Test Strategy

What you'll learn

• Complete one science passage with questions in 5-6 minutes
• Practice going directly to figures and tables before reading text
• Identify which science passage types are fastest for you and prioritize them
• Handle unfamiliar scientific topics calmly by focusing on data, not terminology

Key concepts

Even though Science is now optional, many students choose to take it. The Science section typically has 6-7 passages with 5-7 questions each in 35 minutes. The fastest strategy is to skip the text initially and go straight to the questions. For Data Representation and Research Summary passages, the answers are almost always in the figures and tables. You rarely need the text. Conflicting Viewpoints passages are the exception: read the text carefully since there are no figures. Prioritize the passage types you're fastest at, and leave the hardest passage for last so time pressure does not cost you easy points.

Pro tips

• Train yourself to look at the data first: what's on each axis, what's the trend, what's the relationship?
• For Science, wrong answers often reference the correct figure but the wrong data point. Check labels carefully.
• If you decide to skip Science on test day, you can still practice it as it reinforces data literacy skills useful in Math and Reading.