Kaplan Strategies

There are ways to approach this test that will allow you to maximize your score. Read through these strategies before you begin your diagnostic practice test. Try to internalize each of them so that on test day they will be second nature to you. If you accomplish this, you will be rewarded with a higher score on your SAT Subject Test: Physics.

1. Do classification questions first; they require less reading, so you’ll get the most points for your time invested.
2. Next, do the Type 1 and Type 2 five-choice completion questions. Again, you will get more points with less time invested.
3. This test emphasizes general trends and basic physics concepts, so you probably won’t see a question/graph that would take a rocket scientist 30 minutes to figure out. Look for trends and wide variations in graphs. If a value or a plot is vastly different from the others, it is likely that there will be a question about it. Also be prepared to use the slope of a graph or area under a curve to determine quantities.
4. Look for opposing answers in the answer selections. If two answers are close in wording or if they contain opposite ideas, there is a strong possibility that one of them is the right answer.
5. By the same token, if two answers mean basically the same thing, then they both cannot be correct and you can eliminate both answer choices.
6. Use the structure of a Type 3 Roman numeral question to your advantage. Eliminate choices as soon as you find them to be inconsistent with what is asked in the question. Similarly, consider only those choices that include a statement that you’ve already determined to be true.
7. Predict your answer before you go to the answer choices so you don’t get persuaded by the wrong answers. This helps protect you from persuasive or tricky incorrect choices. Most wrong answer choices are logical twists on the correct choice.
8. Eliminate answers and guess.
9. Think, don’t compute!