Use the Structure of the Test to Your Advantage

The SAT subject tests are different from the tests that you’re used to taking. On your high school
tests, you probably go through the questions in order. You probably spend more time on hard
questions than on easy ones, since hard questions are generally worth more points. And you often
show your work since your teachers tell you that how you approach questions is as important as
getting the right answers.

None of this applies to the SAT subject tests. You can benefit from moving around within the tests,
hard questions are worth the same as easy ones, and it doesn’t matter how you calculate the
answers—only what your answers are.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SO-CALLED “GUESSING PENALTY”

You might have heard it said that the SAT subject tests have a “guessing penalty.” That’s a
misnomer. It’s really a wrong-answer penalty. If you guess wrong, you get a small penalty. If you
guess right, you get full credit.

The fact is, if you can eliminate one or more answer choices as definitely wrong, you’ll turn the odds
in your favor and actually come out ahead by guessing. The fractional points that you lose are
meant to offset the points you might get “accidentally” by guessing the correct answer. With
practice, however, you’ll see that it’s often easy to eliminate several answer choices on some of the
questions.

THE ANSWER GRID HAS NO HEART

It sounds simple, but it’s extremely important: Don’t make mistakes filling out your answer grid.
When time is short, it’s easy to get confused going back and forth between your test booklet and
your grid. If you know the answers but misgrid, you won’t get the points. Here’s how to avoid
mistakes.