expert sat catalog
TRANSCRIPT
ExpertSATMath.com
Congratulations you have just made a huge step towards getting into the college of your dreams! At Expert SAT Math we are here to unlock each students greatest potential. This document contains the 12 Expert SAT Math Tips, Tricks, and Hacks to crush the test. Just reading this document should add 20-30 points to your score. If this is something you want more of check out ExpertSATMath.com for our full membership details and use coupon code “50off” at checkout for 50% off our memberships. Thanks!
MESSAGE FROM FOUNDER
- Bob G.
Page | 2
“I don’t know how
I did it, but it
worked.” Have you ever said
this to yourself?”
Do the Motions 1
I had this math test in high school that I will never forget. It was for AP Statistics. The teacher took example AP test questions, and that was our exam for the quarter.
One of the questions happened to be from one of the same test prep books I had purchased, and I knew the answer. The problem was that I had forgotten the solution. I remember sitting there and thinking, what should I do? It was the type of exam that involved no quick answers; each problem took half a page of math notes to get to the solution.
I decided to be honest, I put the correct answer that I knew from my prep book on the paper and wrote a note, “I forgot the steps, but this is the answer, I know it because of my test prep book.”
You won’t believe it but I scored 100% on my test. You see, just like this situation, when you take the SAT Math test, nobody cares how you got the answer, they won’t check your work, so that means you don’t always need to understand the math, just the motions.
Let me tell you a story.
Page | 3
“It is quick to consider your options, and time consuming to backtrack. Don’t
backtrack.” In math, we are taught that there is one best way to solve a problem.
I’m here to tell you that is both wrong and extremely limiting. Think of the show with Bear Grills. That dude goes into the woods and survives. Do you think he is referencing his boy scout book each time he needs to make fire from a shoestring or create a tent out of pine cones? No way, he just goes out there and survives.
When you get stuck on a math problem, do you ever find yourself looking for that one right way to solve it? If you have that thought, you are limiting yourself. Math is the same thing as surviving in the woods. There is a problem and there is an end goal. It doesn’t matter how you get there.
In Expert SAT Math, we ask ourselves “Which trail” before we start solving problems.
Page | 4
Which Trail? 2
“ Frequently a problem will lookimpossible.”
Brute Force 3
You’ve heard all the cliché’s like “Every journey starts with a first step,” and it is 100% true.
Sometimes on the SAT Math test or even various points in life, you will not have a clue on how to get started. Imagine I asked you right now to dig a large hole for fancy inground pool. Imagine too, in this situation, you were to be paid enough money that would make the task totally worthwhile, because at least to me, digging out a pool does not sound like any fun.
We just shook hands, and its go time. What is your next move? Who knows! I have literally no idea how to dig out a pool, but I could grab a shovel and start digging while I figure it out along the way. When you don’t know how to start, start anyway!
Page | 5
Bet Your Car4Look for questions where you would
“bet your car” that you got the correct answer.
Story: Imagine you are preparing for your move into your freshman dorm room. You have one mil-lion things to think about. What bags to pack? What clothes to bring? What to bring for snacks? Will you need a printer? Should you bring your bike? Etc. It is overwhelming and stressful.
Now lets say a couple months before you move your roommate to be messages you and says “I already bought a microwave and min-fridge for our room, I double checked that it would fit too!”.
Think on the feeling for a moment. You now have two less things to worry about. Two items from your list have been decided. You can cross them off the list. This is huge! When your brain is processing high volumes of information a small win like this is exactly what you need.
On the SAT Math test there are 58 questions. If as you take the test you can identify 8 ques-tions that you are 100% sure you got correct, like bet $1 million dollars you got correct, the result is your SAT Math test is now only 50 questions. With less questions to worry about you will be able to make the best use of your time and drastically improve your score.
Page | 6
For example, let’s say you needed to weed whack your neighbor’s fence and you have two options. The first is you can use his hedge clippers or he will give you money to go to Home Depot and buy a week whacker that is on a super sale. The hedge clippers obviously will be more of a pain but you can estimate that it would take 1 hours’ worth of work. Also, you estimate that going to Home Depot, buying the weed whacker, and then doing the weed whacking will also take 1 hour. But the risk with Home Depot is that they might be sold out. In this case, you will waste 40 minutes driving and then have to spend the 1 hour to do it manual.
When you factor in this risk, going manual is the safer bet. Learn how the “Manual Mode” can help save you time on the SAT Math test and increase your score!
Page | 7
Sometimes the right move is to just get started and figure it out along the
way.
Manual Mode 5
With these type of questions, there often isn’t an exact answer, like 343,000 golf balls or 1.2 billion dump trucks. Rather, the answer is how you attempt to solve the problem.
And although in your career you will likely never need to use the Pythagorean theorem with certainty, you will have many instances where this type of estimation skill will help you out and make you look like the smartest person in the room.
Most of the time in these situa-tions, I round generously to make the math easy.
Learn how to use this strategy to eliminate wrong answers and solve estimation problems with speed and confidence.
One of the most valuable tools you al-ready have in your brain is the ability to
estimate.
Ball Park 6
If you apply to Google or other tech companies, they will test your thinking. They will likely give you a question like how many golf balls could you fit on a school bus? Or how many dump trucks would it take to move all the dirt on Mount Everest?
Page | 8
Page | 3
Find the correct
answers by test-ing each answer choice
Your long-lost uncle gifted you an elephant, and instead of paying $800 per week to care for it, you’ve decided to sell it to a zoo for $100k.
The only thing you need to do is figure out the shipping.
So what do you do?
Do you think about how much the elephant weighs and what type of trailer you would need? Would you calculate the gas mileage of various trucks that could tow the trailer? Do you consider buying a saddle for an elephant and price out a 3-week trip to ride the elephant to the zoo?
No, these are all terrible ideas. What you do is you pick up the phone and start getting deliv-ery quotes for anyone willing to ship an elephant. You don’t care about how it’s done, just that it gets done.
One of the secrets of the SAT Math test is identifying the problems that try to trick you into doing complicated math when you can just pick up the phone and find the best option.
Sign up for Expert SAT Math and find out how to identify “Plug n’ Play” problems and solve them confidently and quickly!
Page | 9
Plug n’ Play 7
Jump Ship 8Even the people who are the best at
math don’t always solve problems the right way the first time.
Page | 10
Want to know a secret?
The secret to the SAT Math test is approaching is armed with approaches, strategies, and confidence.
One of the best things you can do is have confidence when you’ve decided you aren’t headed in the correct direction.
Imagine you are visiting an aunt whose house you’ve only been to a few times, and it’s your first time driving there yourself. She lives in the woods so your cell phone might cut out, and it does.
You know you are close, and then you take a turn that you aren’t was correct. You figure if you keep driving, you might recognize something. Now, it’s been many minutes, you are more sure it’s wrong, but keep driving because you are committed. Finally you see a sign for the next town over and you turn around.
If this was the SAT test, you just spent all your time on one problem. Learn a valuable time-saving technique and join Expert SAT Math.
Has it ever started raining, and you suddenly realize that you are not 100% sure if you closed your car windows?
Or have you have ever been sitting on the couch eating pizza rolls and wondered if you ever actually turned off the oven?
Now, imagine your brain is a mansion, with endless rooms, beautiful furniture, and all the space you could ever want. In this analogy, the thought of your car window being opened is a rat, and the thought of the oven being on is a rat.
In this mansion, you might have your feet kicked up on the couch, but you won’t be relaxed because you know there are a few rats running around the house that at any time could hop right onto your lap! What an odd analogy, right?
Here is the thing, the SAT Math test is all about mindset. You want your brain to be as clear as possible so you don’t want any rats running around, even if they are small and maybe even cute. In the analogy above, it is easier to go check your car or the oven. Just like that, the rat is gone.
Join Expert SAT Math and learn how the 15-second rule will help keep your brain as clean as possible, maximize your mindset, and help dramatically improve your score!
Page | 11
Double check easy math on a calculator to boost confidence
15 Second Rule 9
After a grocery store trip, do you or your family ever try to bring all the groceries in at once?
Especially if it is just one person bringing in the food, there is often just a bit more than you can realistically carry with two hands. But since the world is watching and judging, the decision is often made to force it and bring all groceries in on the same trip, despite some cramped up hands.
To this, I ask: what is the point? Did you save yourself a bit of time because you only had to make one trip? Was your girlfriend watching and she is now impressed? Does your dog care?
Really this game-time decision to overcompensate is just human nature, and there isn’t anything wrong with it. But brining in groceries doesn’t help you get into a great college and set you up for a great career, so you need avoid these macho man mindsets when you take the test.
Sign up for Expert SAT Math and find out how to use the “Expect the Comeback” technique to maximize your score!
Page | 12
Have the mindset that you will skip
questions and comeback to
them.
Expect the Comeback 10
Page | 13
No Superstitions 11Thinking about the patterns of an-
swers on a test will get your brain off track and hurt your score.
As humans we are curious creatures. Why would we believe broken glass or walking under a ladder leads to bad luck? There isn’t anything rational to it, but even to this day I adhere to these superstitions under the thinking, why mess with it? When you take the SAT test this might come into play too, if you see a pattern emmerg with your answers you might think, hmm maybe this is a trick and maybe there really is a pattern to the answers. But this is non-sense. Stuff randomly happens, you could roll the #1 on a dice 100x times in a row, its not likely, but it is possible. Actively monitor your thoughts to make sure superstitions do not set in as they are distracting!
Page | 14
YIKES!
We have all been here before.
Either you had friends over and made a mess, or you were given a chore to complete and forgot about it. Now your parents send you a text that they are on their way home from dinner and will be there in 20 minutes.
There aren’t too many scenarios where you have this exact level of panic and focus. If you forgot your homework at school, you might panic but focusing isn’t going to do you much good. Or if your dog gets tangled up in his leash you might not panic but you will be highly focused to help the little guy out.
But this combination of timeline and desire to avoid getting yelled at is a highly effective combination. Join Expert SAT Math and learn the details on the “Clean your Room” mindset and find out how to use it to increase your score without studying any more math.
Be ready with the optimal mind-set for test day.
Clean your Room12
Page | 15
