Blanks Cost You Points

Most people believe that on the SAT, blanks "don't count." They probably think that blanks don't count because a blank sounds like nothing or a zero, so leaving a question blank must cost zero points.

These people are wrong, and you can prove it to yourself with the answer to a simple question. What kind of SAT score would you have if you left every question blank?

Sorry, but blanks do count. How much? Every time you leave a question blank, you lose 10 points from your 2400 starting score. The cost of each blank varies a bit, but as a rough average, figure 10 points per blank.

If you leave 10 questions blank on the SAT, you lose 100 points; 20 questions, 200 points. And every time you lose points for a blank, you can never get those points back. Never.

More on: The SATs and College Testing

Excerpted from:

From The RocketReview Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to the New SAT and the PSAT by Adam Robinson. Copyright © 2005. Used by arrangement with Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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