There are many students who are afraid of placing a smudge on their test booklets. These students don’t write down any formulas or equations. They don’t make any new diagrams. They don’t score very well on the SAT either.

Get over your respect for the SAT test booklet. Write all over those rough, recycled pages. When you are finished, your test booklet should be covered with scrawls, notes, computations, and drawings. In fact, the simple act of writing something down for every item will help improve your SAT score. It forces you to put your thoughts down on paper, instead of trying to solve items in your head. If you try to answer items in your head, the SAT will chew you up and spit you out.

Be a smart test-taker. Jot down everything you can.