I have no idea where to post this, so forgive me if this is in the completely wrong category.
So, I am taking the SAT on Saturday. I have been studying and preparing for about 2 months and I was actually doing really well.
Until I started to time myself.
As soon as I started taking the full length test (basically a PSAT at home), I’ve gotten about 2 questions right (and 5 - 7 wrong) on each math exam. (as opposed to when I was practicing on my own time and getting around 10 - 15 correct)
The more I test myself, the worse I seem to get. Apparently, I’m panicking under pressure.
Has anyone else experienced this? I feel like my head is about to explode. I know I can do better. I know that I know the math…what is wrong with me?!
Is this a typo? If not, there is a serious problem.
It may or may not seem counterintuitive, but taking more practice tests should help you budget your time. You generally have about 1 minute per question, so if you’re spending more than ~30 seconds and have no idea how to solve it, move on and come back to it later
There seems to be something wrong with this picture…
Assuming you took algebra and geometry and understand the topics contained within, you should be able to answer way more than 2 (out of ~20) questions within a section in 25 minutes. Only answering 2 questions per section will result in an abysmal score, much lower than the potential score you can get.
Is it the format of the test that’s causing time pressure? Or the fact that some harder questions appear to be worded strangely?
Yes, exactly, haha. It’s pretty much all of the above…the time, the way they word the questions, ect. I am in pre calculus right now and I understand it better than SAT math.
Could it be that I’m over complicating the problems? It’s so, incredibly frustrating because I know that I know this math…I did it and understood it all back in 9th grade!! But for some idiotic, unknown reason, I guess I panic. Is there anything I can do?
Possibly. No SAT math problem should require more than, say, 2 minutes to solve. Even the hardest of the level 5 problems can usually be solved within a couple minutes if you approach it correctly.
Just calm down, relax. Make sure your scratch work is neat and organized so that you are less prone to error. And as always, read each question carefully and interpret the question exactly as written.