AceTheTest | SAT - The Power Of Omitting

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The SAT

The Power of Omitting

Knowing how many you can omit and still achieve your goal is one key to success.

As you know, the SAT penalizes an incorrect response with a one-quarter-point deduction. Your raw score is therefore computed as follows:

  • +1 point for each correct response
  • +0 points for each omitted (left blank) response
  • -1/4 point for each incorrect response

One of the most deeply ingrained reactions that you need to overcome is that of answering every question; after all, that’s what you’ve always done. (How many other tests have you taken that penalized you – actually subtracted points! - for being wrong?) On the SAT, you can score quite well if you get 90% of the questions correct and leave the other 10% blank.

On the Math test, there are 54 questions. Let's take a look at an example of the effect on your score of questions being incorrect vs. omitted.

Total Number of Questions Correct Total Number of Questions Incorrect Total Number of Questions Omitted Approximate Scaled Score
10 44 0 200
10 0 44 370

Wow! 170 points! 85% higher! That's quite a difference. Now this example is, admittedly, a bit extreme (only 10 questions answered correctly), so let's look at one that's more likely.

Total Number of Questions Correct Total Number of Questions Incorrect Total Number of Questions Omitted Approximate Scaled Score
34 20 0 530
34 0 20 570

Certainly not as dramatic, but 40 points higher (7.5%) is still pretty amazing when you consider that all you're doing is choosing to leave the question blank.

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