This question trips up the majority of my students. If they don’t know how to solve for it directly, they shut down, throw up their hands, randomly guess, waste time worrying and stressing, and lose the point. This problem is from SAT Practice Test 7, Section 3, Question 6. Not only do students not know the […]
Math
How to make the ACT and SAT a lot easier
My students, bless their trusting hearts, often take the tests at face value. That’s a mistake. Always be looking for ways you can make the ACT and SAT easier for yourself. (Like using a “ruler” or working on a printed copy of the test.) Here’s a classic example that tricks the majority of my students […]
When is a triangle question not a triangle question?
This question stumped one of my students today. This is from the SAT Official Practice Test 8, Section 4, Question 5. A triangle problem He correctly transferred the information in the text onto the picture but then he didn’t know what to do next. He saw the triangle and was thinking about the Pythagorean Theorem […]
Further insight into guessing on the ACT and SAT
The theory and practice of guessing I recently had an email exchange with Phil Keller, one of my favorite SAT tutors, and the author of the excellent and highly-recommended book The New Math SAT Game Plan. We were discussing guessing on the ACT and SAT. I’ve excerpted portions of our email conversation with his permission […]
How Oreos can help you solve SAT and ACT math problems
Watch the video How do you eat a double-stuffed Oreo? Everyone eats the stuffing first, then the cookie. You start on the inside and then work your way out. It’s exactly the same thing with nested function problems on the ACT and the SAT. Let’s look at how to solve this problem: Start with […]
Acing the ACT book review
What it is Acing the ACT is a short book written by Elizabeth King. It’s focused on how to deal with the tricky questions and traps on the ACT. It doesn’t focus on all the skills that you need – assuming that students have the basics covered. The subtitle is really accurate: a guide to […]