Anatomy of
SAT DS&P
Even without reading this book or preparing
for the SAT in any way, you’d still get some DS&P problems right.
However, there is a big difference between:
-
Sweating out a problem, breathing a sigh of relief
when you finish it, and timidly moving on.
- Answering
a problem, seeing that the next problem contains a cluster of easily
interpreted number sets, and hitting a home run on the SAT Math
section.
You don’t simply want to survive the
math portion of the SAT, you want to succeed on the test and get
a score you—and the colleges you apply to—are happy with. To take
your score up to a higher level, you have to do some prep work.
The mistake many students make is taking the SAT cold. That’s right—no
preparation. Not so much as a flip through the information booklet.
By familiarizing yourself with every single type of DS&P
question you may encounter on the SAT, you can approach each DS&P
question coolly and calmly, knowing in advance what needs to be
done to answer it correctly. It’s about switching from survival
mode to attack mode. It’s attack mode that will help you score high.
In this section, we provide you with an X-ray of SAT DS&P.
Later on, we’ll review the subtypes of questions and specific strategies
for approaching each one. By looking at these questions inside and
out, you’ll know more about how The College Board tests your skills
and how to approach each and every question you’ll encounter on
the test.
There are two types of math questions on the SAT: multiple-choice and
student-produced response.
