two left.</p>
<p>I’ll add that with certain (typically algebraic) problems, it’s easier and quicker to try every choice than to actually solve the equation/system/whatever algebraically when you’re not exactly sure how to do that.</p>
<p>Also, when given variables and asked to express one in terms of the other, assign values to each of the variables and then do the math. This eliminates possibly complicated algebra.</p>
<p>I agree with the above posters; while algebra on the SAT is never that messy if you know what you’re doing, on some problems, it may be faster to plug in the answer choices. Here is an example SAT-like problem:</p>
<p>Tickets to a theme park cost $52 for adults and $35 for children. A group of 10 adults and children paid $469 altogether. How many adults were in the group?
A: 4
B: 5
C: 6
D: 7
E: 8</p>
<p>If 5 adults and 5 children went, the amount paid would be 5(52+35) = 435 dollars. This tells you that more than five adults went. Moreover, if the # of adults was even, the total cost would be an even number of dollars, so 6 and 8 are gone. This leaves D as the answer.</p>
<p>The best way for math in my opinion is to solve many questions.
Once you practice about 10 math sections, you will be able to recognize that there are common question types in each section. Some are twisted indeed but if you keep practicing, you will be able to catch what type of answer they are asking. Plus, more practice and experience will boost you confidence and that very quality will help you level your anxiety. Practicing will definitely work. Good luck!!</p>
<ol>
<li>Pick up your calculator.</li>
<li>Keep it in the lowest, deepest, unopened drawer.</li>
<li>Now practice.</li>
</ol>
<p>I’m aiming for at least a 700 in each section- I was told that I could perhaps score around 700 without having to do a lvl 4 or 5 SAT problem, but I’d still like to try and attempt those problems to increase my score as much as possible.
PettyOfficer, you said to put away my calculator but wouldn’t the calculator help me save time on the test? I mean I guess I could see what you mean by putting it away so I don’t use it as a crutch but my foundation of basic mathematics is bad because I didn’t take school seriously 4th-8th grade. Should I still put it away or…?</p>
<p>^^Im sorry, I meant someone told me I could score at least a 600 without doing a lvl 4 or 5 problem</p>
<p>I didn’t find a calculator that helpful on the math portion (I scored 800 and probably used it on 1 or 2 questions). It’s fine to check answers or arithmetic with it, but I wouldn’t rely too heavily on a calculator.</p>
<p>In fact, you could perhaps try the math portion without a calculator, for practice.</p>
<p>Thank you guys so much for answering my thread, it really means a lot- I really want to improve my score as much as I can and all your advice is great.
I will try and do the math section without a calculator and see how I do.</p>
<p>if u are doing without a calc for the 1st time, then dont time it. See how you fare then decide.</p>