General Hint 4: Set a Target Score
You can make the job of pacing yourself much easier if you go into the test knowing how many questions you have to answer correctly to earn the score you want. What score do you want to get? Ideally, your answer should be an 800, but be realistic: Consider how much you know about chemistry and how well you generally do on these types of tests. You should also do a little research—talk to the admissions offices of the colleges you might want to attend, look in college guidebooks, or talk to your guidance counselor. Find out the average score of a student admitted to the schools of your choice, and set your target score above it. Then take a look at the chart we showed you before. You can score
- 800 if you answered 80 right and left 5 blank
- 750 if you answered 75 right, 4 wrong, and left 6 blank
- 700 if you answered 62 right, 8 wrong, and left 15 blank
- 650 if you answered 56 right, 20 wrong, and left 9 blank
- 600 if you answered 48 right, 24 wrong, and left 13 blank
Suppose the average score on the SAT II Chemistry test for the school you're interested in is 650. Set your target at about 700. To get that score, you need to get 62 questions right, while giving yourself room to get eight wrong and leave 15 blank. As long as you have some idea of how many questions you need to answer, bearing in mind that you'll probably get some questions wrong, you can pace yourself accordingly. Taking practice tests is the best way to work on your pacing. See how many questions you can leave blank and still get the score you want, and you'll have a better sense of what to aim at on the big day.
If you find yourself effortlessly hitting your target score when you take the practice tests, don't just pat yourself on the back. Set a higher target score and start gunning for that one. The purpose of buying this book and studying for the test is to improve your score as much as possible, so be sure to push your limits.
General Hint 5: Know What You’re Being Asked
You can't know the answer until you know the question. This might sound painfully obvious, but many a point has been lost by the careless student who seizes an answer choice hastily before properly understanding the question. Take the following example:
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| 6. |
Three cylinders labeled A, B, C, are all at the same temperature. The volumes of the containers are 2.0 L, 4.0 L, and 6.0 L, respectively. Cylinder A contains 0.679 grams of neon gas at a pressure of 120 mmHg, cylinder B contains 2.45 grams of nitrogen gas at a pressure of 210 mmHg, and cylinder C is completely empty at the start. If the contents of A and B were completely transferred to C (assuming ideal conditions), what would the pressure become in cylinder C? |
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(A) |
0.25 atm |
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(B) |
180 mmHg |
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(C) |
330 mmHg |
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(D) |
675 mmHg |
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(E) |
1980 mmHg | |
