One of the 3 math sections of the SAT contains 18 questions. The first 8 are multiple choice and the last 10 are “grid-ins” (more on these later). The 8 multiple choice questions are again arranged in almost perfect order of increasing difficulty – #1 is easy and #8 is quite difficult. The problem on this 18-question section is the fact that the hard questions like #7 and #8 are sitting right in the middle of the section. Once again, the student must be honest about his/her potential score. If you’re a candidate for a 700, you need to attack every question. What if you’re shooting for a 500 which requires about half the questions to be answered correctly? To be candid, you should SKIP #7 and #8. Students are always told not to spend too much time on a problem that they find difficult. Correct. However, #7 and #8 are guaranteed to be difficult, so we say the average student should spend zero time on them. Right after #8, you will find the start of the 10 grid-in questions. They begin easy, then come the medium ones and end with the hardest. You need to preserve time for these grid-ins. If you waste time on #7 and #8, you’re taking time away from grid-ins that you can definitely do if you left yourself enough time. The 18-question math section is the key to your math score and not spending too much time on the first 8 multiple choice questions is the key to handling this section.

Tags: SAT Math, SAT Prep, SAT Preparation, SAT Scores