SAT- Math Experimental???

lilkiddykid · 11-17-2012, 07:04 PM

Soo I took the November Makeup SAT test today and had 4 math sections (1 experimental) and I'm stressing over which section could be the experimental. The first math section that I got which was section 2 had 9 MCS and a couple of grid in questions. I remember vaguely a question with a big square of 4 and a couple of small squares i believe they were 3 by 3, 2 by 2 and 1 by 1 squares and asked how much could a certain square could make the perimeter the least?? Also there was a coordinate geometry question that involved an imaginary line k passing through 2 points and the question asking something about making a certain point 2 radical 2. Sorry If I'm being too obscure and vague but that's all the I remember =(. Other threads i found on this website say that the grid in questions for the math section is never experimental. However I found 1 section which was my first math section too be extremely hard while I breezed through the other 3 sections which was moderately easier and the questions were more connected. Also to point out I had back to back math sections sections 5 and 6 which could also be experimental. Can anyone verify if they had the same questions??

rspence · 11-17-2012, 07:59 PM

If there was exactly one grid-in section, that is not experimental. If there are two sections with grid-ins, then one of them is experimental.

I'm not sure how to determine an experimental section (they seem to have the same difficulty, with a few tricky questions here and there). Since there are a fixed # of graded math questions, you might be able to determine which is experimental.

Preply · 11-17-2012, 09:43 PM

The idea behind the experimental section is that you shouldn't know which one it is. If you are familiar with the test, sometimes it can be obvious which one it is.

But at the end of the day, will knowing which one it is help you? Probably not. Your score will be the same regardless.

Your test is over. Go do something relaxing.

rspence · 11-17-2012, 10:18 PM

^Yes exactly. In a couple weeks you probably won't even care which section was experimental.

lilkiddykid · 11-18-2012, 01:18 AM

Thank you both for the reassuring comments! =] I think I just was overwhelmed with the difficulty of this test compared to October one that I took. Oh well, nothing I could do now but wait...

skaleidoscope · 11-18-2012, 12:13 PM

Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about! I took the SAT makeup yesterday as well and was pretty taken aback with how much more difficult the first math section seemed to be when compared to the other sections--usually it seems like the sections get tougher as the test progresses, but the second section didn't seem nearly as tough as the first! Is it possible that that section was the experimental even though it was the only grid in? I honestly hope so, because I don't feel like I did so hot in it. Oh well, we'll see how things turn out soon enough

Besides, if the scores aren't what we want them to be, there's December and January at the very latest. I'm sure that we did better than what we think right now!