Your strategy in the Math Test, and particularly the extent of your efforts to find shortcuts, should be based on your target score. If you’re looking to get a 23 or lower on the Math Test, there simply is no need to go looking for shortcuts. You can get a 23, or even a 25 or 26, without answering a large number of questions, so there’s no need to race through the test. You should focus on getting questions right. Of course, you should remain aware that shortcuts exist and use them when you see them, but don’t get upset or worried if you’re not unearthing a shortcut in every other question.

Students looking to score a 27 or above on the Math Test, though, should not be working out every question. Finding quicker ways to answer questions must be part of your strategy, because only through these faster methods will you give yourself the time to get to and answer the last few difficult questions that can make all the difference. On these last few questions, even the best students might very well have to plow their way through using trial and error, and trial and error takes a bit of time. So you must give yourself that time by moving quickly through the earlier stages of the test.

Be wary: this advice does not imply that you should simply work faster; it says that you should look for the shorter but just as accurate route to the answer. Do not sacrifice accuracy for speed. If you can find the short but accurate route, great! But if you can’t do both, it’s always better to answer correctly than to answer quickly.