I was disappointed when I saw I got a 650 on the SAT Math section. I got the question and answer service thing back today, and I went back and answered all of the math questions I got wrong or omitted on the real test. I ended up getting every one correct in a very short amount of time. I got all of them wrong because I either a. made a careless mistake or
b. misread a certain detail. I know I should have done better, and I am very frustrated with these careless errors hampering my score. Is there any advice or training or something that will result in me losing this horrible habit? What can I do to be mentally prepared and not make stupid mistakes on the test?
My kid made herself a flash card that said “Don’t be a stupid rat”, and put a tally mark on it every time she made a dumb mistake on a practice test. It was covered by the time she was done testing… Sometimes she also made a card about whatever had tripped her up, too. She did like to have a caffeinated drink before actual testing, it helped her focus. She ended up with a 780 on SAT math and 800 on SAT Math II subject test (2 tries on each).
Learn where you are making the mistakes, and see if there is a correlation between the mistake and the problem. Based on the Q & A sheet, are you getting the same types of problems wrong (such as geometry or algebra)? Slowly reading the problem before answering it can help; underlining the question is also great idea. Make sure that you take your time and review all of the answers before picking one. You might misread the question and pick the answer that is wrong because you didn’t read the question all the way.
Some of these tips are sort of “cliché” but still apply nonetheless.
Always know what you are trying to solve for before attempting at the solution.
Check whether your answer makes sense. You could try a certain case and if it doesn't agree with your answer, you might have made a mistake somewhere.
Try your best to keep work organized. I sometimes fail at this under time pressure, but at least make it so you can follow your steps.
I was able to score 800 twice (as well as a recent 170 on GRE math) even though I got very close to making a silly mistake on a few questions. Just follow these steps and don’t get nervous.
As someone who has trouble getting through the math section with no careless mistakes, I have found the following methods helpful:
Work more slowly on the easy problems.
Use your finger when reading math word problems to make sure you read every word.
Check your answers by substitution in the original question wherever possible.
Know which problems are high-risk problems for careless errors. Check your answers by redoing these problems if you have time. Most grid-ins fall into this category.
Usually a person makes the same types of careless mistake again and again, so try to identify what types of careless mistakes you usually make.
6 Every time you make a careless mistake during practice, create a post-it with the careless mistake on it. Hang all the post-its over your work area. Study these post-its each time you are about to begin work. Repeat to yourself, “I am not going to do that again, I am not going to do that again.” This is very effective also as a form of self-hypnosis.
Same here. I know how to do every single math problem, but I can never get a 800. This is really frustrating. What I’m trying to do now is slowing down and staying more focused when I read the problems. Hope this helps.
Arg! That’s for me the hardest one to break because it is not knowledge based but mostly a personality trait or habit…
Good advice so far. Definitely try to slow down on the easy questions and relax. Double check the types of questions that usually trip you. Also, try to use your pencil more, especially when small calculations are needed. My son used to skip steps thinking he was saving time but instead he was making mistakes. In reality 650 is not that bad of a score. Work hard but don’t feel too stressed because under stress our bad habits come back !
read each question carefully and make sure you solve for the right thing (very important)
check over the questions you need to check over (mark the ones that you definitely need to go over one more time and look over everything if you have extra time)
good luck
Lots of good advice here, especially from Plotinus. I helped my daughter get rid of “careless” math errors. Here’s what I recommend based on what we did:
(1) Rename them “attention to detail” errors. That focuses attention where it belongs. You’re not making mistakes because you’re careless or lazy. You’re making them because you need to fine-tune your attention to detail.
(2) Keep track of EVERY error on your practice. If you have an “attention to detail” error, analyze what kind of detail you missed – and write the errors down on a list. Did you make a mistake on basic math? Did you miss a sign (+ or -)? Did you solve for the wrong thing? Was it on an otherwise very easy problem? See if you can spot any trends and if so, focus on those types of problems / issues.
(3) ALWAYS double check the question, just before you fill in the correct answer, to make sure you’re solving for the right thing.
(4) Use you pencil as you read, and underline words like “more than” or “less than” or “increase” or “decrease” because many people scan these quickly and start working in the wrong direction. Underline the item asked for and the units.
(5) Put your work down in writing. If you know the math, which it sounds like you do, timing should not be a problem. Taking the time to underline, and make notes and write out your work will (a) greatly reduce the likelihood of an attention to detail error and (b) will better enable you to double-check your work.
(6) It’s best to double and even triple check your work as you go – instead of waiting until later to check your work … that is, so long as you’re at the point where finishing on time is usually not an issue. Where possible, check your work not by doing it again exactly the same way, but by looking at the problem from a different direction.
