Score Higher on the SAT Math Section

Alexis Avila Founder/President of Prepped & Polished teaches you a key technique for scoring higher on the SAT Math Section.

First plug-in numbers for the variables provided in the math problem.
Second make sure you re-read the question, replacing the variables for the numbers you assigned.
Third, solve the problem and come up with your target answer.
Last, go to the answer choices and eliminate all answers that don’t match your target answer.

One way to boost your math score on the SAT is to try a plug-in technique for math problems that involve variables. I am going to show you how you can get hard-level SAT math questions correct by using a plug-in technique.

Plug-in technique

The question is, if Y and X are positive numbers, what percent of Y is X? The first thing you are going to do is plug in for Y and X.

Let’s make Y =2 and X =1 for this specific problem. Now, you are going to reread the question with the numbers that you assigned for the variables. So, if 2 and 1 are positive numbers, what percent of 3 is 1?

The question now is, what percent of 3 is 1? Pretty easy, right? That’s 33.3333%. We are just going to say 33. That’s what I circled here is our target answer. Which means the correct formula will render 33.

Finally, plug in your numbers for Y and X into all of your answer choices and eliminate the answers that will not give you 33, which is your target answer. Just a shortcut here: if you plug in your numbers in A, B, C, and D, these equations will not give you 33. But, if you go to E, which is 100X over Y + 1, let’s solve it. 100 X is 100 times 1 over 2 + 1, which is 3. So, 100 over 3 is 33, a perfect match to your target answer. Go with choice E and move on through the test. As you can see, you make harder problems easier for yourself when you utilize the plug-in technique.

Good luck with your SAT, and I will talk to you soon.

Did you find this SAT Math Plug-in tip helpful? Would you consider using this math plug-in approach on the SAT test?

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