Mistake to avoid in the SSAT Math Section

Alexis Avila Founder/President of Prepped & Polished, LLC in South Natick, Massachusetts shows you on his whiteboard one crucial mistake you do not want to make on the SSAT Math section.

After you do your math steps, make sure you go back to the question and answer exactly what the question is asking.

If you want to do well on the SSAT math section, you have to wipe out those careless errors and do steady, careful work. Time and time again, whether you’re a lower-level or upper-level student, I see the same student make the same careless mistake on this particular problem. So let’s go to the board.

I’m going to show you this problem. This is a relatively easy problem, but almost 75% of students get this one wrong.

”A $15 shirt is on sale for 20% off. What is the sale price of the shirt?”

Students get really happy and excited because they think this problem is easy and manageable. So, what they do is they’ll take $15, get the 20% discount, so they’ll multiply it by .2, and then they will get $3. Knowing this is a time-pressure test, they’re going to instantly go to choice ‘A’, and circle $3.

However, you don’t want to go with ‘A’. You don’t want to go with $3. You went for the trap answer, s you have to re-read the question every time. After doing the math, go back to the question and make sure you’re answering what the question is asking. They want to know what the sale price of the shirt is. You got the discount. Now, you have to subtract 3 from 15. The new price of the shirt is $12. You go with choice ‘C,’ and you move on to the next question on the test.

So just remember, you could be a really good math student but not do well on the SSAT math if you keep making careless mistakes. Avoid careless mistakes, and you’ll do well on the SSAT math section.

I’ll talk to you soon. Good luck.

How do you avoid making careless mistakes on the SSAT Math Section? Have you fallen trap to this type of question before?

Post your tips/comments below.

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