SAT Math

Proper time management is a key skill on the SAT and ACT alike. Both tests actively assess a person’s ability to properly manage his or her time since these skills are indeed important in college and in life more generally. There are many time management techniques that I could discuss, but for this post I just want to hone in on one specifically because it is one that I find myself repeating to almost every person I tutor: survey each section before you start so that you have an overview of what you are getting yourself into.

This is probably most important on the Math sections and here is why: One of the Math sections will contain Grid-Ins and you need to know when you are on that section since the questions will not go exactly in order of difficulty. Many people do worse on the Grid-In section and most people tend to attribute that to the fact that there are no answer choices on those questions – that is certainly a factor. But another factor is that people tend to run out of time on the Grid-Ins because they don’t realize that the multiple choice questions leading up to the Grid-Ins are difficult and they consequently waste time on those questions. This is entirely preventable!

First of all, you need to know that you are on the Grid-In section. This should be easy enough because that section is the only one that has 18 questions, which is information that is given at the top of the first page of the section. But most people forget to look at that, which is why I just recommend that on EVERY section (not just the Math ones) you scan ahead and just get an overview of what is on that section). Once you know you are on the Grid-In section you need to remember that questions 6, 7, and 8 will tend to be more difficult questions. The first Grid-Ins (9, 10, 11) will be comparatively very easy. But what happens for most people is that they don’t realize that they are on the Grid-In section and they therefore don’t understand why they are struggling with questions 7 or 8. Had they known, they should have considered skipping those questions temporarily to get to the much easier questions that immediately follow.

This idea of previewing the section is important on the CR sections as well. First of all, knowing that you have a passage ahead that is difficult for you (say, if you struggle with the Fiction passages or the Science ones) will allow you to adjust your time management strategy to deal with that fact. Secondly, some sections are easier to finish on time and others more difficult. When you have 2 short passages and then 1 long passage that is usually a lot easier than having 2 short passages and then 2 medium to long passages since in the latter case you have a whole extra passage to read. So just knowing how many passages are ahead allows you to pace yourself accordingly.

Therefore, it is good to get in the habit of previewing each section before you start answering any questions. Doing so will allow you to anticipate what is ahead and plan your time management strategies accordingly.

When people ask me what my purpose is in doing what I do, obviously the primary goal is to help people perform better on standardized tests. However, if that was the only thing that I was really up to I think I would have tired of this endeavor a long time ago. The truth is that although my primary focus is on raising people’s test scores since obviously that is what people are paying me to do, a secondary and almost as important motivation for me is to help people learn how to think critically.

Many people bemoan the SAT and believe that it has no value whatsoever. Again, if I agreed with that I would probably have quit tutoring people for the test long, long ago. Although I don’t believe that the test is a measure of innate intelligence, I do believe that it does get at a certain type of logical reasoning and critical thinking. This is important for colleges, especially the more competitive ones, since success at those schools depends in part on one’s ability to think critically. I know because in my first couple of years at Yale I struggled a bit because I was never taught how to read critically and it took me until about my Junior year to really understand what I was missing, and it was eye opening. And I don’t just think its important for college – I think its important for success in life in general.

Let me give a few examples of how reasoning and critical thinking factor into the SAT. I think most importantly its relevant to Reading Comprehension on the SAT. Whereas in high school most students read fiction, most of the passages are non-fiction, and not of the textbook variety that students encounter in school. They are usually persuasive types of passages where the author has a very definite (though not necessarily obvious) purpose. Students aren’t meant to just read the passages and learn what the author is telling them, but to recognize that the author has a particular agenda and that he or she is not necessarily “right.” In other words other authors may have a different perspective on the issue and one must read the passages very critically in order to be aware of the author’s intention, his or her biases, the tone or attitude of the writing, etc. This is a skill that, though not well taught in high school, is critical for success in college and in life more generally.

Turning to the Math section of the SAT, I would argue that one of the most important factors and one that the test clearly rewards is the ability to problem solve creatively and effectively. Most students never learn this. They learn Math and they learn how to regurgitate what they are taught, but they never learn how to problem solve creatively and to use whatever they can to figure out how to answer a question. Its like the exact opposite of what happens in Math class, where you are rewarded for showing your work and for following the steps that you were taught even if you don’t get to the right answer. The SAT is the exact opposite – you get no credit for the steps that you take and in fact it doesn’t matter how you solve a problem so long as you can get to the answer (or guess really well) and do it in a reasonable amount of time. And I probably don’t need to state the obvious at this point, but the SAT writers tend to construct questions, especially hard ones, that are tedious and difficult when done in a straightforward manner but that are fairly easy to solve when you take a creative and clever path.

Again, I would argue that skills like these – reading critically, problem solving creatively – are key to success in college and probably more importantly in life in general. So when I am working with students, my emphasis is on teaching them how to reason and think critically, not just because I know that these skills are crucial for success on the SAT, but also because I believe that these are skills that kids need to acquire in order to be successful in college and beyond.

There is a lot more that I could say about this issue, and I plan to do so in future posts. But specifically as it pertains to reading critically, I plan to roll out a blog series that aims to help students learn the skills necessary to read more effectively by linking to a series of passage (such as pieces in the NY Times, National Geographic, or some other similar publication) and analyzing the author’s intention, tone, use of evidence, etc. In this way I hope to help students acquire the skills necessary for the SAT but also help them see how those skills are applicable in a real world context. Stay tuned!