How Students Can Score Higher on SAT Test Day Your practice
tests are in the high 1700s, but you can't break a 1600 on the
real SAT. Why the disparity in scores? I take the SAT and ACT
every year to make sure that my teaching tactics and curriculum
are current and precisely aligned with the test. Usually I miss
one or two questions on the exam, typically from a silly
mistake. But taking this January's test was different than any
previously. Not because the test was different, but because I
had forgotten my graphing calculator at one of my students'
homes the day before. Whereas I typically finish a math section
with 10-15 minutes to spare, on this test day I was scrambling
to finish each question as quickly as possible and trying to
ensure that I didn't make a mental or arithmetic mistake. And,
even though I did finish some of the math sections early, I felt
pressure when doing the problems. The result? I made more silly
mistakes than I ever have. Not arithmetic mistakes, but mistakes
on concepts that I could