<p>I have this problem - Normally, I should know how to do the problems on the PSAT/SAT, they're all pretty easy. But for some reason, I always make the stupid mistakes, like forgetting to divide by 2 when finding the area of a triangle and stuff like that.</p>
<p>I know I need to check my answers, and I have. I've been spending more time on the Math section than the other sections in fact, only because I spend the whole time checking my answers. But when I check my answers, I somehow believe my mistakes, or not notice them. So I end up not being able to fix anything, becuase I don't catch my mistakes until after the test.</p>
<p>i would've gotten 2300 in oct, but i keep making stupid mistakes in math. 3 easy questions wrong.</p>
<p>yeah its really hard, it pretty much comes down to luck, and going slower than usual on easy problems will help. also, it depends on how you feel i.e. concentration</p>
<p>My advice is to do a lot of practice problems under real test conditions and also to redo every math problem using a different method when you're checking your work.</p>
<p>For math:
-Underline key words in the question (i.e. "even number", "integer", etc.)
-Make sure you know what the question is asking. Re-read the question after you have an answer to double check.</p>
<p>foolonthehill has the best advice. ideally you could do the whole math test and then check every single answer again using a separate method. This is easy for algebra questions by just plugging your variable back in and making sure it works. For geometry it may be a little more work, but usually geometry questions will have multiple ways of getting the correct answer. So if there is a triangle question and you have to find a certain angle, you could technically find all the remaining angles and make sure that the math works out (all the angles in a triangle add to 180, or that two vertical angles are equal). If you have a discrepancy, then you've made a mistake somewhere.</p>