Mean, Median, Mode

SAT questions come in all kinds of wonderfully complicated shapes and sizes. Some problems require you to simply solve for x, find an area of a circle, or factor a couple of numbers and master those rules of divisibility. Today, I want to review another concept that tends to creep up on the SAT often: Mean, median, and mode

Mean, median, and mode are basic concepts that you should have learned in grade school. But, the very fact that you learned how to find the mean so long ago means that in order to properly test your SAT ability, the test writers have to create complicated question-types. While teaching my students, taking this test, and reviewing the official guide, I have discovered a limited number of ways the SAT can test average. Those ways are:

• Hidden variable
• Change in value
• Adding new information
• Partial average
• Incomplete sum

Beat the Mean

As you can see, there are a lot of ways the test writers attempt to confound you. In today’s video lesson, I walk through what mean, median, and mode really mean and then give you a unique strategy that I use in my private classes! After the break I talk about a pretty important SAT strategy and my progressive learning system.

An Updated Progressive Learning System

I talk a lot about testing strategy on this website. There is a very obvious reason for that: without a strategy, techniques, and pacing skills, your knowledge won’t be enough. This free blog series is intended to give you all the knowledge you need to do really well on the SAT. Really well. But, it is not all-inclusive. There are other skill sets you are going to have to gain in order to do well on this test. In fact, I recently updated the way I think about standardized tests and formulated a progressive learning system. The system is easy, and it goes like this:

Strategy –> Techniques –> Knowledge –> Pacing

The theory is that you should have an overall test strategy and an individual section strategy before doing ANYTHING else. If you don’t have the foundations, there will be problems. Let’s look at these in turn:

SAT Strategy

Your SAT strategy should be simple, and it is not simply “Get the question correct”. That is a useless method because it is hard to get questions correct. With only a 20% chance of getting a question right, but an 80% chance of getting a question wrong, it seems much smarter to seek wrong answers. Your SAT strategy (or, my SAT strategy) involves seeing the test from above and setting up a guideline that stays the same regardless of which question you are on.

In addition, you will need a more specific, yet still above-the-fray, strategy for math, reading, and writing. Yes, you need techniques. And yes, if you cannot find the average or know what mode means, you are in trouble, but having a strategy helps you move through the test without freaking out.

SAT Techniques

These are the money-makers, so-to-speak. Techniques help you with most individual questions. Whether you are putting in your own value, back solving, mapping, paraphrasing, or pre-drafting your essay, SAT techniques are the bread-and-butter of my business and the difference maker when you try and take your test. With terrible technique comes terrible grades. Take the time to learn the techniques, because medium knowledge and awesome techniques wins the day, as you will see in a future post where I break through some AST problems.

SAT Knowledge

You know how this works… this is my website all rolled into a magic blanket of intellectual magic.

SAT Pacing

Like the mythical six-pack I need to make all the ladies love me, there are no shortcuts to getting good at pacing. You just have to work at it. You just have to work really, really hard at it. And that is okay. If you focus on constantly working hard, pushing yourself, and taking timed drills, you will be able to break through this test. I promise that. Email me or ask in the comments for my really, really awesome pacing drill. I help people go from 4 questions in 20 minutes to 16 questions in 20 minutes all the time. Are you going to be next?