This means that your calculator will be useful on several questions. As always, be careful to set up the
problem on paper before you carefully punch the numbers into your calculator. Because you have to write
in the answer on the grid yourself, you need to be more careful than ever to avoid careless mistakes.
Just as with the multiple-choice questions, there is no penalty for wrong answers on the Grid-Ins. An
incorrect answer on one of these questions is no worse for your score than a question left blank. And, by
the same token, a blank is just as costly as an error. Therefore, you should be very aggressive in
answering these questions. Don’t leave a question blank just because you’re worried that the answer
you’ve found may not be correct. ETS’s scoring computers treat incorrect answers and blanks like they’re
exactly the same. If you have arrived at an answer, you have a shot at earning points; and if you have a
shot at earning points, you should take it.
Take a Guess
Just like the multiple-choice
questions, there
is no penalty for wrong
answers on the Grid-In
questions.We’re not saying you should guess blindly. But if you work a problem and are unsure of your answer,
enter it anyway. There is no penalty for getting it wrong.
THE INSTRUCTIONS
Here are the instructions for the Grid-In section as they will appear in Section 3 on the SAT. The
instructions for Section 4 will look just like this, except they will start “For questions 31–38...”