SAT/ACT Myths: 4 Techniques That Will Not Work!

You may have gotten advice from various sources regarding the SAT, the ACT, or standardized tests in general. Here are some common pieces of advice that you should not follow.

1. When in doubt choose choice (C): This strategy does not work on the SAT or ACT  (and it is unlikely to work on any standardized test). Standardized tests are carefully created so that all answer choices are equally likely. You should always take a guess on multiple choice questions if you do not know the answer (after eliminating as many choices as you can). At this point feel free to choose (C) if it has not been eliminated, but there certainly isn’t any advantage to doing so.

Look out for a future blog post about starting with choice (C) as a time saving strategy.

2. Go with your first instinct: This strategy is okay for the first few math problems in any given section, since they are meant to be easy and straightforward. But medium and especially hard questions are designed to trick you. Therefore your first instinct may very well be to fall into the exact trap they have set for you. You should be especially cautious if your “intuition” gets you an answer very quickly on one of the higher numbered problems in a section.

3. The best way to study for the SAT or ACT is by doing lots of practice tests: Although taking practice tests is not a bad thing, it is not the most efficient way to increase your performance on a standardized test. The best way to increase your SAT score is by doing just a few SAT problems a day over a period of several months, and similarly for the ACT.

Taking a practice test will be most effective if you make sure that you go over all the problems that you got wrong, understand your mistakes, and (most importantly) you periodically redo the problems you got wrong until you can do each one yourself without referring back to the solution.

When doing this, remember to focus on problems that are within and slightly above your current ability level. If you’re struggling with Level 2 Geometry problems, then you shouldn’t be worrying about Level 4 and 5 Geometry problems at all.

I am by no means implying that you should not take any practice tests. You should take at least four before the actual exam (as stated above), but this is not the time that you are improving your mathematical and reasoning ability.

4. Take the test during an “off” month because it’s easier. There is no evidence that suggests that you will get a better score on the SAT or ACT if you take it in one month as opposed to another month. Take the test when you are ready, preferably after you have done at least three months of consistent preparation. Try to take the test for the first time in your junior year.

Best of luck on whichever exam you choose to take!

Comments

comments