SAT Math Practice Test/Question Bank

Question

If I learn and master every question from the official practice tests, and almost every question from the question bank, will I have covered pretty much everything there could be on SAT math?

Answer 1

I've noticed that a lot of students struggle with the specific wording of some SAT questions. No matter how many you do, there will always be some questions that try to trick you in various ways: extra details that don't really matter, asking for a value from a graph that most questions don't, giving a table that isn't required to answer the question, etcetera.

If you've learned and mastered all of the practice test questions, speed is definitely the next step. I often recommend aiming for about 1:00 per reading question and 1:30 per math question. That's an average though, some questions will be much faster and others will be slower.

If your timing is around that range without compromising on answer quality, you'll want to make sure you're mentally prepared. I've had a few students who were fully prepared for their test otherwise, but their score struggled because they were stressed during the test or didn't get enough sleep. Getting enough rest to fully concentrate is arguably just as important as timing.

Answer 2

Why almost all question bank questions? Make it all.

Make sure to analyze / review them when you get them wrong. Make sure to know how to work each type of question.

For example, with Reading "Notes" questions, read and highlight the student goal. Then check the answer choices. Most of the time, only 1 answer choice will mention the student goal. Eliminate those that don't, pick the one that does.

If more than one mentions the goal - it has always been 2 if not 1, then look to the notes to pick the one accurate to the notes, eliminate the one not accurate to the notes.

If more than one contains the student goal and is accurate to the notes, you've made a mistake. Guess. Mark the question. Move on. Check it again if you have time.

If more than 2 mention the student goal, you've more than likely made a mistake. Check them again.

On Math, for circle questions use Desmos. It can show you the center and radius of any circle.

Practice with Desmos.

If you just work the questions, you won't get as much out of it as if you analyze / review and rework. For Math, you can find a second way to get the answer, even on questions you answer correctly.

Answer 3

Time is the biggest issue if you master the content. One of the critical elements is to learn how to do the problems in the fastest way. This may not be the same way you would do the problems if you had unlimited time.

Example: To find the zeros of a cubic, you might use synthetic division and the Rational Roots Theorem if you were not limited by time. But, to answer such a question on the SAT, you wouldn't want to take the time to do that. Instead you might look at the answers and perhaps look at Decartes' Rules of Signs and throw out the impossible answers then try a likely candidate to see if it worked.

A big part of the SAT is managing your time. But, you can't do well if you haven't mastered the material.