What are the most common mistakes students make while taking the SAT?
One common mistake that many students make while taking the SAT is that they mis-bubble the answer sheet. In other words, they make the common mistake of putting the answer for question number 5 into the oval for question number 4, and then the rest of their test is then off by one question which can be quite a disaster. You want to put your answers to each question in your test booklet as well as transferring it to your answer sheet. Another common mistake that students make while taking the SAT is that they're not familiar with the directions and the format of the test, so when the actual test begins, they spend a lot of time reading the directions and trying to figure out what they're supposed to do. So you want to at least prepare for the directions and the format. In addition, I would say students have trouble with the timing. They get stuck on one or two questions which use up a lot of time. It's really important to move at a nice, steady pace so that you at least get to look at every question on the test even if not necessarily answer every question. Also, what happens is that some students just panic if they hit a question or two that seem particularly difficult. I would say just relax. One third of the questions have to be easy. Another one third are going to be of midrange difficulty. Only one third of the questions are what the test makers consider to be very difficult. If you hit a patch of hard questions, relax, skip to a section that might be easier, and then take it from there.
