Question

SAT Prep Tips [Math]

Answer 1

1. Start preparing early. Give yourself at least 3 months of serious, dedicated study before taking the SAT.
2. Buy or borrow the official CollegeBoard SAT prep book [more practice books is better but this is the bare minimum I would recommend]. Also consult the online SAT prep website for free questions.
3. When you first start prepping, start by taking diagnostic tests and write down the ones you miss in a separate notebook. Identify common themes/ideas you are missing - for example, are you missing a lot of the geometry questions? Why?
4. Time yourself according to the actual testing conditions. No distractions.
5. Improve your speed to the point where you can finish ~3-5 minutes early per section to check your answers. This will save you a lot of easy points.

Answer 2

6. Instead of bubbling in your answer after every problem, finish an entire page of math problems and ~then~ bubble the answers in. You will reduce errors that way.
7. All of the math questions can be solved within the time limits, even without a calculator. If you are finding yourself doing long, tedious calculations, there might be an easier method you are overlooking.
8. Memorizing a few basic formulas will help you greatly (the quadratic formula, common foil expansions (A+B)(A+B), (A-B)(A+B) and (A-B)(A-B), trig ratios, exponent rules, combination/permutation formulas). Check the formula sheet in your test prep book.

Answer 3

9. ~IMPORTANT~ Make sure you are answering the question being asked, including the correct units! If the problem involves solving for x but asks for the value of 2x you can ~guarantee~ that the value of x will be one of the answer choices. Don't be fooled!

Answer 4

@zarkam21 just a bit of general advice

Answer 5

Thank you, can you please keep this post up so I can look over it

Answer 6

yeah sure

Answer 7

I took the old sat (the one out of 2400) so I don't know how they've re-structured the english section

Answer 8

I did really well on the English Language Arts section, I was surprised myself. The math I got a 480 out of 600. But really want to get even higher so I can qualify for the Pre-Med Program.

Answer 9

Critical reading can be tough (it requires a lot of experience) but the grammar questions can be solved by memorizing a bunch of grammar rules

Answer 10

There are lists of sat words you can memorize to give you an edge

Answer 11

My biggest tip for the passages would be to make sure you can justify your answers using specific sections from the text (try not to let your previous knowledge bias your answers)