You should know that UWorld’s SAT® Prep Course includes practice exams that are realistic to the style, format, and difficulty of real SAT test questions provided by the College Board on the official SAT exam. The accuracy of the problems is crucial to ensure you are studying exactly how you should to build a baseline of what to expect from the official SAT test.
Tips for Practice Exams
As you work through our practice exams, there are some key strategies to utilize in order to ensure you are getting the most out of your efforts.
1. Practice the Entire Test
You want to create a baseline for your performance in order to guide your expectations and set goals for improvement. This process starts by taking the entire SAT exam all the way through. By taking the whole exam, you can better gauge your fatigue, time management, and concentration. The SAT test is long and tiring. You want to get an accurate read on your performance for each section, and the best way to find this information is by taking each section back to back as you would on test day.
Another tip: As you work through your practice exam, mark any questions you guess on. If you happen to get those questions right, you will still need to take time to review them. Earning points by guessing will do nothing for improving your skills. Maximize your scores by learning from every mistake.
2. Pinpoint the Areas Where You Can Improve
Data from your practice tests will show the areas where you can improve the most. UWorld’s SAT Prep Course contains performance tracking tools to pinpoint the areas you can focus on to boost your scores. You should also note the types of errors you make. If you miss a question because you ran out of time, that is important to know for your study plan. If you miss a problem because you didn’t understand the question, you can practice your reading comprehension. If you didn’t have the right formula memorized, add it to your study plan.
3. Categorize
You can break down your areas of weakness by labeling the questions you repeatedly miss or guess on. You should have an idea of the question types that take longer or trip you up. You should also have an idea of where these questions are in the Math exam.
Are they consistent throughout the sections? Are they always at the end? Are you missing most of the problems at the beginning of the exam? Is there a chunk in the middle that you miss points on?
If you know that you tend to miss grid-in questions, you can shape your study plan to focus heavily on them. This step can also help you find out if you are struggling more with the Heart of Algebra questions or Passport to Advanced Math questions. You may find out that you perform better on the no-calculator section than the calculator section. All of this information can help shape a study plan and outline what you need to work on as you prepare for the SAT test.
Use Your Practice Test To Create a Study Plan
You can use the information from your practice tests to create a study plan. Here is how:
1. Learn From Your mistakes.
The first part of the study plan you create from the practice test is based on weak points. The steps above will effectively outline the questions, areas, formulas, or sections that need the most work. Now that you know your mistakes, it is essential to learn why you are making them. Do your best to learn from your weak points so that you are prepared and confident when you come across them on test day. Our prep course’s question explanations are a great place to start.
2. Find Methods That Work for You.
Often, you will find that you can solve a problem in multiple ways. Use your practice time to try out various methods and find the one that you are most confident with. Once you have found a method that is efficient and accommodating to your personal process, then you can make a note for that question type. On test day, you will know the exact steps that led you to the answer in your practices.
3. Think Independently.
You can gain a lot from thinking independently throughout the Math exam. While you can strategize by using the answer choices to check your work or find your answer, it is a good idea to spend time finding the solution on your own while practicing. Once you have your answer, you can go through the explanation provided by our prep course to see where you went wrong. This step will force you to slow down and think about each step in the process of finding an answer.
You can practice these strategies and tips for math practice questions through UWorld’s SAT Prep Course. Our practice exams, detailed question explanations, and performance tracking tools can provide you with tools and a study plan for test day. Try it out to practice questions, learn from your mistakes, and boost your scores!
