It is extremely important to know what kind of score you are aiming for on each section of the SAT. Although everyone wants to get an 800 on every section, for most students, this isn't realistic. You have to know what kind of score you are capable of getting and aim for your potential. Plan accordingly and make sure you're pacing yourself properly through the test to maximize your score.

Because of the guessing penalty on the SAT, you don't just want to rush and try to get to every question. What you want to do is pace yourself and get to as many questions that you can complete correctly. For some students, this means leaving some of the harder questions blank. For others, this means completing them all. No matter what your strategy is, you need to be prepared.

Whether it's the Math, Critical Reading, or Writing section, your personal pacing strategy will depend largely on how you are scoring and what questions you feel comfortable with. Check out the following links to see how many questions you should complete on each section: Math, Critical Reading, and Writing.

Your Personal Pacing Strategy

Keep in mind, these charts are here to give you an idea of your ideal approach on each section of the SAT. You know better than anyone which questions you are likely to get right, and which you are likely to get wrong. This is what we call your personal pacing strategy. If you know you are really good at geometry, but lousy at probability questions, skip the hard probability question you know you'll probably get wrong anyway and do the geometry question you know inside and out.

The best way to use these charts is to remember the number of questions you should attempt for each section and try to attempt that many questions on test day. Use the Approximate time per Question to help with your time management, but keep in mind that you will complete the easier questions faster than the harder ones. The idea is to hit your pacing goal with no time left on the clock. The last thing you want is to complete the number of questions for your pacing goal with five minutes left on the section. This means you are going to fast, and you should slow down to make sure you are answering the questions correctly.

If you want more information about pacing, check out the PI video on Pacing Strategy to get a few more pointers.