For students taking the SAT in Newport Beach

and inside Orange and Los Angeles County,it’s important to realize the SAT is unlike any other test you’ve ever taken. Normally in school, you’ll take a test and are graded for the number of correct answers in relation to the total number of questions on the test.

So, if you answered 15 out of 20 questions correctly, you correctly answered three-fourths of the questions. You got a 75 on the test.

Or if you answered 9 out of 10 questions on a quiz, you achieved a 90 since each question obviously counted 10 points.

When taking the SAT, however, everything you ever knew about test-scoring goes out the window. For SAT students in Newport Beach and everywhere, it’s best to know all the scoring details of this test before even entering the SAT classroom. Prepared SAT students will immediately have an edge on unprepared ones.

Here are some SAT scoring basics from an excellent SAT tutor.

SAT Scoring 101: Wrong Answers Count Against You

On “normal” tests, a wrong answer means you simply get 0 points for that question. But on the SAT, a wrong answer will actually subtract from your score. So if you got 15 out of 20 questions correct, answering incorrectly on 5 questions, your grade might actually turn into something like a 70 instead of a 75.

The stakes are higher when it comes to answering SAT questions. But just because wrong answers count against you is no reason to panic.

SAT Scoring 101: Guessing Can Be a Good Thing

Most SAT questions will have five choices to choose from. Simply speaking, if you were to guess an answer at random, you’d be 20% likely to choose the correct answer. Which means, there’s an 80% chance you’ll pick the wrong answer. Guess like this often, and your score will be in trouble.

Because remember, if you select an incorrect answer, you lose points.

But if you can safely eliminate two answer choices from being correct, your odds of guessing correctly increase by over 13%. SAT tutors agree if you can confidently eliminate two answer choices, go ahead and take your best guess! But, only if you take note of my last SAT tutor suggestion.

SAT Scoring 101: Don’t Be Afraid to Leave an Answer Blank

Normally on tests, you’d be aghast to leave a multiple choice question blank. After all, there’s no penalty for guessing!

Not so on the SAT. If you read a question and you have absolutely NO idea what the answer is without being able to eliminate even one of the choices, it’s wise to leave that question blank.

Just leave it blank and move on! If you don’t answer a question, you obviously earn 0 points for the question, but you don’t lose any either. And that’s the key.

As an experienced SAT tutor, I highly encourage you to guess when you can eliminate at least two answer choices.

If you can’t eliminate two answer choices, simply leave the question blank and continue on to the next question. Studies show if you take this proper guessing strategy, you’re apt to score 50 points higher than a student unaware of any SAT scoring strategies.

As an SAT tutor who scored in the 700s on the math portion of the test, I wish you all the best!

Find a solid tutor in Newport Beach and achieve a better score on your SAT and ACT by visiting www.APlusInHomeTutors.com.