10 Reasons Why Students Do Not Perform Well on SAT

There are a number of reasons why students are not able to ace the SAT test. Here we discuss what we think are 10 top reasons why students do not perform well in the College Board SAT.

1. Students don’t perform well if they don’t take the test seriously. No matter how good you are in Math and English in school, you will still need to prepare well for the test. You will need to know the structure of the test, what the questions really ask you to do and what kind of traps have the test makers set for you to fall for. So please prepare for SAT well in advance and know what the test is all about.
2. Students don’t perform well as they do not read the questions carefully. This is a certainly a time sensitive test and you do feel the urge to answer questions in time, but it is very important to read the questions carefully so that you understand what you are required to do.
3. Students don’t perform well because they make careless mistakes. Whether it’s the English portion or the Math portion, you need to be vigilant to make sure that you do not make silly mistakes while selecting the best answer.
4. Students don’t do well in SAT because they don’t use the booklet for rough work and try to do everything in their head. Rough sheets are not given in SAT but you have the test booklet, so use it.
5. Students do not perform well because they take so much pressure of the test itself that sometimes some of them just go blank. Remember, this test is designed in a way that even an average student can perform in an average manner – so do not underestimate yourself and don’t take unnecessary pressure. Have confidence in yourself and have a good night’s sleep a day before.
6. Another reason why students don’t do well in SAT is because they make mistakes while using the calculator. This device is there to help you in the calculator allowed section, but it does not necessitate the use of the device in every question. If you press a wrong button your answer will always come wrong. So use the calculator wisely.
7. Students don’t do well if they do not use the short-cuts that can make their lives easy, particularly in the Math portion. You may be able to solve the problems using conventional means but if you use short-cuts you will be able to save time for the more difficult questions.
8. Students who do not use the Process of Elimination do not perform well during SAT. When you are able to eliminate wrong answer choices, your chances at getting the best answer obviously increase.
9. Students who do not remember the basic formulae do not do well. There are a limited number of formulae that you need to remember for the SAT, for instance properties of a Circle or Pythagoras Theorem etc. There are some formulae given to you on the test booklet but others, you must remember. So don’t be lazy and learn your formulae. Most of them you can find in the available SAT books in the market.
10. And last but not least, students who do not read all the answer choices make mistakes. It may be possible that you really like the answer choice number two and you do not go through the rest of the choices while the correct answer was choice number four#. So always go through all the answer choices.