Raise your SAT score: Bootcamp strategy timesavers that help you answer more questions

February 13, 9:25 AMCollege Admissions ExaminerLauren Starkey

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Taking the SAT is a college admissions necessary evil. There are many arguments against the validity and fairness of the test, but it remains a force to be reckoned with.

At SAT Bootcamp, we teach strategies that help students raise their scores. Some need to rethink the order in which they answer questions, and others have to rein in their guessing. One strategy that works for everyone is maximizing the amount of time you have to answer questions. Here are four no-fail ways to accomplish that:

Know the directions for every question ahead of time. There are eight types of questions on the test, including the essay, and they appear almost twenty times. If you read the directions each time, you’ll lose over 10 minutes that could have been spent answering questions. Check www.collegeboard.com for the official directions, and familiarize yourself with them now.

Don’t reduce fractions on grid-in math problems. This time waster only gives you a correct answer to replace the correct one you’ve already determined.

Finish one passage before moving on when answering passage-based reading questions. Revisiting a passage means skimming or even reading it again to refamiliarize yourself with it.  

Stick to your original plan for your essay. Every SAT essay is a persuasive one—you’re asked to take a stand and support it with examples, evidence, and details. Changing your mind about which stand to take wastes minutes you could have spent strengthening your argument. Remember, it’s not about how you actually think or feel about a topic, but how well you develop and back up your argument.