Top scorers work smart, not necessarily hard.
In this quick read, I’ll share with you 5 tools that you can use to already improve your Math score on the digital SAT.
Tip 1: List all the topics that the digital SAT tests you on and know what’s holding you back
I typically tell my students to make a list of the topics and sub-topics like this and rank their level of mastery over the topic.
|
Topic/Subtopic |
Low |
Average |
High |
|
Parallel and perpendicular lines and their slopes |
● |
● |
● |
|
Discriminant |
● |
● |
● |
|
etc… |
|
|
|
This can help you keep a tab on all the topics you have to learn/revise and your standing on each topic. Obviously, if your standing on any topic is Low, your goal has to be to get to Average and then High.
Tip 2: Practice timed sectional tests.
For every sub-topic, I assign my students three drills on the UniHawk’s Digital SAT portal. Every drill contains 15 questions of all kinds of variations in that particular sub-topic. I advise my students to allot 22.5 minutes for each of these drills. You might be wondering, what if they can’t finish the drill in 22.5 minutes? I tell them to track how far they get and continue with the rest of the questions. You should always measure the extra time you take to complete an SAT drill because that’s how you know how much you need to speed up or, in some cases, slow down. These timed drills help you practise speed and accuracy simultaneously.
Tip 3: Lose the battle to win the war.
I know that’s a cliche, but it has a lot of merit. A lot of students get personal with that one ugly question on the test and lose so much of the limited and valuable time they have on it. What I recommend is what great generals have always done throughout history: tactical retreat. Let go of the questions that you know may waste your time so that you can attempt the ones that you know you can score on.
Tip 4: Learn the fastest route to the answers.
Students typically approach the SAT the way they approach a school exam, but the level of time pressure you’re under on the SAT is not comparable to that of a school exam. Therefore, being able to solve a question is not sufficient in and of itself: solving it in a quick way is what often leads to a high score. I’ve helped many students score 800 on the digital SAT’s math section, and I assure you none of them approach the test in a typical manner. During their prep, they learned how and when to ballpark, approximate, guess, use Plugging In, or Plugging In The Answers methods.
Tip 5: Know that there are NO silly mistakes on the digital SAT
A lot of students easily miss out on the opportunity to learn from their mistakes by simply labelling them as silly mistakes. If such mistakes are the reason your score is stagnant, then you should not hide them under the category of silly mistakes. A silly mistake should be perceived as a lack of attention to important details. If the question asks for the value of 2x in an equation and you click the value of x from the choices, that simply means you’ve developed a habit of overlooking important details. And that is never a good thing. Attention to details is such a valuable skill to have. The difference between – 20 million dollars and +20 million dollars in your company’s bank account is a lot more serious than oh it’s just a sign!
Conclusion
If you feel improving your digital SAT Math score is a slow and tedious process, chances are you’re approaching it wrong. Adopt the 5 tips outlined above, and book a free full length digital SAT diagnostic test to see the improvement yourself.
Book a free digital SAT Mock Test Now https://www.unihawk.com/enquire-now
