Better Planning = Better Math Scores

Welcome to the next installment in our series of posts on how to conquer test anxiety! Our previous posts provided tips to deal with test anxiety in general and strategies to navigate difficult passages on the reading section of the test. While some of you out there may cringe at the thought of those painful reading passages, others break out into a cold sweat at the thought of the math section (the SAT is an equal opportunity tormenter – there’s something for everyone!) Fear not, because today we’re going to look at some strategies to navigate the Math portion of the SAT.

You had one job!

One way in which the Math section differs from the Reading and Writing & Language sections is that the questions are arranged in a loose order of difficulty. This means that the question start out easy and then get progressively harder. A lot of students start out the section strong and then panic once they get to the more difficult questions. As we discussed in the Reading post, it’s easy to become completely focused on the questions that stump you instead of focusing on the questions you’re comfortable with. In fact, you can become so focused on the hard questions that you end up rushing madly through the easier questions so that you can spend more time on the hard ones. This leads to careless errors on easier questions that you could have gotten right. And guess what? Every question on the SAT is worth one point. Easy questions are worth one point. Hard questions are worth one point. There is absolutely no benefit to agonizing over a difficult question at the expense of three easier questions. Sure, it can feel good to get harder questions correct, but on the SAT you have one job, and one job only – get more points. Get more points by any means necessary.

Leave no easy points behind

So how does this knowledge help with test anxiety, you may ask? Well, as we pointed out in the first post, having a solid plan of attack for each section can relieve a lot of stress. On the Math sections, that means knowing where the easier questions are and focusing on them. And here’s a really important addition to the order of difficulty explained above: there’s a separate order of difficulty for the multiple choice questions and the grid in questions! In other words, on each section the first couple of grid in questions might be easier to tackle than the last couple of multiple choice questions. Instead of spending time stressing over questions 13-15 in the 25 minute section, jump ahead to questions 16 and 17. Repeat the process in the 55 minute section: skip over the last few multiple choice questions and move right on to those early, easier grid in questions. If you have time left at the end of the section you can always go back and attempt a harder question. If you don’t have time to work the harder questions, don’t panic! You’ve already banked points from the easier questions. Just make sure that you’ve filled in a guess on all multiple choice questions, since there’s no deduction for wrong answers.

Know thyself

One more thing to keep in mind is that while the test makers may have an idea about which questions are easier or harder, every test taker has unique strengths and weaknesses. You may come across an earlier question that seems hard for you, and a later question that seems easy. That’s okay! Remember, always play to your strengths. Now grab that drill book and start practicing!