Should you guess on the SAT and ACT?

Should you guess on the SAT and ACT?

The short answer is YES!

There is no penalty for wrong answers. If you get a question right, that adds points to your score, but a blank and guess have the same effect of adding no points. There is no benefit to leaving a blank over making a guess, so you should always guess. Ignore the outdated and incorrect information floating around on the internet advising students not to guess.

Random guessing can help! Even if you have absolutely no idea what the answer may be, you still have a 25% chance of guessing right on a multiple choice question. 

If you can eliminate an answer (or two), your odds of guessing right improve. If you can eliminate one answer, you have a 33% chance of guessing right. Eliminating two answers gives you a 50% chance of guessing correctly. Correct guesses can add up to a meaningful score gain.

Don’t waste too much time on a single question. Guessing is a powerful time management tool. Sometimes it’s better to guess (and flag to come back to) a question that is really giving you trouble. You don’t want to spend a long time on a single question before you are able to complete the rest of the test. If you are truly stuck, it’s often best to flag that question, choose a guess, then come back later if you can.

Sign up for our tutoring or one on one classes to learn even more about how to guess intelligently on the SAT and ACT!

Online small group classes: https://www.lockwoodtestprep.com/online

One on one tutoring, both in our office and online: https://www.lockwoodtestprep.com/tutoring?