How to review SAT mistakes so they don't come back

Which questions to review

Not just the wrong ones. Review every question you:

• got wrong,
• got right by guessing, or weren't sure about,
• took much longer than about a minute and a half on (Math) or a minute and ten seconds (Reading and Writing),
• changed your answer on.

A lucky guess is a miss you haven't paid for yet.

Tag the cause

Before you read the explanation, write down why you think you missed it. Use one of four causes:

• Content: you didn't know the rule, formula or idea.
• Reading: you misread the question, answered a different one, or missed a word like "not" or "except."
• Execution: you knew how, but made an arithmetic, sign or entry slip.
• Time: you could have got it, but rushed or ran out.

The cause tells you the fix. Content needs a lesson. Reading needs a habit, like rereading the last line. Execution needs a check step. Time needs pacing practice, not more content.

Redo it cold

Read the explanation, close it, and solve the question again from a blank page. If you can't, you haven't learned it yet; read the explanation again. For Math, do it both ways when you can, with Desmos and by hand, so you have a backup route.

Bring it back later

Getting a question right right after reading its explanation proves very little. Getting it right days later proves you learned it. So:

• Put every reviewed question in a list.
• Try it again about three days later, cold.
• Take it off the list only after you've got it right twice on separate days. A miss puts it back at the start.

This is how Graphite's review queue works: anything you miss comes back a few days later until you get it right twice.

Look for patterns

Once a week, count your tags by skill. Three misses in the same skill from the same cause is a pattern, and patterns are where the points are. Put that skill at the top of next week's practice.