About the SAT Math Level 2
The test consists of 50 multiple-choice questions with the duration of 60 minutes. The test covers various mathematical topics and the breakdown of topics is as follows: |
Each correct answer receives one point while each incorrect answer deducts one quarter of a point. You earn 0 points for unanswered questions. Your raw score is calculated by adding these points up and this raw score is converted to a scaled score on the 200-800 range. Since the difficulty level slightly varies on each edition of tests, scaled scores are adjusted to show the same level of performance. Based on the two editions of the previous test released by the College Board, the minimum raw scores corresponding to a scaled score of the 800 were 43 and 44. The Table A below shows an example of the curve. Each edition of the actual test may have a slightly different curve.
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Since the College Board does not release the actual raw score for each student, you will get only your scaled score and a percentile rank on your student score report. The percentile rank allows you to compare your score with the performance of the other test-takers. The Figure A below shows the actual score report. A student with a score of 800, for example, can see that 83 percent of test-takers scored lower. According to the 2015 SAT Subject Tests Percentile Ranks published by the College Board, the mean score of the Math Level 2 Test was 690.
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How to prepare for the SAT Math Level 2 test
Students who have knowledge of Algebra 2 or Pre-Calculus may need two to three months for test preparation. Since there is no shortcut to a high score, students should be prepared well with their time and effort. Students may choose an appropriate self-study guide and start reviewing each topic thoroughly. Students should thoroughly understand and memorize all formulas and concepts. When solving review questions, first solve each question on your own and check your answers later. For incorrectly answered questions, you should study the solutions and related concepts again. Based on my experience, students tend to repeat the same mistakes for their incorrectly answered questions. Thus, it is very important to clearly build your understanding of all the key concepts covered in the test. At the final stage of the exam preparation, it is important to take many practice tests under actual test-like conditions. Since you should solve 50 questions in 60 minutes, it is critical to complete all the questions within the time limit. Thus, you need to improve your test-taking skills and focus on pacing at this stage. Practicing harder questions may prepare you better than practicing easier questions. How to maximize your score on the exam day 1. Set your target time limit to try the entire 50 questions and reserve extra time to solve the skipped questions. It is not a good idea that you spend 1 minute and 12 seconds for each question without any last few minutes to check your answers. For instance, if you set a time limit of 50 minutes to try all the questions, you are allowed to use the remaining 10 minutes to redo the skipped questions or check your answers. Within the time limit, take the questions in order and try to answer as many questions as possible. At this stage, you may skip the questions that are not familiar to you and go back to those questions after you have tried all 50 questions. 2. Pacing yourself is one of the most important factors to achieve a high score. Questions at the beginning part of a test are typically easy, while more difficult questions tend to appear later. If you spend less than a minute per question to answer the easier questions, you have extra time to answer the difficult ones. If you spend too much time on some specific questions, you will face a lack of time on your exam. 3. Skip some questions that are too difficult for you. Based on my tutoring experience, some students feel that 4 to 5 questions on average seem to be very difficult. It may be better to skip and leave those most difficult questions unanswered since there is a penalty of one quarter of a point for each incorrect answer. Since a raw score of 45-46 is good enough to get the scaled score of 800, it is technically possible to get a perfect score although you skipped 4 to 5 questions. By doing so, you may save more time and focus on other questions. 4. Try to reduce your mistakes. If you take a big test like SAT for the first time, you are more likely to make mistakes due to nervousness or frantic fear. Although the questions on the SAT Math Level 2 are normally organized by difficulty, some difficult questions may even appear at the beginning. You would be better prepared not to panic and take the exam calmly when you face hard questions that you are not familiar with. Answering accurately without making mistakes is an important factor in acing the exam. |