Can you skip answers on the sat

If you answer it incorrectly, you lose on average 12 points. But notice that when you're answering a question, you don't know beforehand whether you'll answer it correctly or incorrectly. A blank is a guaranteed loss of 10 points. By answering a question you're risking about 2 points to save the 10 that you'd otherwise lose for sure.

In short, guessing sometimes helps your score, but not guessing always hurts your score. To skip or not to skip? That is the question…that used to keep SAT students up at night.

So rejoice! For example, you are under no obligation to do the questions within a section in order. Have you ever accidentally bubbled the answer for 19 in the space for 18? Depending on how often you make mistakes like this, omitting answers might lead to disaster—bubbling wrong almost always starts right after a skipped question.

Getting a question right but bubbling it wrong is one of the saddest ways for a test to go sour. You can always come back to this question if you have time, but by bubbling in an educated guess now, you are greatly improving your chances that it will pan out in the end versus just bubbling in any old answer. Always make sure you have an answer down for every question before time is called. You want to guess when:. These sections always come down to time! Are you running out of time to read the passage, not understanding the passage, or spending too much time in general looking and deciding which answer to select?

If you make the decision to guess, there are a few strategies you can use to make the most of your answer. Your first step: eliminate any answers you can. So when you come across a question that stumps you, go through the strategies above, make a guess, and then quickly move on. To avoid this, prepare yourself to guess before you take the test. Use the strategies above in your practice the week before the test, and mentally prepare yourself to guess on a few questions.