<p>I got a 70% on my math when I took my SSAT's. I'm really dissapointed on what I got and i've looked over almost every book there is to for the SSAT's. How did you guys get great scores on the math section? do you have a specific book I should use???</p>
<p>I recommend text books at higher level =)</p>
<p>could I ask what your percentile for the test is?</p>
<p>hmm i got 92% on my math simply because im an int'l and we have to study hard mathematics at school =.= but my SSAT percentile is very bad :(</p>
<p>I got a 97 on the math portion, but math is my thing...my overall percentile was 96. I would recommend buying the official ssat study guide and reading everything in the front. It has an explanation of every concept that will appear on the test. Do the practice problems, and make sure you understand how you got the answers. After reading about the concept, make up your own practice problem to prove to yourself that you actually understand what it is telling you. Do the practice tests, and go back and look over the ones you got wrong. Ask yourself: Why did I get this wrong? What concept is this problem using? Is it an equation or word problem? Have I ever learned this in school? Look at your work for the problem for avoidable errors. Analyze what your most common type of mistakes are. Did you accidently put the wrong letter or copy the question incorrectly? Did you not read the question correctly? Did you not understand what the questions asked you to do? Or do you just not get the concept?</p>
<p>Hope I helped!</p>
<p>Very sound advice from pinkheart! Make up your own practise problem. Understand what the test is trying to find out that you know. </p>
<p>I'll add. Don't fall for the traps. MANY times almost every answer choice can be gotten with either wrong reasoning, carelessness, or only answering the first step of the problem. This is why I don't advise looking at the answer choices before you've made up your mind on how to do it. All the information needed will be there. </p>
<p>Don't be down on a lower math score though. You have to answer nearly all correctly to get in the 90's. Too many kids set the curve at 100% correct. This is why so many of us adults say that there really isn't enough real difference between a 90 and a 99 to make a difference. It's true.</p>
<p>Yeah neatoburrito, I TOTALLY agree. 90% of the questions I answered wrong the math section of the practice test were due to carelessness. It wasn't that I didn't grasp the concept or simply 'guessed', it was because I was being cocky! Thinking "oh puh-leez, this is childs play" when in fact, I was being careless and failed to read the question correctly. </p>
<p>Double check your answers! Heck, triple check them. Also, start with the easiest ones first. Don't spend too much time trying to solve one, chances are if it takes you a long time, you're overlooking a key word or falling for a trap. There should be little arithmetic involved (save for multiplication, some long division etc., but nothing intense or lengthy) - think of them as brainteasers almost, not 'math problems'.</p>
<p>Anyways, hope I helped! And 70% isn't that bad!</p>
<p>It is this brain teaser aspect of ssat math that makes the test more of an ability test than an acheivement test. I could answer nearly every math problem without a pencil, (but I'm an adult, so I'd hope that would be the case!) and it's not because I'm a math whiz, I'm not. It is because they are testing your ability to recognize concepts in their application. For instance, there may be a complicated looking equation, that when looked at closely, is only there to see if you understand the identity property of multiplication. The prep books don't tell you stuff like this. It is VERY easy to fall for traps. </p>
<p>This is why schools use tests like the ssat. They want to know if you have understanding as opposed to content recall. It's pretty easy to memorize some vocab words for school and get 100 on a matching quiz. It's quite a different thing to complete an analogy or pick a synonym without the aid of context. Like newyorker22 has said numerous times, A student 95%tile achievement test takers very often score in the 50's and below on the ssat.</p>
<p>Once again, what neato said!^^^^^^</p>