<p>Sorry if this has been discussed before, but I know some prep books say to not guess(i know grammatix does), while others say to guess(I think the BB says to). Personally, looking at my SAT scores, had i omitted questions i got wrong , my score would increase by about 100 points. However, I am confused. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>it all depends on what your goal score is. The higher the score you like, the less you should guess.</p>
<p>Since every question has 5 choices, as long as you can eliminate 2-3 of them (this is not a challenge at all for most questions), statistics are in the favor of guessing. When you see a question ask yourself “Why is this not the correct answer?” which could include plugging it back into the question for math sections or referring back to the passage in reading sections. On the downside, however, by taking the time to guess, you often begin to second guess yourself and deliberate the choices you think could be right. This could take your concentration away from other questions or even slow down your time causing you not to finish. Since you’re using the Blue Book already, I recommend that you simply work through it and do not guess (by doing so you could give yourself the false perception that you know a concept or question when really it was just luck) but still eliminate answer choices for those you don’t know. If you’re finding that your remaining answer choices often include the correct answer, it’s in your best interest to guess on the actual exam.</p>
<p>for my post, I meant the higher you want your score, the more you should guess (assuming you can eliminate some options)</p>
<p>I don’t want to get caught up in this debate again but I do have questions for you:</p>
<p>You say that the guessing penalty cost you 100 points. I think you must be overstating the case. Just how many times are you guessing? I think you need to do more prep and then slow down and answer fewer questions. But I still have not read anything at CC that makes me change my view on this: once you do spend time on a question, I still say answer it. (But others here disagree).</p>
<p>Also, when you go back and assess the points you “lost” for guessing, don’t forget to take into account the points you “gained” when you got a problem right even though you were not 100% sure. I find that when students look back on a test, they tend to overlook those problems. Like the baseball saying: they are all line drives in the box score. But the truth is that in those situations, guessing gained you points that you are now forgetting.</p>
<p>In the end, “should I guess?” is not the key question. Better to ask “am I prepared? and is this question a good strategic use of my time?”</p>
<p>The ‘leaving a question blank doesn’t hurt you’ is probably the biggest misconception about the SAT. In actuality, when you leave it blank you are losing 1 raw point, and if you guess wrong you lose 1.25. But the possibility of gaining a raw point on a near-random guess far outweighs the potential loss of .25. Especially when you compare it to the blank option, in which you WILL lose a point, without any potential of gain.</p>
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<p>For what is worth, the statistical “analyses” that support the guessing are too basic to have any validity. And that is a very charitable assessment! </p>
<p>IMNSHO, The ONLY valid answer to the “should I guess” question is that … it depends entirely on the individual circumstances. I happen to think that MOST people are hurt by the type of guessing “recommended” by the typical SAT author, but I also believe that for a small number of people in rare conditions, guessing can be beneficial.</p>
<p>Fwiw, I also think that most people who end up with two “reasonable” choices but cannot find a reason to pick one used an erroneous approach in their POE. But that is another story!</p>
<p>PS This is what I consider an example of a HORRIBLY DUMB GUESSING strategy:</p>
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<p>And this is why:</p>
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<p>my opinion is that you should use Process of Elimination, and if you can get them down to two possible answers, then you should guess. do not guess if you have no idea how to answe the question, random guessing will only hurt you, keep in mind that you get
1/4th of a point subtracted for every wrog answer. make educated guesses.</p>
<p>If you can eliminate one answer choice, it would be in your best interests to guess. However, it should be understood that a difference in score with regards to guessing and not guessing is marginal, at best.</p>