SSAT test-taking skills for strong students

Where strong students lose points

• Rushing the easy ones. A careless miss costs the same as a hard one.
• Picking a choice that's true, but not the answer to the question asked.
• Analogies read in the wrong direction, e.g. a whole to a part instead of a part to a whole.
• Synonyms picked by association (a word that goes with the target) instead of meaning.
• Guessing at random, which loses points with the quarter-point penalty.
• Spending three minutes on one math problem and running out of time.

The skills to practice

1. 1Cross out before you choose. Ruling out two wrong choices is often faster than finding the right one, and it makes a guess worth taking.
2. 2Say the relationship for analogies in a full sentence, e.g. "A chapter is one part of a novel," then test each choice with the same sentence.
3. 3For synonyms, ask "Could I swap this word in a sentence?" A related word isn't the same as a synonym.
4. 4In reading, find the line that proves the answer. If you can't point to it, it's probably a trap.
5. 5In math, estimate first. An estimate rules out choices that are way off, and catches careless slips.
6. 6Skip and come back. Mark a slow question, move on, and return if there's time.

How an AI tutor helps a strong student

A strong student needs hard questions in the few areas where they slip, and someone to name the habit behind each miss, not hours of easy questions. Rookling sets each skill's level separately, so a strong reader works on hard passages right away. Its coaching points at the trap your child fell for, then gives one more try, so the habit changes along with the answer.