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SAT Math: What to Expect

By jill muttera posted February 7, 2012

Get to know the structure of SAT Math before test day so there are no surprises! It’s a great idea to know the directions ahead of time so you can get started answering questions right away on the real thing.

Timing: SAT Math is comprised of two 25 minute sections with approximately 20 questions and one 20 minute section with 16 questions. Some questions will be strictly computational and take only seconds to complete; others could take up to a few minutes. If you are totally baffled by a question or have been working on it for too long, move on to an easier question and come back to it at the end if you have time. Each question is worth the same amount, so don’t waste your time on one question you might not even answer correctly.

Try this SAT math practice question and test your quantitative skills!

Format: There are two question type formats, multiple choice and student-produced response. For multiple choice you will select one out of five answers. For student-produced response, you will not be given any choices and will have to write your answer in a grid on the answer sheet, as well as fill in the corresponding bubbles.

Content Overview: The math section covers arithmetic, algebra, geometry, statistics, and probability. So don’t sweat it if you never made it to calculus! You will be given some basic formulas to refer to, such as the area of a triangle and the volume of a cylinder. Refer to the collegeboard.com website to see exactly which formulas appear on the test so you don’t have to worry about memorizing them.

SAT Math has the least variety of question formats for you to learn, so you can focus on brushing up on math concepts, practicing solving problems, and learning relevant strategies.

Find out how you can get customized tutoring on SAT to hone your skills with a Grockit tutor.

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The SAT Essay: What to Expect

By jill muttera posted February 1, 2012

The thought of writing an essay before delving into three hours of multiple-choice testing might send shudders down your spine, but the more you know about the SAT essay, the less daunting it will seem. Read on to learn all the basics of the SAT essay.

Timing: The essay portion of the SAT comes first on the test. You will have 25 minutes to read the prompt, decide on your viewpoint, brainstorm, outline, write, and proofread your essay. Whew, that’s a lot in such a short time! Obviously steps such as outlining are going to be very condensed versions of what you would do with a take-home essay for school, and some steps you may have to skip altogether. Definitely write timed practiced essays at home before the big day so you’re prepared for what a time crunch it can be.

Format: You will be given a short paragraph relating to the prompt, usually a quotation from a historical figure, literature, etc. Don’t ignore this information! It can give you valuable ideas for your essay. This will be followed by the prompt itself, which will ask you to formulate a point of view on an issue and support that viewpoint with examples and analysis. You will be writing your essay on the lined pages provided.

Content Overview: Read through old SAT essay prompts to get an idea of the type of topics the test makers typically use. You can find the most recent ones at collegeboard.com. You will find a common thread through the prompts of “life’s big questions,” covering everything from ambition to honesty. Every prompt will tell you to use examples from “your reading, studies, experience, or observations.” Go into the essay armed with several examples from these areas that you feel comfortable writing about to support a thesis.

Now that you know the basics of the SAT essay, start writing! Find out how Grockit’s expert tutors can help you to critique your practice essays so that you can learn from your mistakes.

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SAT: Student Produced Response Strategy

By james kim posted December 16, 2010

I think a large part of getting prepared for the SAT is all about familiarity. When you are familiar with the kinds of questions they ask on the SAT math section, the more comfortable you will be when you come across them. Let’s face it, the actual test day does not lend itself much to comfort.

It’s always on a Saturday, at some random far away high school really early in the morning. Chances are you didn’t get enough sleep, you’re hungry, and depending on the time of year, really really cold. With these chips stacked against you from the beginning, getting to know the actual test will help you a lot.

This entry is to provide a couple helpful tips when it comes to the Student-Produced Responses, or grid-ins. Remembering these helpful hints should abate some of those anxieties that come to you, that ridiculously early morning you take the test.

1. Bubbles are your friend - You are only scored for what is bubbled in, so take your time bubbling and worry less about what you write. If you write in the correct answer but bubble in incorrectly, sorry, but you got that question wrong.

Try this SAT SPR practice question and put these strategies to work!

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Number Lines

By amanda chen posted April 29, 2010

There are typically two types of number line problems:

questions that show you an actual number line that require you to estimate and know properties of positive/negative numbers and decimals
and questions that require you to translate a word problem into a number line.

When a question gives you a drawing of a number line, always look out for which points are between -1 and 1. Numbers whose absolute values are less than 1 are points B, C, D, E, F, G in the picture below. An important property to note is that when these points are multiplied with another point that is greater than 1, it makes that number smaller. Try it! Suppose G is 0.5 and H is 1.5. GxH is 0.75 which is smaller than H.

Another important property to note is what happens when you multiply two negative points together or when you multiply a negative and a positive point. Two negatives make a positive, meaning BxC gives you a positive number – either E, F or G because those points are positive and less than 1. A negative and a positive makes a negative. So BxG would either be point C or D. If you estimate what the values of those points are, you would be able to say with greater certainty too that BxG has to be point D.

Here’s another number line question where the line is given.

If there are 8 equal intervals between 0 and 1. What is the value of x? I would start counting the number of points until I get to the one labeled √x and realize that it is the point 6/8 which is also 3/4 . Since √x – 3/4 that means that x – 9/16.

The other type of question requires you to translate a word problem into a number line. Let’s start off with an easy word problem.

The number m – 4 is how much less than the number m + 5?

I would draw a number line like the one above. And let m equal a number. Suppose m=0. That means that m-4 = -4 and m+5=5. If I circle -4 and 5 on the number line and count the spaces in between, I would realize that they are 9 units apart.

Here’s a longer question. An important thing to note about “number lines” is that it generally refers to the x-axis. So if points A and C are located on a number line such that AC=6 that means you can draw and x-y graph and put A and C as two points on the x-axis, 6 units apart. If I then tell you that point E is also on the x-y plane and located so that AE=3, where could you put E? You could put E on the x-axis between A and C or to the left of A.

That means that if A is at (1,0) and C at (7,0), then E could be at (-2, 0) or (4,0)

Or E could not be on the number line if you put E 3 units above A or 3 units below A.

The most difficult type of number line problem is the word problem. Try sketching a map of the buildings and stores in the following problem: Highland High School lies exactly halfway between the East and West bridges of town. Piggy’s Pizza lies halfway between the high school and the East bridge. Paul’s sub shop lies somewhere between the high school and the West bridge. All buildings form a straight line from the East bridge to the West Bridge. If Paul’s is 8 miles from the West Bridge and Piggy’s is 13 miles from the East bridge, how far is it from Paul’s to Piggy’s?

Did you manage to get the figure above? Since Highland HS is exactly halfway between the bridges that means that it must be 26 miles – 8 miles = 18 miles between the high school and Pual’s sub shop. So Piggy’s to Paul’s = 13 miles + 18 miles = 31 miles.

If you liked the examples on the page, try a custom number line math SAT game on Grockit!

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SAT Math: Average Speed (Not the “Average” of the Speeds)!

By vivian kerr posted October 13, 2009

One of the SAT’s most challenging concepts is Average Rate, also called Average Speed. Often found in complex word problems, this type of question is one many students are less familiar with so don’t get nervous if you don’t know how to approach it yet! Let’s review two important equations to remember and look at how this concept appears on the SAT!

The first important formula to memorize is: D = R x T. This stands for Distance = Rate x Time. I like to think of it as the “DIRT” formula and writing it this way is the easiest way for me to remember. It is perfectly acceptable to also think of it as Time = Distance / Rate or as Rate = Distance / Time. Usually the “Rate” is speed but it could be anything “per” anything. In a word problem, if you see the word “per” you know this is a question involving rates.

The second formula is: Average Rate = Total Distance / Total Time. This is its own special concept and you will notice that it is NOT an Average of the Speeds (which would be something like the Sum of the Speeds / the Number of Different Speeds or what we know as the Arithmetic Mean). Average Rate is completely different. Let’s look at an example question:

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