Understanding the SAT Strategy #4

 

WWMIR stands for “What Would Make It Right?” This drill involves reviewing each answer choice in a question—both correct and incorrect—and asking yourself what would need to change in order for each incorrect option to become correct.

For example, if a Math question asks for the area of a rectangle and one of the incorrect choices represents the perimeter, your WWMIR response might be: “If the question had asked for perimeter instead of area.”

If you're analyzing an Improving Sentences question where a shorter answer is incorrect, your WWMIR reasoning could be: “If the noun had been singular instead of plural,” or “If ‘it’ had been replaced with ‘they.’”

By forcing yourself to reimagine the conditions that would justify each incorrect choice, you strengthen your understanding of the test’s logic. This practice helps deepen your insight into how correct answers are constructed—and more importantly, why wrong answers are almost right, but not quite. Over time, this awareness sharpens your ability to eliminate incorrect choices with confidence and precision.

Understanding the SAT Strategy #3

 

This exercise can be completed as part of a post-mortem or used independently. It involves reviewing real SAT questions for which you already know the correct answers. If you've previously attempted and scored the questions, use those results. If not, simply refer to the official answer key and note the correct responses beforehand.

The goal here is not to determine the correct answer—that part is already known. Instead, your focus is on identifying the fastest and most efficient way to reach that correct answer with confidence.

For Passage-Based Reading questions, this means identifying the specific phrases or sections of the passage that directly support the correct answer. The challenge is to determine how you could have found those key lines with as little unnecessary reading or confusion as possible.

For Math questions, your focus might be on discovering how to simplify the process by using diagrams, logic, or answer choices to bypass lengthy calculations or avoid relying on memorized formulas.

The purpose of this exercise is to develop strategies that reduce time, effort, and uncertainty on test day. Over time, it will train you to approach questions with greater efficiency and precision—skills that can make a significant difference under timed conditions.

Understanding the SAT Strategy #2

 

The term “postie” is short for post-mortem, which in this context refers to the critical process of analyzing your work after completing a test or practice session. The term is used deliberately to emphasize an essential point: if you don’t thoroughly review your practice work after it’s done, you’re effectively wasting the time you spent doing it.

This exercise begins with completing practice sections—or even full practice tests—under conditions of your choice. You may choose to work with or without time limits early on, depending on your comfort level. (Eventually, timed conditions will be important, but it may not be necessary at the start.)

However, it’s important to avoid jumping into full practice sections before you’ve gained a solid understanding of how SAT questions are structured and the patterns they follow. Otherwise, the experience may lead to frustration and confusion, especially when you miss questions without understanding why.

Just as importantly, you should never complete a practice test or section without following it up with a thorough review—a post-mortem. This means going through every question, identifying why it was written the way it was, analyzing what led you to the correct or incorrect answer, and extracting general principles that you can apply to future questions. This step is absolutely essential for meaningful improvement, yet it is often neglected or rushed through by students.

Remember: the ultimate purpose of any practice session is to prepare you for success on test day. The most valuable takeaway from any practice question is not the answer itself, but what the question teaches you about how to approach similar items in the future. In fact, it is far better to miss a question and learn from it than to answer it correctly by chance and learn nothing at all.

If you don’t take the time to reflect on the questions you struggled with, you are likely to repeat the same types of errors—even if the future questions don’t look similar on the surface. The underlying concepts will remain the same, and so will the mistakes, unless you actively work to correct them.

So, take your post-practice analysis seriously. A well-done post-mortem not only accelerates your learning but can also dramatically reduce the total number of practice tests you need to take—saving you time, energy, and frustration in the long run.

Understanding the SAT Strategy #1

The Semi-Structured Stare-and-Ponder is an excellent exercise to begin appreciating the design and logic behind SAT questions. The process starts by reviewing how a particular question type works—this involves studying relevant explanations and sample solutions to understand the underlying principles.

Once you're familiar with the format, select a question of the same type—whether it's Passage-Based Reading, Improving Sentences, or another—from a reliable source like the College Board.

Then, simply observe.

Take your time with the question. Examine its wording, structure, and answer choices. Your objective is to uncover the rationale behind how the question was constructed—why the correct answer is correct, why the incorrect choices are wrong, and why those wrong choices might seem tempting to various types of test-takers. You want to see the question the way the test maker sees it.

After spending enough time analyzing one question, move on to another, looking again for the same patterns and logic. The goal is to gradually train your mind to recognize the SAT’s design elements and question-writing strategies.

There’s no rush. When you feel tired or mentally saturated, take a break—go for a walk, grab a snack, and return to the process later. This technique is intentionally relaxed and open-ended. It's not about timing or performance, but about allowing your brain to become familiar with the SAT’s logic in a low-pressure environment.

Of course, this isn’t how you’ll approach the test on exam day. But as a preparation tool, this method helps you develop an intuitive understanding of how SAT questions function. With time, you'll find yourself able to analyze and diagnose questions more efficiently—and often subconsciously—simply because you've given your brain the space to engage with them thoughtfully.

Let the insights come gradually, and you might be surprised by what you begin to notice.

Using Drills and Exercises Properly

Many students prepare for the SAT or PSAT the same way they would for a typical school exam: by memorizing content—such as vocabulary, formulas, and essay examples—and completing large volumes of practice questions. However, once you understand how SAT questions are structured, it becomes clear that this memorization-and-repetition strategy is not effective. The SAT is not designed to assess advanced subject knowledge, so memorizing obscure vocabulary or complex formulas offers limited benefit. Moreover, the test does not reuse specific questions, so completing dozens of practice tests with the hope of encountering identical items on test day is unlikely to yield results.

(This explains why so many students put in considerable effort yet see minimal improvement. They’re treating the SAT as if it were a final exam for a high school subject like Geometry—which it is not.)

This raises an important question: if success on the SAT does not come from memorization and excessive drilling, what is the best way to prepare?

The answer lies in building a deep understanding of how the test functions. When you truly grasp the underlying structure and logic of the SAT, you'll realize it is fundamentally straightforward. You do not need to dedicate hundreds of hours to preparation. (Those aiming for a perfect score may require more focused time and effort, but that will be addressed separately.)

Understanding the SAT means thinking critically about how and why the test is designed the way it is. The goal is to reach a point where you can view the test from the perspective of its creators. You develop this insight by reflecting on the concepts discussed in this guide and intentionally applying them to a meaningful sample of official test questions.

This process may involve some memorization—for example, learning what patterns to watch for—and it will certainly involve practice as you apply your understanding to real questions. But the ultimate objective is to view the SAT as a consistent, rule-based system that can be decoded with the right approach. Rather than saying, “I’ve memorized thousands of vocabulary words and taken 30 practice tests, but my score won’t improve,” you want to say, “I understand the patterns the test follows, and I can anticipate how each question is constructed.”

The SAT consistently tests the same core principles using the same rules and logical structures, even though individual questions may appear different at first glance. When you learn to recognize these patterns, you can decode the questions more effectively and choose the answer that aligns with how the College Board scores the test.

Recommended Order of Preparation

In most cases, I recommend that students begin their preparation with the Critical Reading section. This portion of the test tends to be the most effective starting point for recognizing how the SAT relies on consistent rules and patterns to create questions that are objective and predictable—even when they may initially seem subjective. It also serves as a valuable introduction to the importance of close reading and attention to detail.

There are only two scenarios in which I might suggest not starting with Critical Reading. The first is if you have already achieved a perfect score in that section. The second is if your primary focus is on improving your Math score and you are working with limited time before your test date. In all other situations, beginning with Critical Reading is strongly advised, even if it is not the section you find most challenging. It lays the foundation for approaching the test as a whole.

Once you begin to feel confident in your understanding of the Critical Reading section, the next area to focus on is Math. As discussed throughout this guide, the Math section is built around fundamental concepts that are often combined and presented in unfamiliar or complex ways. The key skill here is learning to break down a seemingly difficult problem into its basic components and apply core principles to solve it. Due to the variety in how Math questions are framed, mastering this section may require more time and practice than others—so plan accordingly.

Finally, I suggest saving the Writing multiple-choice questions and the SAT Essay for the latter part of your preparation, in whichever order suits you best. This recommendation assumes that your prospective colleges consider these components in their admissions process. If they do not, it may not be worth devoting significant time to them. You can confirm whether the Writing score matters by visiting the admissions websites of your target schools or reaching out to them directly.

The Recommended Path of Progress

While many students tend to gauge their progress based on practice test scores, this method can be misleading—particularly at the beginning. A more effective approach is to assess your overall understanding of the test. Although this may seem subjective, it is often a more reliable indicator than scores, which can be influenced by luck or external factors.

Your first objective should be to gain a clear understanding of the structure and logic behind each section of the test. Begin by familiarizing yourself with how the questions are constructed and reviewing detailed explanations. Supplement this learning with instructional videos or similar resources until you feel confident in grasping the reasoning behind most, if not all, of the questions.

Once you have established this foundational understanding, the next step is to analyze the mistakes you make—whether on full practice tests, individual sections, or single questions. At this stage, your focus should not be on avoiding mistakes altogether, but on understanding them thoroughly. Determine what went wrong, why it occurred, and what indicators in the question could have helped you avoid or recognize the error. Pay close attention to the distinctions between correct and incorrect answer choices, as well as the relationships and logic that commonly guide each question. Building this habit of analysis will enhance your ability to interpret questions accurately and efficiently.

After gaining clarity on the nature of your mistakes, your next goal is to reduce or eliminate them—either by preventing them in the first place or by identifying and correcting them during the test. Familiarity with the test’s typical structures and answer choice patterns is particularly helpful at this stage. Ultimately, you should aim to reach a point where the only questions you miss are due to content you genuinely do not know, such as unfamiliar vocabulary, grammar rules, or math concepts. The objective is to eliminate what are often referred to as “careless mistakes.”

Once these errors have been minimized, your practice test scores will likely reflect your progress. If scores are still not where you would like them to be, it is important to analyze what is holding you back. Be cautious not to immediately attribute missed questions to gaps in vocabulary or advanced content knowledge. The test is not designed to be especially advanced in terms of subject matter. Often, with a bit more strategic thinking, a seemingly difficult question can be solved or worked around effectively.

At this stage, you may also need to address timing issues. However, students who have reduced careless errors frequently find that timing becomes less of a concern. If it remains an issue, remember that effective time management is less about working faster and more about working smarter—by streamlining your process and reducing unnecessary effort on each question.

How to Train For the SAT

“Under duress, we do not rise to our expectations—we fall to the level of our training.”

- Bruce Lee

Following inquiries regarding the structure of the test itself, the most frequent question I receive pertains to the appropriate method for "studying" for the SAT. Individuals are curious about the sequence in which they should approach the various sections of the test, the type of schedule they ought to adhere to, whether they should undertake a practice test on the final day before the actual exam—all sorts of inquiries.

The concise response to all these questions is that there is no definitive best approach to engaging with the material tested in the SAT, as no two students possess identical requirements when it comes to preparation. Different individuals will exhibit varying strengths and weaknesses, distinct schedules, diverse target scores, different starting points, varying attention spans, and so forth.

Therefore, I will not prescribe a specific method for managing your preparation schedule. Instead, I will provide you with guidelines to follow and considerations to keep in mind, leaving it to you to determine how to integrate these elements in a manner that is most effective for you.

We will address this in the following order:

- General principles to guide your preparation

- Recommendations for the sequence in which to approach different sections of the test

- Suggestions for drills and exercises

- General advice on scheduling

By tailoring these concepts to your preferences, you can optimize your preparation in a way that best suits you.

How to Set Goals (The Right Way)

The most common approach to establishing an SAT goal is typically to aim for a specific score. While this method can be effective, it is not my preferred strategy.

Instead, I suggest that you focus on achieving certain levels of accuracy in specific skill areas, allowing your scores to naturally improve as a result of your enhanced capabilities.

In other words, instead of stating, "I aim to achieve a 600 in Critical Reading on my next practice test," consider expressing it as, "I want to complete an entire section without missing any questions for which I understand all the vocabulary." Then, strive to meet that execution standard (which, incidentally, would likely result in a score significantly above 600 for the majority of test-takers). Alternatively, in the Math section, you might set a goal such as, "I want to finish an entire practice test without making any 'careless' mistakes," or "I want to ensure that I comprehend at least one incorrect answer choice for each question I respond to," and so forth.

By establishing these types of task-oriented goals instead of score-oriented ones, your progress will typically be more substantial and enduring, and it will occur more swiftly and effortlessly.

Improving your SAT Game

 

We ought to view the SAT as a test that essentially requires us to perform the same tasks repeatedly.

Therefore, once you grasp the concepts outlined in this book, enhancing your SAT performance is not about acquiring new knowledge—it’s about refining your precision in applying the principles you already understand.

It’s akin to honing your free-throw shooting in basketball, preparing for a piano performance, or even leveling up in a video game. It’s primarily an exercise in perfecting your technical skills, rather than expanding your intellectual capacity.

(Admittedly, this analogy isn’t entirely perfect. Certain aspects of the SAT—especially the Math section and the Sentence Completion questions—will require some creative thinking. However, our approach to tackling the test should consistently be based on fundamental concepts and strategies. The undeniable truth is that the gap between a score of 740 and 800 in any section ultimately hinges on strategy, execution, and accuracy, rather than mere knowledge or intelligence.)

Setting the right goals

At some point, a majority of my students pose the question of what I consider to be the highest score they can realistically achieve on the SAT. Sometimes they phrase it in relation to their past scores—"If I already have a 1460, is it possible to raise that to a 1590?"

The answer to this question appears straightforward at first, but there are actually many additional considerations surrounding this question that you should ensure you take into account.

Let’s start with the straightforward aspects first.

If you can read English fairly well, and if you understand the basic principles of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra, then there’s no reason you can’t eventually reach a 1600, or any score you aspire to, because every question on the SAT is based on your ability to read and comprehend English and/or to utilize basic math principles.

Please take a moment to read that carefully, especially the term "eventually." I’m not implying that someone whose highest score thus far is a 1400 can just snap their fingers and achieve a 1600 in an instant. What I’m conveying is that the SAT is a test of fundamental skills, and if we possess those basic skills, then theoretically, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to answer every question correctly.

Of course, significantly increasing an SAT score will require some effort in almost every case. Approaching the SAT in the right manner isn’t necessarily hard, but it is certainly different from how you would tackle tests in high school or college. If you want to significantly improve your score, you’ll really need to strive to think like the test—which, again, is not a difficult endeavor, but will require some conscious effort on your part.