What to know about SAT subject tests before you study

The subject tests tested during the SAT exams are aimed to testing the ability and strength of students in several academic areas. Some of the colleges require that you pass the tests before being admitted while others take into consideration the scores that a student has scored in order to be considered for admission. Do you aspire to take several tests on various subjects? Check these aspects of SAT exams before you undertake the tests. They will be of help to you before and during the tests.

Exam format

The subject tests given to students are multiple-choice tests. If you do not answer a question correctly, you will be deducted a fraction of a point. The number of choices that are given determines the penalty. If a question has few answer choices, every wrong answer will be deducted higher marks. It is therefore not advisable to guess without a particular strategy.

Before you begin the actual preparation of the actual test that you have chosen to undertake, consider the strategies that will help you eliminate the wrong answers. For instance, in a Mathematics test, it will be of help if you can learn how to approximate the range of the answer even without any calculation. In Science exams, understanding some particular principles will come in handy in eliminating improbable answers.

Exam timing

The SAT exams are administered within an hour. This is a tense period. You may choose to sit for more than one exam in a day. However, this is not an advisable strategy. It is better to spread the tests across a few months. A one hour exam does not give you the relevant pace to pad around. In case a single SAT subject whips you up, the time to catch up later is limited. You are therefore advised to monitor closely the time and avoid taking too much time on a single question.

Take some time to ponder on the number of questions that can have in any exam before you start your review.Some questions have a higher level of difficulty than others. In view of this, you do not need to limit yourself to a given number of seconds for every question. Instead of doing this, split the exam into four questions, and for every set of four take 15 minutes.

Once you realize that you are running out of time for any given section, mark the place that you have left at, and start guessing intelligently. Select the probable answers after a brief intellectual analysis. Revisit some of the questions that you are not sure if you get some time after you are through.

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