Effective time time management is critical for success on the SAT and ACT.
There are 3 sections on the SAT, with specific time limits for each – Reading, Writing & Language, and Math. Optional essay – 50 minutes.
There are 4 sections on the ACT test with specific time limits for each section – English, Math, Reading, and Science. Optional essay – 40 minutes.
The best way to get time management skills up to speed on the SAT is to take several CollegeBoard mock Practice Tests under test like conditions. Likewise – the best way to increase your time management skills on the ACT is to take ACT, Inc (sponsors of the ACT) mock Practice Tests.
During our SAT & ACT weekend bootcamps, we administer two CollegeBoard mock Practice Tests and two ACT, Inc mock Practice Tests, respectively.
Check out this comparison of the SAT v. ACT provided by CollegeBoard.com
Using up all of your time on the Test
“It’s one thing to finish a Reading or Writing (English) section early and take a nap with the time you have left over – those sections are more conceptual, and you’re less likely to have made an outright error. But on Math – don’t you dare take a break once you’ve finished that section. For SAT Math is the Lair of Careless Errors, where even those who have won Westinghouse Science Fellowships regularly miss problems just by overlooking a middling detail. Look, no one is expecting you to take your practice tests like an obsessive madman, but on the real thing, you’d better work up until the very end” – Eliot Schrefer, Author of “Hack the SAT”
Wasting Time on Tough Questions on the SAT
“Most people who run out of time on the SAT try to answer all the questions in a section in order. This is a huge mistake, since some questions will be easier for you than others, and since every question in a section counts for the same number of raw points as any other question in that section, when you run into a question you can’t answer quickly, you should skip it and move onto other questions that are easier for you. You can always come back to the harder questions later” –Mike Barrett, author of The SAT Prep Black Book