Time as a Currency on SAT and ACT

On standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, time is money. Not money in the sense of cash but money as a currency to be saved or spent. 

Make no mistake: the SAT and ACT are strictly timed tests. For a student to maximize a score, a key approach is to know when to spend time and when to save time. 

Let's take the ACT math section as an example: 

The ACT math section is 60 questions in 60 minutes. In other words, each question should take one minute. ACT math questions are also organized so that easier questions are found in the beginning of the set while harder ones are found towards the end. 

Easy questions are perfect opportunities to save time. If you can solve a math problem in less than 30 seconds, you save 30 seconds to use on a harder problem. Save 30 seconds on five or six problems and you now have an extra 2-3 minutes to spend on hard problems that require more time. 

You can even save time on the really hard problems. If you were to come across a problem that seems impossible, save time on this one by guessing the answer and moving on. The 2-3 minutes you would have spent on an impossible problem is now saved time that you can use to score points in other areas. 

This approach works on the other sections as well: time saved is time you can spend in other areas. 

If you want a perfect score, then be sure to spend time on all of the problems. But if you don't need a perfect score, determine where to spend time and where to save time on the ACT and SAT. 

Learn how to spend or save your time on the SAT and ACT with help from CROSSWALK. Contact us today to get prepared for test day.