Time management strategies for SAT Verbal Section

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How you manage your time on the exam day could determine whether you will land in your dream university. If time is gold, how you manage it is platinum.

Let’s delve deep into some of the time management strategies for the SAT verbal section that can help you reach your target SAT score in the smartest way.

1. Take SAT mock tests to know your own sequence

   Not every test-taker will solve the SAT questions as they appear. Some have their own customized sequence and having a settled sequence will take a fair amount of practice. Though each question on the SAT technically takes, on average, just over 65 seconds, not all questions will take the same time. There are some writing questions such as grammar, punctuation, transition that can be solved in under 45 seconds, while there are some reading questions such as figure-based that may require more than 80 seconds. However, if a student is exceptionally good at maths, he/she may just cruise through figure-based questions. What appears easy to one may appear taxing to others.

   The vocabulary based SAT questions may not be as time consuming for a student who is an avid-reader. Words such as conspicuous, sanguine may appear daunting to some while appearing pretty easy for others. So open your blue book software and take a few tests to see which questions drag you behind and which ones don’t.

2. When your Energy battery is 100%

   When you start your first SAT verbal module, your energy is at the optimal level. Some test-takers first try out the reading questions (1 to 15) which require unwavering concentration and focus, while some solve the easier writing questions (low hanging fruits) first before proceeding towards the more time-consuming reading questions. Some may feel that writing questions can be solved at the back end even when the battery is half empty, while some may reserve their best version of them at the later stage.

3. 45 sec questions first, please

   One of the smartest ways to complete the test at maximum efficiency is to handpick SAT questions that don’t take more than 40 seconds. A test-taker, for example, may solve 1-5 questions that invariably present vocabulary-based questions, then skip to questions starting from 15 to 27 that cover easier grammar and goal based questions. By the time you cruise through vocabulary, grammar and goal based questions (45 secs per question), you should be ideally left with 18 to 20 mins for the remaining more time-consuming reading questions from 6 to 14, giving yourself ample amount of time – over 100 seconds – for each reading question.

   You will be surprised to find some students solving SAT verbal section Vocabulary questions first. The rationale behind that method is that you either know the vocabulary or not. Even if confronted with heavy vocabulary, you can step in and step out of the question under 45 secs. Getting the context of the sentence will not take more than 30 secs and the elimination process to narrow in on the right answer shouldn’t take more than 15 secs.

   SAT Verbal Section Time Strategy

   1-5 – Vocabulary (3.5 mins)
   15 – 27 – Grammar and Goal-based (9 mins)
   6 – 14 – Reading questions (18 mins)

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4. Dissecting Reading questions – I

   Yes, reading questions are diverse in nature. We have summary, figure-based, poetry summary and illustration, cross-text, purpose/function, organization, and conclusion questions. You have to be smart enough to know which reading questions can be solved relatively under 60 secs with ease. Going by the feedback given by many SAT test takers all over the world, questions such as main idea/primary purpose, function, organization, cross text are relatively easier to solve.

   Wait! Cross text questions are easy? I get your surprise. Cross text questions may take slightly more seconds than, say, main idea type, but you don’t have to squeeze your brain to extract the answer. Once you figure out which author should respond to which portion of the other author’s text, you either get the answer or you don’t. The general pattern in cross-text questions is that two authors disagree with each other either diametrically opposite to each other or disagree politely with some concessions or common grounds. It also depends on the tone of both authors and the task at hand.

5. Dissecting Reading questions – II

   Welcome to the second half of reading questions. The time-consuming questions on the SAT verbal section are the logic-based conclusion question, figure-based, and the poetry based question. Most test-takers, especially from the non-native English speaking countries, don’t have a strong grip on literature. Naturally, the poetry-based questions may appear a bit overwhelming to many. So there is nothing wrong in accepting reality and giving yourself a decent amount of time to solve the harder questions. Next on the list is the inference question followed by a figure based question.

   Which of the following logically completes the text – This question presents you with a text that contains a bunch of facts and you will derive the conclusion that may not be very straight-forward. What makes this question hard is the language used in the options and at least two options may appear very close to each other.

   This question requires a bit of logic as you have to connect the dots to derive at the conclusion. So giving close to 2 mins is justified esp if the question is lengthy.

   Figure based SAT questions can be hard only because you have two tasks at hand. First you have to read the question stem (as you do for all the questions) and identify the task – mostly you may have to strengthen the conclusion, though you may, at times, also be asked to weaken the conclusion. Then, you have to make sure the right option aligns with the text and also with the figure. An option may match with the conclusion but not with the figure and vice versa. It’s double work and hence the extra time to solve.

6. The harder second module decides your fate

   The first section is usually a mixed bag filled with easy and medium level SAT questions. After solving a fair number of mock full length tests, you yourself will come to know that you won’t have much trouble with your time management as far as your first section is concerned. In fact, some students wrap up the first module with a few mins left.

   However, the real test is when you have done the first module well and you get a harder second module. For example, you get 24/25 in the first module and the second section will be relatively much harder. The difficulty level of the overall second section will be on the harder side and you may find yourself short of time to complete the test in time. It again boils down to how fast and efficiently you solve the easier questions first so you have sufficient time for time-consuming SAT verbal section reading questions.

   Whatever applied to the SAT Verbal section in the aforementioned pointers applies to Math too.

   With smart thinking and more practice to determine which sequence works for you, you should be able to manage your precious 32 minutes efficiently with maximum accuracy.

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