Here is the College Board’s Test Day Checklist. Masters of the obvious, they tell you to bring: Admission ticket (print it out today!) Two #2 pencils Photo ID Calculator I’d add in: Sleep! (though I realize this is not something you can bring to the test) A bunch of pencils. Many classrooms don’t even […]
Strategy
Smart students play "dumb" on the SAT Critical Reading sections
The critical reading passages are the only place on the SAT that I’m going to tell you to be “dumb.” Here’s what I mean. Many of my students know a lot of information about a lot of topics. And then they try to leverage this information on the critical reading passages. Don’t reference your brain […]
SAT Math Strategy: Ready? Fire! then Aim approach
When guessing is faster than solving on the SAT and ACT math sections.
Start studying for the SAT
The only way to win is to start A lot of students put off studying for the SAT. Their particular reasons vary, but they share some similar characteristics. It’s hard. They’re busy. Studying sucks. They’re not scoring what they want to. All of which may be true. But not doing anything won’t get you any […]
Get out of your head for success on the SAT
A lot of my students try to solve problems in their head. Especially math problems. This is a bad idea. Short-term memory is the first to go under pressure. And the SAT is exquisitely designed to short-circuit your short-term memory. Write out *every step* of the math solution. Here’s an example of one of my […]