<p>Hi,
I really want to be a pharmacist but with my grades and low SAT I won’t have a chance at getting into a program. I already have the SAT prep book, but are there any other good prep books focusing on just math? Would anyone here reccomend using this book? “Cracking the SAT Math 1 and 2 Subject Tests, 2007-2008 Edition” Should get another book in addition to this book? I studied for that 490 and I’m really downtrodden on my percentile being well bellow the 50 mark so please be gentle.</p>
<p>I doubt the SAT subject Math book would be useful, maybe a little the ones for SAT Ic if you happen to have it. If not, I think they are useless because the SAT subject requires a lot of useless information for SAT1. The best way is always PRACTICE, PRACTICE and PRACTICE again!</p>
<p>bcarvings, i can understand how you feel, to be honest without math your chance of having a very good job are slim to none, because most top professions require high levels of math regardless if you use them in your field or not. What i recommend</p>
<p>Go out and get Grubers 2005 new sat, Your best bet for the most realistic sat math problems is the Offical sat study Guide(BLue Book)Go through the first few practice tests without time limit, and use grubers if you have any questions. Try to understand how the questions are formulated. Basically this is the Xiggi Method. Once you understand the methodology of the math problems you uncover the secrets and by no time it becomes 2nd nature and you will be more confident on test day. </p>
<p>Its all about practice, just practice practice. Iam terrible at Math and this is what iam doing to reach my goal of 680+ </p>
<p>Make sure you understand the the problem and why you commited the mistake, then only can you start gaining points.</p>
<p>dont worry, keep taking practice tests, and look over question types you are getting wrong, pinpoint ur weaknesses and learn how to solve types of problems u are getting wrong. im sure you’ll do fine.</p>
<p>retake + 10char</p>
<p>The math is actually the easiest section to prep for. Why? Because the questions become identical and are quick to do(no long readings). Here’s my advice(I got a 700M on my first try, going for an 800M next time):</p>
<p>1) Since your score seems a bit low, try reviewing the concepts(get the Blue Book for this). Make sure you know how to factor something, basic properties of integers, basic geometric theorems, etc. The SAT is NOT a knowledge test; you need know very little to do well in the math section, only basic concepts which you should have learned in high school. Just brush up on your knowledge before attempting to master the SAT.</p>
<p>2) Practice, practice, practice. The math questions are written such that if you do enough, you’ll be able to see a question and go “Oh, so that’s question type X,” and you’ll jot out the answer like there was no problem at all.</p>
<p>3) Learn patterns, especially those which you are having trouble with I’m in the process of studying for the SAT now. So far, I’ve discovered 1 major pattern which I was getting wrong always on practice tests. One of these questions was:</p>
<p>"3,5,-5…
The first term in the series of numbers shown above is 3. Each even-numbered term is term 2 more than the previous term and each odd-numbered term, after the first, is -1 times the previous term. For example, the second term is 3+2 and the third term is (-1) x 5. What is the 55th term of the sequence.</p>
<p>a. -5
b. -3
c. -1
d. 3
e. 5"</p>
<p>Now, that seems like a very daunting question at first. Do I start to write out a series formula? How do I do that? The answer is simple. You do not need a series formula at all for this. All you have to do is continue the series until you see a pattern. Continuing the series yields:</p>
<p>3,5,-5,-3,3,5,-5,-3</p>
<p>Oh, now the question seems easy. It’s just 3,5,-5,3. So, we just need to figure out the remainder of 55/4. This can be done on a calculator, and yields 3. So, the 55th term is the third term in the smaller sequence, -5. And that’s it. A simple problem made easy. Note that I discovered this pattern after only ONE practice test. </p>
<p>4) Practice more. Beating the SAT math is a matter of practice. If you do 20+ official tests(which I am in the process of doing; on #2 now ;), you’ll discover every little trick and trap that The College Board has set out for you.</p>
<p>Note, that this can be frustrating. Even for me, with a 700M, I do the tests thinking I got everything right, then I go back and see that I got 2 or 3 wrong. Of course, I review what I got wrong and don’t make the same mistakes. It’s frustrating, but it’s the only way to get an 800. </p>
<p>I’d advise taking at least the first 5-7 out of 20 tests untimed. Your first goal should be to master the questions so that you can get them right in one untimed sitting. Only after you have accomplished that(or as many as you <em>want</em> to get right), should you worry about timing. It’s an issue, but you’ll overcome it with practice.</p>
<p>Hi,
I thank the person for reccomending the Gruber’s book, they are coming out with a new one August 1st and that will give me ample time to study for the October exam. </p>
<p>mikesown, that’s one impressive word problem. It took me a while to get it even with your solution. </p>
<p>Also I have studied the basic concepts in the blue book. My problem is that I’m so dumb I can’t understand some of the “mathematics section” review. Specifically “functions as models”, and everything past that in the algebra and functions section.</p>
<p>I’m a senior, I’ve taken Algebra 1, Geomatry, Algebra2/Trig. I can’t seem to get the functions. With the courses I’ve taken shouldn’t I be able to understand the explanations even? I know I’m not really dumb because I can take CP classes with B’s, but I’m not exactly smart either.</p>
<p>bcarvings: Functions are easy(probably the easiest topic on the SAT, imho). All they do is take in a single input value, and give a single output value. I don’t have any questions on hand, but if you have any, I can explain them to you.</p>
<p>^ Thanks for the explanation, but do you think you could clarify this, “So, we just need to figure out the remainder of 55/4. This can be done on a calculator, and yields 3. So, the 55th term is the third term in the smaller sequence, -5. And that’s it.”</p>
<p>That just confused me. Thanks a ton for the explanation also!</p>
<p>Great thread. Keep it going, I too did poorly. I am not dumb, but I am just flat out bad at math.</p>
<p>mikesown: thanks for posting that problem. I have always had problems with sequences…etc, but the solution makes complete sense. I don’t understand why I couldn’t have thought of that before. lol</p>
<p>Anyway…the best way to improve is to study the topics on the SAT. Seriously!
Just take a math diagnostic… even if you get many wrong, do NOT get discouraged. Now go through the problems that you got wrong OR the ones you guessed/wasn’t sure about, and figure out what types of categories they fit in. For me for example, sequences/averages ( like what is the average of all even numbers from 1-100… i can never get those) always seems to stump me.</p>
<p>BigB_85: No problem. These questions stumped me a lot both in Alg. 2 and on the SAT. Let me explain a bit further.
To refresh, we have the series written out and the pattern figured out:
3,5,-5,-3,3,5,-5,-3
with 3,5,-5,3 repeating every time from the 1st term to infinity. That means that the series just keeps repeating. We could write out the series to 55 terms, but this is pointless; we have discovered the pattern. Think of it as a wrapping number system. After we hit -3, it goes back to 3. We just need a quick way to evaluate this on our calculators. To do this, we type mod(55,4) into our calculators. If you are not familiar with the mod function, what this does is divides 55 by 4, and gives you the remainder. So, now that mod(55,4) gives us 3, we know the number is the third term in the sequence, -5. That’s it.</p>
<p>I got a 490 my first time too, so don’t feel bad. I pretty much did what all the other posters did: I reviewed SAT math concepts and practiced daily. I took the SAT a second time in June and earned a 590. I am going to continue studying this summer for a 650. Don’t give up just keep practicing!</p>
<p>By the way, I used the Blue book and Princeton Review. I just purchased Sparknotes: new SAT math 2 weeks ago, and I really like how they offer practice for every single test problem type.</p>
<p>Thanks mikesown…I understand it now. :)</p>
<p>BIGB_85, u dont even need a calculator for those types of problems (sorry if this is mentioned above didnt read all posts),</p>
<p>if you have: 3,5,-5,-3,3,5,-5,-3
…then just think about it when finding the 55th term. when looking at that problem…i would attack it by finding the 10th term, which is 5. So IF The 10th Term is 5, then EVERY 10th term (a multiple) will be 5, thus the 50th Term will be 5. Knowing that, u need the 55th term…so if the 50th term is 5, just count the next 5, and u arrive at -5. </p>
<p>i mean thats just an easier way of doing it that would save me time. Personally theres no need for calculator on some SAT math questions.</p>
<p>That’s a good way too. :)</p>