Hi everyone!
So right now I really need to work on math. My issue is that I always face at the end of the 20 MCQ section on the real SAT questions I’ve never seen before and end up not being able to do 2 of the questions. I would love an 800 math on December, so please, I would appreciate advice from anyone who has had the same grade and ended up with an 800.
I had 740 in 8th grade, and improved to 800 in 10th grade. Although there are many different “last 2” questions, try going through all the SATs and working on the last 2-3 questions of EVERY math section (the last few questions on every section are roughly the same in difficulty, there’s no particular section that is often harder than the others). Take note about how you did each problem-write it down, and review these notes. This method should cover every type of question that could be thrown at you; you will soon see patterns in these questions. If you’re taking Dec. and find yourself with little time left to prep, work on all of those last 2-3 questions first before doing other SAT prep.
On a side note, I find it surprising you don’t make any dumb mistakes…that was my main weakness.
@thetex do you know a particular book with hard math questions? (possibly harder than those of the test) because my issue is not timing or the other questions - it’s just the unprecedented questions.
I know what you mean. The SAT packs some tricky questions at the end of the math sections. What I did to minimize silly mistakes and get used to the harder questions was just to do a bunch of practice tests and write down every questions I got wrong in a notebook. I would also write down why I got it wrong. I also recorded questions that I wasn’t 100% sure about or too slow on. I feel like this helped me get over the plateau and reach 800.
Don’t do problems that are harder than the test - they don’t help. Dr. Steve Warner has a few books that have problems divided by difficulty level (including some harder than the test). I recommend his books. You can find them with a google search.
Guys I noticed something. I was just going over my math tests and I described to my dad what problems I skipped on October and November. I learned that I have problems with algebra.
October’s math was terrible. Even though the questions were hard, the curve was still extremely harsh. Usually hard questions will be balanced out by an easy curve, or viceversa. Don’t worry about your October score; I did terribly on that test as well. Are you doing December?
You should try out Dr. Chung’s SAT Math book. Those questions are typically harder than the ones on the actual test.
@thetex I agree. Last time the questions were hard and the curve was beyond horrible. And yes, I’m doing December’s SAT (and January’s if I need)
I will do that. On my practice tests I get 780 and even sometimes an 800 - but my highest on the real thing was 740; weird algebra questions I have never seen before were the reason. My main issue is algebra.
I’d probably go over the algebra review in barron’s and gruber’s (i have both) and not solve the whole sections. I’ll only practice with the hard questions because I’m OK with the rest and I don’t have so much time till Dec. Would you do anything else if you were me?
I really need to get an 800 in math. If I do, my superscores jumps from 2210 to 2270 so you see the huge difference it makes, and I need an 800 in math because I plan to study astrophysics and I’d love to have perfect math scores in my application.
Update: I decided to review Barron’s and take a math test daily.
Today, I did a section calmly and gave each word the attention it deserves and got an 800. However, I noticed this again. On the real SAT and my practice SATs, I struggle to finish the 20 MCQ section within the time limit. (I had all my 25 mins, but normally on other sections, I have 5-10 mins to spare - so I’m not too sure if I can call the 20 MCQ a time issue) and I have no idea why on Earth this happens ON this particular section - it’s strange. Any ideas/suggestions?
PWN the SAT Math Guide is incredible; I went from a 640 on math to 800. Best of luck:)
@cheerleader16 how long did it take you? (thanks btw!)
man I have the same exact problem, I usually have like 5-10 minutes on the other sections but barley have time on the 20 question section which leads me to get like 3 wrong from careless mistakes cause I can’t go back and check. My scores fluctuate between 660 on a bad day and 750 on a good day, really it just depends on how many careless mistakes I made that test, which I really don’t know how to stop.
@thetex your “write all your steps” tip is amazing. I noticed that one of the easy questions I substitute randomly for and don’t take seriously had the same exact steps as one of the two questions I had to skip on November.