<p>SAT math is horrible. ok maybe its my fault, didn't "really" take math this year. the school put me in one of those remedial math classes! didn't learn a thing. i have no idea how to do #6 in CB blue book. I'm so going to die!</p>
<p>Does the CB/ETS offer detalied answers somewhere? certinly not in the blue book!</p>
<p>i can help. #6 what page?</p>
<p>its the first exam, first math section.</p>
<p>You see one larger square that is 5 by 5 (shaded) and a smaller square inside labled x by x. You know to find the area of a square you square one side (or multiply it by 2). So in this case, it asks for for the area of the shades region. So take the entire square (assume for a moment its all shades) and find the area. You should come up with 25 (5times 5). Then subtract the area of the smaller square from the larger square to find the area of the shades region. The area of the smaller square has sides labled x and x. Multiply the two together and you get x squared. 25-x^2 should be answer choice E, and thats the answer.</p>
<p>well when YOU explain it, its so easy, ut when im looking at the question its not:(</p>
<p>It really is just a matter of getting used to the format of the SAT's. That's ranked an easy problem, and even with an extremely remidial background in math its possible. Just take a bunch of tests. </p>
<p>If you have anymore questions, just let me know.</p>
<p>Yea man, don't get discouraged. I've never been in honors math and I got a 740. It's really just a question of not getting tricked by the phrasing</p>
<p>To be perfectly honest, having a TI-89 helps a lot... I'm good at math but I'm not a genius and I only got 1 question wrong...</p>
<p>In what ways does a TI-89 benefit you more than a Ti-83?</p>
<p>You don't need the TI-89 for anything for SAT math. In fact, I have no problem using a scientific calculator (since I have twice been robbed of my 83)</p>
<p>A TI-89 is convenient in that it solves equations for you, which can save time and prevent careless errors. It's also nice if you prefer sophisticated or complex methods of solving relatively simple problems, which some people do. It's just a matter of personal preference. I used my 83 on the SAT, but looking back, I could have used an 89.</p>
<p>I'm going to quote someone who posted a few weeks ago who said "The 89 is AMAZING for standardized tests"</p>
<p>Surely you don't need an 89 to take the test, nor do you need any calculator at all.</p>
<p>But, if you're not getting 700+, I think it can help you..</p>
<p>It can solve any equation, including in terms of variables... I think it's VERY usefull. Even for ones which aren't difficult, you </p>
<p>a) Make it go much faster
b) Eliminate the possibility of making a mistake</p>
<p>And there are also problems which it will do 100% for you... like #9 on page 397, for example. I would never even think about solving that, beacuse the 89 does it for me.. </p>
<p>Also, it's useful for the ones where they give you like a 3-variable expression being equal to another 3-variable expression, and ask you for like what is 2xy+z equal to... or whatever. You know the type. Those problems take 10 seconds with the 89.</p>
<p>Also, off the top of my head, there was a question on my form of the May test that gave me like a set of numbers, and then said with X added to this set of numbers, the mean average becomes some other number, find X. Took me about 10 seconds.</p>
<p>There was also one of the fill-in questions that was just like "solve this equation"... </p>
<p>Anyhow, I could go thru the whole bluebook and show all of the problems which would take less than 10 seconds with the 89, but that would be stupid. We agree that it's not necessary, but I defend that it's incredibly helpful. </p>
<p>The only reason I got the Juan problem wrong in May was beacuse of a stupid mistake... and I would have probably gotten like a 700 without the calculator... just a guess.</p>
<p>Damn i'm gonna be screwed on the ACT haha..</p>
<p>sorry, this kinda turned into a rant....</p>
<p>tooka practice out of blue CB got a (on the low side) 1357 :( on the high side 1657 sigh</p>
<p>Yeah, does anyone know what the CB blue book's ranges actually mean? Like do the final scores tend toward the top or bottom of those ranges? b/c a 200-300 point range is pretty useless.</p>
<p>This was written by confidential on a different thread -- I think it answers your question, cant<em>wait</em>to<em>leave</em>ky:</p>
<hr>
<p>for the LAST time, CB calculates scores independently for each test and curves it using a bell curve. if more people did well, your score drops.. thats what comparative scoring is all about. for ex. on math,
700=95%, 600=~82%, 500=~47%, and so forth. since a lot of ppl did well on march exam, the curve was 'worse' to maintain the bell-shaped distribution.</p>
<p>ppl complain about curves being hard, but bottom line is this. If you do better than others, your score will be higher. If you got a 700 and are complaining that the curve was hard, then how come 5 people out of a 100 did better than you on that same hard test. </p>
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<p>That explains the ranges... also, for whatever its worth, the exact middle score of my range on practice test #1 was almost exactly my score on the May SAT...</p>