IV. Practice Tests
So how do you take practice tests? This is clichéd, but set aside a quiet hour when your little sister isn’t screaming or parents aren’t yelling at you to mow the lawn. Sit at a clear desk and plan on not getting up for an hour. If you can, have your parent time you. It’s much easier to go over the time limit if you’re timing yourself.
What I did was this
1. Took practice test and calculated score
2. Read over ALL the explanations to the answers, even the ones I got right. CB’s method of solving may be better or more efficient than mine.
3. Write down on a separate sheet of paper each problem I got wrong and why. Thankfully, there weren’t a lot of those.
4. Review that sheet before each practice test
CB also provides a table that shows what percentage of students got a question right. USE THAT! If you’re getting a question wrong that 89% of other students did too, that’s OK, you didn’t know a complex concept. However, if 95% of kids got it right and you didn’t, there’s something wrong. Stupid mistake? Make sure never to make it again.
Lastly, space out your practice tests. Don’t take 3 in the same day. You want time to prepare in between so you can notice a difference in your scores.
V. Tips and Tricks
I would like to emphasize again that it is in your best interest to take Math II. Most of the tips I list here apply for math II. These apply for the TI 84 but you could probably do them on an 83 too.
Standard Deviation: SD is a method in statistics to determine how “spread out” a set of values are. Yes, that’s not an exact definition, but if you’re like me, you won’t have taken stats by the time you decide to take Math II. There’s sometimes one question on Math II that asks you to determine the SD of a set of numbers. Rather than arduously calculate it and likely make a mistake, here’s how your calculator can do it
1. 2nd STAT
2. Under MATH, select stdDev (
3. 2nd (, which makes a {
4. Type in the numbers of your set separated by commas
5. 2nd )
6. )
7. You should have something like stdDev({1, 2, 3})
8. Enter
One other basic fact you should know: multiplying a set of numbers by a common value changes the SD but adding or subtracting a number from all of them won’t change the SD.
Matrices: Again, one or two questions might ask you about the determinant of matrices. That’s not a lot, but it could be the difference between 790 and 800. To calculate the determinant:
1. 2nd x^-1 (the button right under MATH)
2. Go to EDIT
3. Select the first matrix, [A]
4. Adjust for the size of your matrix. For example, if the matrix had 4 rows and 4 columns, you would type 4 enter 4.
5. Type in the coefficients for the matrix. For example, 1 enter, 5 enter, etc.
6. 2nd MODE
7. 2nd x^-1
8. Under MATH, select det(
9. 2nd x^-1
10. Under NAMES, select [A]
11. )
12. You should now have det([A])
13. Enter
This process seems tedious, but it becomes faster as you practice. Plus, with 4 x 4 or 5 x 5 matrices, Cramer’s rule takes too long and you’ll make a mistake.
Regression: This is a method to extrapolate new values based on old ones. This can be done by hand, but it takes awhile. CB even explains answers to these types of questions like “using a calculator, the equation is calculated to be ………….” These are the classic “using a least squares linear regression, calculate this or that.” Chances are this wasn’t taught in school, but I figured out how to do it on the calculator. Usually this problem will be given in the form of a table, with x and y values.
1. 2nd (
2. Enter the x values separated by commas
3. 2nd )
4. STO >
5. 2nd 1
6. You should now have something like {1, 6, 9} L1
7. Enter. What you’re doing here is storing values to a list.
8. Repeat, entering the y values in and store them in L2 (2nd 2)
9. STAT
10. Under CALC, select what type of regression they ask for. It’s usually linear, but see if it’s quadratic or cubic or exponential or whatever.
11. (
12. 2nd 1 comma 2nd 2
13. )
14. You should now have LinReg(ax + b) (L1, L2) but the first part will depend on the type of regression you’re doing
15. Enter
16. The calculator will display an equation like y = ax + b and will list the a and b values. Look back to the question. It will ask something like “how many bugs are in the colony after 8 hours of whatever.” So if your equation were y = 8x + 18, you would substitute 8 for x and get 8*8 + 18. Then your calculator will give you that answer.
You may ask why you should learn how to do all this stuff when it seems tedious and easier just to study other stuff. A good 3-5 of the harder questions may be on this material. You want as many questions right as possible because in math it is so easy to make a mistake.
If you’re a decent math student and/or are pressed for time, learn these topics
- Probability
- Permutations and Combinations
- Sets and Unions
- “Group” Problems
Again, they don’t show up a lot, but you want to squeeze as many points out as you can.
If you’re REALLY pressed for time (e.g. night before), consider taking the test the next month. If not, take a timed practice test and read all of the answers and explanations.
VI. Free Resources
If you’re out of cash, it’s the night before the test, or for whatever reason you can’t get a book, go to
SparkNotes: SAT Subject Test: Math Level 1: SparkNotes: SAT Subject Test: Math Level 1 SparkNotes: SAT Subject Test: Math Level 2: SparkNotes: SAT Subject Test: Math Level 2
Sparknotes has its entire Math I and II books online. You can read through all the lessons. In addition, you can create a free account and take any of its 5 practice tests each for math I and II online. They are very accurate but your eyes might hurt after staring at the computer for an hour.