<p>Well I came to the test blank and unprepared for the PSAT last year. As for the SAT, I think practice is the only thing I will be needing for math. And checking as I go is simply a way of having confidence in my answer, there’s several ways to do it, such as plugging your answer back into the problem to see if it fits the equation, or simple doing the problem again using the same, or a different, approach.</p>
<p>Once you have done enough math SAT problems, you start seeing patterns just like Writing. It’s just a matter of practice on identifying the type, finding the approach needed, and working the problem. </p>
<p>For hard problems, I have three approaches.</p>
<ol>
<li>If it deals with numbers, I do it straight through. Usually, this works.</li>
<li>If it deals with circles, triangles, or any other shape, think of all the identities and apply them accordingly. This will usually make the problem very easy.</li>
<li>If it’s abstract, plug in numbers. Never use 0, 1, or 2.</li>
</ol>
<p>If nothing works, come back to it. Don’t get sidetracked. </p>
<p>If you still have time, redo the problems. Use ALL the time. People make the mistake of being confident that they got everything right and just rest. WRONG. Check, recheck, and TRIPLE check. The difference between a 750 to 800 could be that silly mistake you overlooked.</p>
<p>Also, remember to always assume on drawings unless they specifically say NOT to. If it looks like a isosceles triangle, assume it is unless otherwise.</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s kind of hard for me to give advice to others because for me it’s just intuition.
The key for getting enough time to check and recheck is finding the fastest and most efficient way to solve a problem. If that means taking each problem slowly, without any time limit, dissecting it, and then thinking about different ways to approach it, so be it. If you practice finding faster ways to do the problem, you will be able to utilize those methods and it will save tons of time on the actual test. I think that for about 80% of the problems, there is a faster way to do the them than most test-takers would think.</p>