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In my last five practice tests, my math score was always 730.

Every time i took the test I felt it should be a 800, but i ended up falling into the little traps setted up by ETS.

What should I do to improve?

By Jason817 (Jason817) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:22 am: Edit

same here. I want to know too. No matter how many problems I do, I NEVER score higher than a 720-740. I've done SO many practice problems too...

By Serene (Serene) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:22 am: Edit

keep a list of little traps you have fallen for. And whenever you see similar problems remind yourself of the possible trap. double triple check.

By Twinkletoes696 (Twinkletoes696) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:24 am: Edit

I can't break 630 (my SAT math was a 610...don't shudder guys...lol...deep breath)

By Jason817 (Jason817) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:34 am: Edit

Its really not the traps that screw me. It's those damn STUPID MISTAKES!!!

By Serene (Serene) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:37 am: Edit

Check once. check twice. check three times...
and when you check your answer, try to solve the problem in a different way than what you used at first.

By Twinkletoes696 (Twinkletoes696) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:40 am: Edit

I notice I do better on the test when I randomly guess w/o doing the problem...look at the thing and go with an instinct. LOL. (Note...I am not suggesting this freakish technique to anyone! I'm just saying random guessing tends to help me more than hurt me- but if you're scoring 700+ I wouldn't risk it. lol)

By Xiggi (Xiggi) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:43 am: Edit

Twinkle~

Remember to take a few tests with open books and NO time limit. There are enough tests to "waste" a few. Do this until you get comfortable with all types of questions.

Amy~
Keep on moving along your stack of tests and you'll get quicker and build time reserves. Once you get to those minimal 2-3 mistakes, it is all a matter of shaving time by recognizing the patterns quicker and not wasting time on ANY questions.

By Xiggi (Xiggi) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:47 am: Edit

Twinkle~

The more tests you do, the better your "instincts" will get.

For instance, most drawings can be solved by "intuition" but be on the lookout for the "NOT TO SCALE". ETS expects you to overlook that and your intuition will be wrong.

I stressed to take "open book" test to refine your instincts and eliminate all those pesky Joe Blogg answers.

By Twinkletoes696 (Twinkletoes696) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:48 am: Edit

Hmmm...that is a good idea.

I get so frustrated and bored though; it makes it so difficult to pay attention.

By Twinkletoes696 (Twinkletoes696) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:49 am: Edit

Oh...I see what you mean about the drawings. I'm still totally mystified by them- I've been practicing and I really still don't know how to do them. It's driving me nuts and my school won't let me have a tutor because I'm not failing out of math.

By Serene (Serene) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:52 am: Edit

Twinkletoes: if you don't know how to solve them... redraw it as accurately to description as possible.

*argh* one of my classmates solved an AIME question this way... *_* while i tried unsuccessfully to solve it through trig.

By Twinkletoes696 (Twinkletoes696) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:54 am: Edit

No I mean I don't know how to attack it. I look at the problem and it's like looking at Hebrew.

By Serene (Serene) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:55 am: Edit

Twinkletoes: uhh I meant, yeah... redraw it accurately... and give your best estimate from your own drawing =)

By Twinkletoes696 (Twinkletoes696) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:58 am: Edit

LOL if it's a geometry problem I can't figure out how to get to the solution no matter if I redraw the picture though; I don't know of the methods.

(Yes, I will be in calculus next year...ROTFLMAO)

By Serene (Serene) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:59 am: Edit

any example?

By Twinkletoes696 (Twinkletoes696) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 02:03 am: Edit

Anything where you have to find the missing angle... or those weird ones where you find the arc of the circle..they give you like a circle and they make a line thingie that makes a tiny semi-circle..they always ask you to find SOMETHING.. I can't recall what it is. There are more, but I can't think of them right now... I'll have to dig out the practice sheet thingies.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 02:58 am: Edit

Twinkle, I've found your problem: if it's like looking at Hebrew, read the question from right to left. There you go...no, no, you don't have to thank me, the pleasure is all mine....

By Twinkletoes696 (Twinkletoes696) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 03:02 am: Edit

Wow, everything suddenly became so much clearer thank you thedad!! hehe

By Serene (Serene) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 03:06 am: Edit

Twinkletoes: well... the way I solve math is...

say they give A and B and ask me to find F the unknown. I work from both ends at the same time (like solving a maze on paper). I'd think, "with A and B, what more information can I get from this? Ok I can get C from A, and from B and C I can also get D..." Then I'd look at the other end, "What do I need to get to F? Well I'd need E, ok, that's just another representation of A, and D... oh I just got D!" then the two ends of the maze meet and the problem is solved. =)

By Soulofheaven8 (Soulofheaven8) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 05:57 am: Edit

---

Quote:

Its really not the traps that screw me. It's those damn STUPID MISTAKES

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By Akaflex (Akaflex) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 09:28 am: Edit

Hey soul ditto here... I am the same type of person lol stupid mistakes and im stuck around 680-690 by god hopefully by october it wont be liek that

By Seventoedsloth (Seventoedsloth) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 09:47 am: Edit

I might not be able to offer much help just because math comes naturally to me. I have taken the SAT 3 times I think and that seems like the best way to improve your scores. I have never done any preparing for ANY SAT that I have ever taken and so far I have a 780 on the math section

By Nutmag345 (Nutmag345) on Thursday, August 14, 2003 - 12:10 pm: Edit

On the math section of the SATs, there is hardly ever a problem I genuinely can't do, but the DAMN stupid mistakes got me when I took the real thing. There have been many occasions where I would do things like: 60/10 = 10.
I make most of my careless mistakes on the easy problems, so I think the key to stop the careless errors is to treat every problem like it is the hardest thing in the world. I got so desperate on my last practice test that I said "Don't make a careless mistake" out loud before reading each problem. It worked and I got a perfect.

By Xiggi (Xiggi) on Thursday, August 14, 2003 - 01:33 pm: Edit

Allow me to pipe in with a thought.

To reduce the careless mistakes, you could be more careful. Hehe, that is a profound thought! Seriously, you could take MORE time and read the questions carefully and treat the easy problems like the difficult ones.

However, there is a HUGE drawback with that, and that is time management. If you move too slowly, you'll end scrambling at the end of the section and maybe forced to guess on problems that are not really good guessing material.

So, what could be done? Read the questions. Do not skimp on reading. TRY to identify the questions and formulate an answer mentally. This may in fact yield the answer. If not, solve the problems by using the techniques you have mastered. Solving means to find the BEST answer, not necessarily work out the problem completely. Remember to save time by leaving the answers in the EASIEST form. For example, if the answer is a number like 3.1415, do not start thinking about the numbers of decimals and be afraid of an incorrect rounding. Just fill in 22/7 and you are done! I know of a LOT of people who lose points on practices because of silly errors in evaluating fractions - which you do NOT need to do.

But wait, why would you try to go faster when the problem is CARELESS mistakes? That is a paradox, if I ever saw one! The reason it works is that you will bank an amount of time to allow you to return to the easy questions and CHECK via proofs and backsolving. When you check your answers, be on the lookout for ETS giveaways. If you answer happens to be -12, check if ETS does not list 12, 6 or 24 as other solutions. If the question involved a change of signs, they probably expected you to make a mistake.

Also be on the lookout for "strange answers". A few days ago, the was a post with a super easy problem with numbers like 456(x-17) etc. The answer posted resulted in something like x=.00975666... that is a VERY unlikely answer on the SAT. Not impossible but very unlikely and worth double-checking.

For the geometry problems, try to visualize your answer. DRAW your answer unto the original drawing. It is fast and catches LOTS of silly mistakes.

However, there is NO better advice than to practice and practice. There are students who can take the SAT and ace it without any preparation but I think that the vast majority of us would score a 500-600 on the test without adequate preparation. The prep allows you to reach your TRUE potential and that is typically 200 points above your first practice test.

By Parsifal (Parsifal) on Thursday, August 14, 2003 - 09:46 pm: Edit

Xiggi, 200 points? Why i hope you're right my friend)))))))))

By Encomium (Encomium) on Thursday, August 14, 2003 - 10:02 pm: Edit

i this is why colleges don't care much after 1450+, since after that it's a test of accuracy rather than intelligence/reasoning