<p>Math has always been my weak subject, in school and across the PSAT, ACT, and SAT. I'm in advanced math classes, and I understand the material when someone walks me through it, but when I'm alone taking a test, my brain freezes! I'm so disappointed because I just got my SAT results back, and I did so well on reading and writing, but the math section killed my score...I didn't even break 600! I had purchased study guide books for the SAT and ACT, but they didn't seem to help much. Anyway, does anyone have any particular advice about beating the math section on standardized tests? I'm retaking, and hope to get as close to 700 as possible. Also, is superscoring fairly common among colleges? I hate to have to throw out my near perfect reading/writing/essat scores. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>privates superscore more. </p>
<p>also, there really isn’t much to it other than “practice, practice, practice”.</p>
<p>there are lucky people out there who don’t need to, but if you don’t fall into that category there’s not a lot you can do about it.</p>
<p>I agree that practice will help.</p>
<p>But I’d also recommend that you work with your math teacher, a friend, or a tutor who can show you the “tricks” behind the math questions. For example, the CB will graph a couple scary looking functions, give you the equation for f(x) and ask you to find g(2) or something. Somehow the multiple equations on the graph send my students into panic mode, but once they can recognize it as a simple substitution question, they stop panicking and start thinking again.</p>
<p>I usually draw the analogy that a lot of the problem are just dressed up for halloween - they <em>look</em> scary, but once you start seeing the pattern behind them, they become pretty solvable.</p>
<p>Definitely get the TI-89 for the math section. It takes some time to learn the ins and outs of the calculator, but once you have it, it’s a god-send, especially for the algebraic problems at the start. It saves you lots time, too.</p>
<p>if ur doing the BB tests, check out the Khan Academy’s videos: [Khan</a> Academy](<a href=“http://www.khanacademy.org/sat]Khan”>Khan Academy)</p>
<p>He goes through all the SAT math problems in the blue book step-by-step and is a great resource for learning math/science in general</p>
<p>I think time management and close reading is very important. On the Practice SAT I took, I missed several problems because I misread the problem. </p>
<p>I got a 740 on the actual SAT- with a scientific calculator. I no longer have my beloved TI-84. Should I get another for my next go? I dont think a graphing calculator would have saved me for the question I omitted and the 1-2 questions I was unsure about, though…</p>